Author: Peter Podbrežnik, Urban Bolta
Location: Križanke / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 20.09.2012
Attendance: 2000
Ticket price: 37.50 €
Even a year ago, plenty of people who have to travel abroad to catch their favorite acts would have shrugged off with a sarcastic smirk anyone who dared predict that a concert by two legendary British rock bands, Nazareth and Wishbone Ash, in the middle of Ljubljana’s Križanke would get a great turnout. Luckily, things in our dear little ‘hen house’ are changing for the better, albeit very slowly, when it comes to Slovenes’ attitude toward quality rock music and, with it, the growing turnout at shows featuring legends like the two bands mentioned above. The sight of a jam-packed Križanke was pure satisfaction, proof that Slovenia (with the usual generous ‘help’ from visitors from neighboring countries) still has enough classic rock fans to avoid embarrassing itself, as happens all too often. Full credit goes to the organizer for their incredible nerve, because this was a truly big and risky gamble that paid off. Let’s hope the successful turnout from all corners of Slovenia and beyond is a good sign for the organization of more concerts from them down the road.
GHB:
Warming us up before the two legends arrived was one of our own, Grega Habič Band, introduced on stage by none other than RockLine editor-in-chief and dear brother Aleš Podbrežnik. The up-and-coming guitar virtuoso, whose style was genre-wise a world away from the night’s two main attractions, played his own unique take on instrumentally spiced ‘guitar rock’ with influences from all sorts of genres, and got a decent response from the crowd. That was really nice to see, and it should serve Mr. Habič as a good send-off for future exploits.
WISHBONE ASH:
The British art rock heavyweights were introduced on stage by a fellow Rockline journalist, the legendary Jernej Vene, who also announced the names of all the band members. Wishbone Ash, still in phenomenal live form after the release of their latest studio album »Elegant Stealth« (2011), were the absolute winners of the night and stole the title of main attraction from Nazareth at this one-of-a-kind event. The band members, watched over as usual by the last original Wishbone Ash member, guitar virtuoso and vocalist Andy Powell, with his iconic flying-V electric guitar, were incredibly tight, especially when it came to the epic guitar multi-harmonies, their trademark, which inspired whole generations of hard rock, prog rock and heavy metal acts. In their complex stylistic approach, Wishbone Ash cultivate not only prog and hard rock but also elements of blues, folk and jazz, so today they’re easiest to describe as art rock. The younger concertgoers in particular, who for once weren’t in short supply, and many of whom were seeing them for the first time, could be fully won over.
Bands with such a pronounced ‘art’ component wander into our neck of the woods less often than rain falls on the desert, so it was a joy to watch the crowd go wild as Wishbone Ash opened their set with the unforgettable »Argus« (1972) evergreen »The King Will Come«, soon followed by the immortal proto-metal epic »Warrior«, where the guitar harmonies between Powell and Muddy Manninen really blossomed. From »Argus«, which celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year and remains by far their most popular album, and for most fans their best, they played two more classics, the melancholic masterpiece »Sometime World« and the energetic rocker »Blowin’ Free«. The latter was played in the encore, together with the surprise pick from »Wishbone Four« (1973), »Ballad of the Beacon«.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmiT-EAT2t4
Wishbone Ash had excellent sound throughout the whole set, and the main credit goes to the sound crew from Festival Novo Mesto. These art rock legends, in great spirits, also put a few gems on the setlist that they don’t exactly play every night, like the »Twin Barrells Burning« (1982) classic »Engine Overheat« and the »Number The Brave« (1981) standard »Open Road«, proving to any skeptics that they made a good number of fine works in the eighties too. With solid renditions of »Can’t Go It Alone« and »Warm Tears«, they didn’t forget the latest album »Elegant Stealth. Powell and Manninen, who harmonized their guitar lines like their lives depended on it and eagerly traded off as lead soloists, had a mighty rhythm section behind them the whole time, with the jovial bassist Bob Skeat and drummer Joseph Crabtree, who in the five years since joining Wishbone Ash has already managed to shake off the ‘rookie’ label.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA85XEvcVfQ
Of course, as expected and deservedly so, the classics from the ‘golden’ seventies dominated, including the moving ballad »Lady Jay« and the complex hard rock banger »Jailbat«, which always fires up the crowd. The regular set ended, fittingly, with the legendary, more than 10-minute epic »Phoenix« from »Wishbone Ash« (1970), which this time too they stretched out generously with plenty of admirable improvisations. After the encore, »Wishbone Ash« left the stage to thunderous applause, like the big winners of the night, and handed it over to the legendary Scottish rock old-timers Nazareth.
