Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Zagreb / Vintage Insdustrial Bar / Croatia
Concert date: 11/27/2013
Attendance: 200
Ticket price: €0.00
The guitars sang, wept and laughed once again at the third Zagreb Guitar Show!
The crowd was fairly small, considering how important the event was and the names of the masters who gathered that night, but those of us who were there got great vibes, total immersion, masterful playing and a taste of what’s to come.
They bewitched us with an unexpected burst of musical energy, waving off genre gaps with the pinky of the left hand, because every one of these guitar masters has a distinct character of highly polished virtuosity, with a solid personal stamp shining through!
The stage saw one band after another, and with them some of the most prominent names in six-string wizardry in Croatia, namely: Country Strike, Ferzzo & Melodic Trip, Sheitans (who were joined on stage for the last song by Vlado Soljačić – Sojka of Opća Opasnost), Vulkan, Retro Guru (with the “great” Vedran Božić), the lead guitarist of the famous Divlje Jagode, Zele Lipovača, and the excellent Slovenian imitators of Southern rock bands like the Almah Brothers Banda and Gov’t Mule, going by the name The Dreams!
The night kicked off in a glow of country music, with Cuntry Strike putting the spotlight on superb vocal harmonies in the lead melodies! Then, from set to set, things got heavier and heavier, with rocky, heavy-sounding riffs and blues. Rock happened!
The performers mostly borrowed well-known rock standards, each stamping them with a personal touch and delivering the guitar phrases with splendid technical perfection. Craft and art hand in hand! Interpretive power at its finest!
The only problem at the event was the changeover between bands. There was extremely little time, so the musicians just unplugged (those leaving the stage) and plugged in (those taking over). With the musicians swapping so fast, with no real resets, just plugging in instruments and making minimal tweaks, they were never destined to develop an optimal sound during their sets.
The bands played three to four songs each and, as mentioned, we only rarely got to hear an original. But the point wasn’t playing original material. It was about the contrast, strung together by a palette of very differently shaped guitar-playing wizards on stage. That’s the distinctive interpretive ability of the individuals who found themselves on stage that night. These contrasts came through clearly all evening long. Vulkan were a very pleasant surprise, soaring into the magical world of Radomir Mihajlović »Točka« and playing Smak’s Satelit.
And of course we can’t skip the blues highlight of the night, when the legendary Vedran Božić took the stage (the saga that he once shared a stage with Jimi Hendrix has been circulating the planet for years). Vedran is the famous lead guitarist of the no less famous rockers Time! Rounding out the Retro Guru trio are bassist Tomas Krkač and drummer Adonis Dokuzović (also a member of the original Divlje Jagode lineup). The band worked a standard by Eric Clapton and Cream into their set.
Just as distinctive and interesting, and also one of the night’s highlights, was the moment the Slovenian band The Dreams stepped on stage! They delivered a perfect jam, and it came out hard-hitting. They didn’t play in their full lineup. Adonis Dokuzović (Retro Guru, ex-Divlje Jagode) jumped in to help on drums. They’d only met him for the first time at the soundcheck right before the show. The Dreams won us over so completely with their convincing show that it was easy to make a personal decision to see them again. That’s coming up very soon, in Ljubljana, where they’ll play the Glej theater on 12/20/2013 in their full lineup. They’ll be joined there by another utterly fascinating drummer, the jazz fusion master !Sergej Randjelović – Runjoe. The Dreams will play alongside EMŠO Blues Band. Ljubljana is in for an evening dedicated to the musical legacy of the Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule and Tedeschi Truck Band, which will definitely be an upgrade on the fleeting but sensual appearance The Dreams made on the stage of the third Zagreb Guitar Show.
For the grand finale, Sead “Zele” Lipovača took the stage, the lead and ultimate guitar of the legendary Divlje Jagode, who are about to release a new studio album any day now. On stage he was backed by the duo of Tomas Krkač and, once again, Adonis Dekuzović> A wet dream for every fan of guitar wizardry, delivered!
Overall impression of the night:
The trip to Zagreb paid off richly. A galaxy of outstanding performers with a fully formed musical character and a recognizable personal touch, each one winning us over with their own take on the chosen numbers. Clearly separate, sharply defined identities.
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