The Requiem Epic Plays Out (2016)!

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Author: Aleš Podbrežnik

Location: Ljubljana / Orto bar / Slovenia
Concert date: April 11, 2016
Attendance: 160
Ticket price: €5.00

Requiem, probably one of the biggest rock bands in Slovenia, was formed in 1993. They wrote their story for twenty-three years, and some top-notch rock musicians got their start and were forged in it. Sooner or later every story ends, but new ones are always being born, too.

It’s hard to believe that twenty-three years have passed since the band formed, but the years fly, aging is inevitable, and even a band like “Requiem” has to retire. Still, the next generation is taken care of, because a successor is being born in their wake: »Stare device«.

We got to see the end of the »Requiem« story at a gig at Orto bar, where the band lineup was Marko Slokar (guitar), Jurij Čotar (vocals), Domen Lahajnar (lead guitar), Matjaž Winkler (drums) and Jani Lah (bass).

The crowd that showed up really loves their music, so it was no surprise that the atmosphere was great from start to finish.

Orto bar was just full enough when the band took the stage at 10:10 PM, and the show was on. »Slovenska« broke through the »stage fright«, and they carried on with »Križarji«, »Čarovnice«, »Kraljica noči«, »Zvezdno nebo«, …… The band strolled through songs from their entire career, and together with the five on stage, the crowd strolled through the hits too, loudly joining in on every single one with singing and clapping.

When a band gives off good energy, the audience »catches« it, and vice versa. And this time we were witnesses to exactly that flow of energy. At an occasion like this, I maybe missed a guest or two who had created music with the band from the beginning until today. The sound system worked flawlessly, and the stage lighting was pulled off pretty well, too. The tempo built through every song, the musicians seemed looser and more playful from one track to the next, and »Requiem«’s elder statesman Marko Slokar clearly was happy with how the show was going, despite some guitar trouble, since he didn’t skimp on thanking the people who helped make the band a success. The band steered the show routinely toward the end, and played the classic »Stare device« as the last song.

Time to cool down those overheated heads, and at 11:00 PM… that’s it! The epic of »Requiem« thus played out on April 11, 2016, and all we can do is hope that its successor »Stare device« will carry on the legacy worthily and maybe even build on it.

text: Jani Dolenc
photos: Miha Dolenc