NAZARETH:
The champions of Scottish classic rock, Nazareth, whose heavy rock sound is traditionally joined by the skirl of Scottish bagpipes, last played in the land on the sunny side of the Alps in the mid-nineties of the last century, in the Primorska region, so we had to wait more than a decade and a half for their return! If guitarist Jimmy Murrison was still a brand-new member of the band at that long-ago show in Dornberk, today he’s a solid part of the group and a reliable support for its backbone, made up of Dan McCafferty on vocals and Pete Agnew on bass. A decade ago the trio was joined behind the drum kit by Pete’s son Lee Agnew, and in this lineup Nazareth have released two studio albums to date, »The Newz« (2008) and »Big Dogz« (2011), while the constant touring of recent years has kept the machine running, and, as mentioned, it finally brought the Scots to our neck of the woods too.
Nazareth were introduced on stage by none other than their peer Dragan Bulič, and after the standard intro of traditional Scottish bagpipes, the quartet opened the evening with Silver Dollar Forger. Next came the high-flying hit Telegram, whose distorted guitar sound heralded a much heavier sonic turn compared to their predecessors on stage. If Wishbone Ash presented themselves as a band with a pronounced artistic flavor, not shy of improvisational detours from the original songs, Nazareth on the other hand belong to the purebred hard rock league. Their hits, delivered with real punch this time, worked right off the bat, but all the more superficially for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4QJfWRN1So
Dan Mccafferty remains the real mascot and leader of the band! The likable gray-haired fella, who instantly won the crowd over with his thick Scottish accent, used his raspy vocals, barely roadworthy like an old ‘100’ model, to stamp every Nazareth creation with its unmistakable mark. His performance was more reserved than usual, probably thanks to the above-average cold September evening, which bassist Agnew on the right side of the stage also hinted at by constantly rubbing his hands. On the better-known tunes, like the eternally evergreen ballad Love Hurts, which as expected got the most euphoric response of the whole night, or the feel-good Broken Down Angel, McCafferty urged the full house at Križanke to sing along. His voice started showing signs of fatigue toward the end of the set, but still, especially considering he’s already 65, he did his job with total confidence, so much so that with this show he confidently threw down the gauntlet to everyone who had too quickly written him off with gossip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p172adk5tLA
When they came back on stage, the musicians from Dunfermline spun time back to 1973 with Night Woman and Razamanaz, and closed the evening with the optimistic message of the power ballad single Dream On. Nazareth put on a satisfying show in Križanke that won over the gathered fans of old-school rock, but for an even higher score the Scots would have needed to step on the gas with more intense contact with the crowd, since the quartet came across far too sleepy at times, and the same goes for the length of the concert itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdpx0qdnAEc
Peter Podbrežnik (intro, GHB, Wishbone Ash)
Urban Bolta (Nazareth)
photos: Helena Vertačnik & Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist
Wishbone Ash
1. The King Will Come
2. Warrior
3. Can’t Go It Alone
4. Sometime World
5. Open Road
6. Warm Tears
7. Lady Jay
8. Jailbait
9. Engine Overheat
10. Phoenix
—encore—
11. Ballad Of The Beacon
12. Blowin Free
Nazareth
1. Silver Dollar Forger
2. Telegram
3. This Month’s Messiah
4. Sunshine
5. Turn On Your Reciever
6. Cocaine
7. Radio
8. Love Hurts
9. This Flight Tonight
10. Broken down Angel
11. Hair Of The Dog
—encore—
12. Night Woman
13. Razamanazz
14. Dream On
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