Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / Slovenia
Concert date: June 18, 2015
Attendance: 550
Ticket price: €17.00 (advance) / €20.00 (day of show)
The reactivation of the cult new wave act Denis & Denis in the fall of 2012 hit out of nowhere, like a bolt from the blue. In March 2013 they finally played Ljubljana too, after so many years. That’s also when they released their fourth studio album »Restart«, and the band’s founder, the eternal Davor Tolja, announced that from here on Denis & Denis would be a duo of Davor Tolja and Ruby Kolić – the singer with whom Tolja recorded and released the comeback album »Restart«. Honestly, though, Tolja didn’t need that album at all. Sonically and stylistically it has absolutely nothing in common with what made Denis & Denis in the eighties and earned them the label of one of the most popular and most attractive acts of unique pedigree ever to work in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Judging by the many critiques, Tolja evidently came to his senses just in time and offered Dallas Records a bundle of unreleased demo recordings made in 1982 and 1983, which gave the band a new alibi to fire up again in the original lineup of Davor Tolja and singer Marina Perazić – the one and only real Denis & Denis figure, in other words. So on the official release day of the album »Demo Tapes« – RockLine review HERE – Dallas Records staged a new concert spectacle with Denis & Denis. Once again at CUK Kino Šiška.
This time only old classics, with no trace of Restart. So Ruby wasn’t on stage either. The band played only material from their cult first two studio albums and the third, on which Edi Kraljič took over Perazić’s spot. As one of the key creators of the Denis & Denis story, he naturally showed up on the Kino Šiška stage too, singing duets with Perazić, doing backing vocals, or stepping into the spotlight when the band launched into a run of songs from the third album »Budi tu« (1988): Bengalski tigar, Budi tu, Bio sam djete.
The band went in strictly professional and with total perfectionism. Tolja gathered a proper rock band around him, led by veteran drummer Alen Tibljaš (Laufer, Let 3, En Face, Fit), with Vedran Križan as an extra keyboardist. In their new garb the songs kept their retro-nostalgic element while picking up a fresh arrangement »oomph«, staying completely relevant.
Denis & Denis made a very smart move this time. They made the show concrete – trimmed the fat and served up the essence. It was also noticeably shorter than the two-and-a-half-hour marathon from two years ago. Marina Perazič, now deep into her fifties, has kept her sex appeal. Her rapport with the crowd is exceptional. She pulls you in instantly. She flirts the whole way through, and she’s held on to every trait of a stage act that, with charm and charisma, took her to the position of one of the most beloved singers in the former Yugoslavia. Marina also got very good support all night from the female-male vocal backing duo that colored her lead vocal. The set was mostly made up of the debut »Čuvaj se!« (1984), led by Čuvaj se, Telefon (a duet with Davor Tolja), Tek je sedam sati, 28 minuta do 5, Dio refrena, Ti i ja, Doba nočnih kiša; from the second album »Ja sam lažljiva« (1985) there was Noč, while the notorious Voli me još ovu noč, Ja sam lažljiva and Soba 23, with absolute backing from Program tvog kompjutera, got the crowd on its feet in the closing stretch, which delivered the atmospheric crescendo of the whole event. The excellent classic Oaze snova also made the cut, as did Kolačići, from Marina’s studio album »Marina« (1986).
The real Denis & Denis, then, are the duo of Marina Perazić and Davor Tolja! And as such they finally presented themselves in Ljubljana too, after so many years. The second concert in Ljubljana since the band’s reactivation didn’t draw as big a crowd as the first, even though it was actually the second show that was the truly real Denis & Denis concert. All through the gig you could hear countless shouts of huge excitement from the crowd, which turned into outright delirium during the evergreen hits. Many in the audience belong to the generation that spent their teenage years with the first two albums, and they’ll never forget it. The performance made no secret of excellent form, excellent playing, excellent chemistry and tightness. Perfectionism! Let’s hope Denis & Denis hold on to the position they showed on the Kino Šiška stage in the future too. If only to keep their credibility intact. Even if there are no more studio albums. Honestly, better none than having to live through another »Restart«.
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