Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / Orto bar / Slovenia
Concert date: 01/23/2014
Attendance: 120
Ticket price: €7.00
Tide’s show, from one of the »heavier-hitting« modern new wave rock outfits, in the last third of this January in the middle of Orto bar finally made it official: the new rock year of 2014 is waking up too. Tide, who released their new (and still current) studio album, meaningfully titled »No. 4«, in October 2012 – RockLine review HERE, are today considered a Slovenian rock band that, after a good decade together, is armed with exceptional experience, self-confidence and the rock-solid integrity of the four building blocks of the current lineup: Kevin Koradin (guitar, vocals), Matej Batelič (bass, backing vocals), Matej Sušnik (guitar, backing vocals) and Blaž Sotošek (drums).
It’s worth peeking in on the band’s »daily live form« every now and then, because you know they’ll always deliver a rock ‘n’ roll party jagged to the gills. Even more than that. As this latest live encounter with Tide showed, the band keeps cranking that form up. Over the years, gig after gig. Non-stop!
The show only kicked off at half past ten at night, which let a gambler on live events like me first catch the whole gig of the “Slovenian Knopfler”, pardon, Tilen Pusar, at the K300 club in Dravlje – RockLine report HERE and then, right after it, take a »leisurely stroll« over to Orto bar for a »musical smackdown« cut from a totally different cloth and brimming with different energy!
With Orto bar nicely packed with some 130 heads, Tide opened with Strange Day, a surprise from their debut »Seven Days« that hadn’t been in the band’s live repertoire for quite a while. The quartet quickly confirmed and justified the high expectations. The sound was dialed in a little »too loud« in the opening stretch, so the techs brought it down a notch, and the better-than-half-full Orto bar proved to be an excellent absorber of excess decibels that could have shredded eardrums, had a handful of listeners been present at the venue that night. Tide thus built a superb backdrop of a massive wall of sound, salted with a greasy, modern swampy smear based on the authentic tone of Gibson guitars. That was matched by a perfectly calibrated rhythm section, which provides a mighty, relentless frame for the guitar riffs and an important crutch for the vocal delivery. Kevin Koradin is the kind of frontman who isn’t exactly chatty between songs. His style of communicating with the crowd isn’t verbal braiding and cracking jokes (of the few that stuck in memory tonight was the »scary« one that »tonight’s gig is split into two parts with a break in between«). Kevin does it all with his performance. On stage, with his energetic and deeply felt delivery of the lyrics, he comes across as a brusque young punk, with sharp and grim stares that deliberately give off a sense of slight aloofness. The look of a rebel whose only mother tongue is the language of rock ‘n’ roll debauchery.
The show was especially intense in the older songs, and the chemistry and charged voltage of the live delivery never let up in the room! The same went for the current material, which Tide dug into with the ravenous single-shrapnel Riot Act – followed by the hotly anticipated ballad Waiting For The Rain, much demanded by Tide fans, and above all it roared once more, big time, with the new, mildly stoner-gazing Mud. After another very charming older number called Not A Whore, Neisha climbed onto the stage, which was the cue for the newer rock ballad Love Is Gone. »Madam Buh« in a happy combination with Tide on stage proved once again that an occasional dip into 100% rock heritage suits her just fine.
Tide build up their shows from song to song. They approach this strictly professionally. Every move on stage is thought out and planned. Coincidences are almost not allowed. And Tide develop an immense fluidity in how the night unfolds, backed throughout by driving dynamics thanks to the band’s tight interplay and, in places, given the live miles they’ve racked up, a bit of routine too. That leaves very little room for mistakes. When they do pop up, they’re fleeting and unimportant.
The guys spiced up the repertoire properly this time. An older song that likewise found its way back into the set after a longer break, titled Evolution, was ushered in by the opening riff of Metallica’s Master Of Puppets, and the big finale crescendo was announced with an excellent cover of the Rage Against The Machine standard Killing In the Name Of, which deserves special praise. The eruptive energy that shook the foundations of Orto bar during this song was wisely held in check in the room by the next number. Another song from the band’s debut, Brain Damage, since the band was joined on stage for the occasion by Gianni Poposki (Noctiferia), who added the all-important »growl« to the chorus, which sent a good chunk of the crowd into delirium. Tide closed their new, utterly convincing show, charged with real driving rock energy, just as expected, with their beloved cover of the legendary MC5’s Kick Out The Jams, ending the set on a concert high. Song by song they steadily built an atmosphere that, like a tide in the true sense of the band’s name, flooded Orto bar itself.
With their live show, Tide confirmed once again that they are one of the best modern-sounding rock bands in Slovenia. Their material carries the authentic charisma of retro, nostalgic rock arranging, effectively dressed up with the sonic contours of modern times, where a thick, voluminous »groove« effect reigns, rolling along on fat, upfront guitar riffs and Kevin’s angrily jagged, gravelly vocal bite! A great show from a seasoned band that left not a shred of indifference in the club by the end of the night, just full-on satisfaction amid the dust and ashes!
Setlist
1. Strange Day
2. The Urge
3. Release My Gun
4. Adieu
5. No Place Left To Go
6. Like It Slow
7. Hero
8. Riot Act
9. Waiting For The Rain
10. Mud
11. Don’t Look Back
12. Not A Whore / Bullet
13. Love Is Gone
14. Master Of Puppets / Evolution
15. Shooting Straight
16. Killing In The Name Of
17. Brain Damage
18. Kick Out The Jams
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