Author: Urban Bolta
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Venue: Izbruhov bazen / Kranj
Gig date: 09/17/2009
Attendance: 150
Ticket price: €15
The Kranj pool has always known how to deliver good gigs and good acts who’ve turned out plenty of unforgettable nights in its one-of-a-kind atmosphere. Once you’ve been to the Bazen, you keep coming back. It’s like a book so gripping you can’t put it down unfinished. I’m one of those people too. One of those who shows up every time time allows, and that’s going to stay that way for a long while yet. On Friday, the organizer lured the Bosnian hard/heavy legends Divlje Jagode into the halls of the long-abandoned Olympic pool, with Brežice rockers Broken Arrow in the opening slot this time.
BROKEN ARROW
There are still plenty of people in love with the eighties, when lush hairdos, sinful backstage stories from the big bands and bare chests in the front rows ruled, back when glam was king. Broken Arrow are among those glam-loyal rockers, a five-piece from Brežice keeping alive the tradition of the golden, half-forgotten eighties. Late, only around half past ten in the evening, they started warming up the hall, and their own throats and hearts along with it, with covers as well as original material. Of the originals, the opener Glam till the end stood out, with a sound and lyrics that lay out, no beating around the bush, the direction they keep following on their musical path. The stage show is extremely well rehearsed, and the guys have the jumping around and swapping positions down cold. Naturally, a good chunk of the attention goes to frontman and vocalist Matjaž, who shows himself in a very good light not just with his lush hair but with his whole performance. He’s confident on stage and has long since beaten stage fright. On the choruses, in the style of group “Def Leppard” singing, all three guitarists often help him out vocally – that effect always creates a magical atmosphere that just begs for goosebumps! The guitarists should take that job very seriously going forward, though, because a mic distance that’s often a whole meter off, or too much energetic moving around, makes the backing vocals’ volume vary far too much, which cubically cuts down the melodiousness – the only weak spot of Broken Arrow’s set. Some of the originals they served up are in Slovenian, others in English, with the latter definitely fitting hard rock better – but the crowd enjoyed both and joined in with clapping. They worked classics from some of the eighties giants into the set, and we heard, for example, Life loves a tragedy (Poison), Lay your hands on me (Bon Jovi), Dance the night away (Van Halen), Big City Nights (Scorpions) and… Mačka as a tribute to Šank Rockers, whose influence definitely shaped the band’s development. In an hour-long set they proved they’re made of the right stuff and don’t lack quality, but you have to know that for bigger success, these guys were born 25 years too late. Sadly so, because their knack for writing good songs is still very much alive and kicking!
DIVLJE JAGODE
What can you say about Jagode? They’re giants of heavy metal from the territory of the former common state, and their catalog has plenty of classics that no Yugo rock night can do without. You don’t need to be any kind of connoisseur to know at least their biggest hit, the one that glorifies road stallions. Lately Jagode have been playing a lot of shows – just a week before this one you could catch them in Pivka – and this night they showed up in Gorenjska too.
There were times when a concert-goer could only guess before the show who would handle the vocals – would it be Pero Gajić, Zlatan Čehić, Toni Janković, maybe even Žanil Tatai? This time the question had already been settled by the Pivka gig the Friday before – it wasn’t to be expected that a different vocalist would step up with only a few days in between, and on stage appeared Marko Osmanović, a relatively fresh member of Divlje Jagode’s regular lineup. Alongside Osmanović, the stage was joined by former Opća Opasnost drummer Thomas Balaž, bassist Zlatan Čehić and of course the driving force, guitarist Sead “Zele” Lipovača.
To kick things off they once again went with Motori. A move with a good side and a bad side. It instantly pulled back into the hall the people who’d been breathing in the fresh air of the nearby Sava during the break, but on the other hand, for some the gig was over after the opening track. Unfortunately, that’s how it is here: many people go to shows for a single song and don’t give the rest a chance. They played some of their best and best-known songs that night (Ciganka, Let na drugi svijet, Jedina Moja..), plus a few newer ones (Marija, Piši mi, Oluja). They ran through their discography at a quick clip, all the way from the debut Divlje Jagode (1979) to Od neba do neba (2003). It’ll be interesting to see when Jagode start working songs from the upcoming album into their sets, the one Zele proudly announced several times, this night included. About halfway through, Jagode always take the charge out of the electrified atmosphere with an acoustic trio of Krivo je More, Ne želiš kraj and Marija. After a good while of lighters held overhead, Zele & co shifted into fifth gear with the song Divlje Jagode. Great tune, where absolutely everyone present sings along every time, slightly spoiled by a few moments before the start of the last chorus, when for reasons unknown to me the riff and vocals produce odd sounds that remind far too much of Balkan folk music. Right at the end, something happened that I was truly afraid of. In the style of schlager “one hit” singers like Fredi Miller, they played Motori again, which (once more) got everyone thrashing from left to right, front to back, but only underlined the tameness of an average Jagode performance. Where are the never-played gems Bubi, Potraži put, Samo tren…? Once you’ve got a few Divlje Jagode shows under your belt, they become far too predictable and routine, and you can tell how small the real desire is to satisfy any gourmets among the fans. The setlist doesn’t change much – only the running order (once upon a time Turški marš and Avtostop were the guaranteed openers), and even the between-song banter is the same. There’s none of that authenticity and sincerity that’s essential for a dialogue between band and crowd; the routine and weariness are all too obvious.
When you talk about Jagode, you’re of course talking about Zele Lipovača. The founder, lead guitarist and writer of most of the songs wields the conductor’s baton in the band, and his possible dirty look aimed at one of his bandmates counts as a serious warning. He’s an excellent musician who reportedly even turned down the lead guitarist role in Whitesnake during his career, a guitar virtuoso, which he always proves live in Turški marš, where he plays a classic Mozart piece in a very drawn-out version. Zele’s musical excellence has gone to his head quite a bit, which is more than obvious over the course of the show, and the clearest example is the stage setup itself. Nothing wrong with Čeha’s placement on the right.. but Zele taking the center while vocalist Osmanović stands on the left looks really strange.
The likable Osmanović, the smiling part of the band, is in good vocal shape, a step above Čeha, who took over vocal duties on three songs (Krivo je more, Metalni radnici and Jedina moja). On some choruses Zele helps Osmanović and Čeha with the singing too.
Jagode are a big name worthy of respect. What cuts that greatness down is the sheer number of shows. Two or three times a year, the Slovenian rocker gets a chance to see Jagode live, which is the main reason for the comparatively poor turnout at Friday’s event. Still, those of us who were there got what we expected – a good dose of good old heavy rock, spiced up with the young hopefuls Broken Arrow from Brežice.
Photos: Tina Gačnik
Setlist
Broken Arrow: 1. Glam till the end 2. Polet 3. Lay your hands on me 4. Hit the streets 5. To her 6. Life loves a tragedy 7. Zdaj ko si sama 8. Anja 9. Sanjam jo 10. Dance the night away 11. V tvojih očeh 12. We ride 13. Maček 14. Big city nights Divlje Jagode: 1. Motori 2. Mrak za dvoje 3. Dobro došla Ljubavi 4. Kiša pada 5. Konji 6. Avtostop 7. Sve iz inata 8. Shayla 9. Turški Marš 10. Krivo je more 11. Ne želiš kraj 12. Marija 13. Divlje Jagode 14. Oluja 15. Piši mi 16. Želim da te imam 17. Let na drugi svijet 18. Morrison 19. Ciganka 19. Kap po kap 20. Šampioni 21. Metalni radnici 22. Jedina moja 23. Motori
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