Venue: Orto bar, Ljubljana
Concert date: April 20, 2008
Attendance: 120
Ticket price: €6
What comes to mind when you hear the name Vanilla Sky? Maybe the Spanish romantic thriller starring the charming Tom Cruise and the gorgeous Penelope Cruz, along with Kurt Russel, Cameron Diaz and other big names from the movie world? Or Luca, Brian, Vinx and Cisco, four Italian pop-rockers united under that name? In this case it’s the latter – the Italian band that played Ljubljana’s Orto bar on Monday, April 21. Celje’s Multiball shared the bill with them.
Vanilla Sky have been on the music scene since 2002. Their debut “Play It If You Can`t Say It” came out that same year, but they really broke through at the end of last summer with a cover of “the dumbest song of all time”, Rihanna’s hit “Umbrella”, which they gave a pop-punk makeover. Their show would’ve been worth catching just to hear how the guys play it live. Only very few people would agree with me, though, because only about 120 showed up at Orto that night, and when I got to the venue around 10 p.m., the discovery honestly shocked me. Sure, it was a Monday, but I figured people would come out to support at least the local guys in Multiball, if not Vanilla Sky. Sad!
Multiball took the stage around 10:30 and kicked off their set with “At Last!”. Strange that nobody in the crowd really budged when the guys started playing, because at their previous gigs I’m used to madness and a “moshpit” right from the start. It stayed that way for the next song, “Intro (Multiball Hits Your Town)”. At shows like this, some kind of energy usually kicks in by the second song if not the first. Unfortunately, things weren’t looking good at Orto. I got the feeling the crowd couldn’t follow the band, since everyone just stared blankly at the stage. The guys did play with a different drummer – Matej (Killing Option), who stepped in for the injured Jan, but they were none the worse for it, because Matej was an excellent replacement. Multiball then tried their luck with “Ladies Room”, but again there was no real response. A few heads bobbed and that was it. Even though Gregor kept egging the crowd on, they just wouldn’t be led. Finally there was a bit more reaction during “When I`m Done”. Speculation started right away: would the crowd finally come alive? Sadly, too soon, because the next song, “Absent”, killed everything dead. Can somebody explain to me what’s going on? The guys are giving it their all, but without a proper response, even their morale drops. Luckily, during “Too Many” a few girls got up and danced in front of the stage. The rest of the audience finally stirred when they heard the opening riffs of the well-known and seriously wild “Friday Night Anthem”. It makes your heart leap to see that maybe, just maybe, there’s something to this bunch of lazybones. Sadly, too late, because the guys wrapped up soon after. Only “After You My Friend” and “Today or Tomorrow” were left. Well, at least at the end the crowd shook their lazy butts a little and left a slightly better impression. Multiball finished their set in a measly forty minutes, with not exactly thrilled looks on their faces. Sadly, I have to say I’ve seen plenty of better shows from them.
The stage then went to Italy’s Vanilla Sky, whom we’ve already had the chance to see and hear in Slovenia, most recently in 2006 on the Punk Is Dead Tour in Ljubljana and Celje. To start, the guys played “Nightmare”, one of the nicest songs off their album “Changes”, released last year. After the crowd’s flop during the first part of the night, things looked much better now, especially since the female half of the audience warmed up a bit. How could they not, when their eyes lit up at the sight of Vanilla Sky. Above all, it was great to see the guys all squeezed together like that, since most of them are used to much bigger stages than Orto’s. They continued with “Your Words”. Another great song. The crowd was already boldly following the guys. Kudos! Then we got to choose whether we wanted to hear the English or the Italian version of “Goodbye/Se Voui Andare”. We went with the Italian one, even though according to Vinx it was harder for him. Funny, since they’re Italian. And it sounds much nicer than the English one, too. At the first riffs of “Distance” I thought it was “Scotty Doesn`t Know” from the movie “Eurotrip”, since it sounds almost the same. But I was glad it was “Distance”, because “Scotty” is starting to get a little annoying. Even though the crowd had come alive, there still wasn’t that energy in the air. Better than nothing. “On And On” followed – a song that got even the most embittered soul at the show singing along. The guys then played a cover of Vanessa Carlton’s “Thousand Miles”. The crowd’s singing along was pretty feeble, so after the song Cisco joked: “That was much better like my mama sing under the shower”. Maybe that song was a turning point, because during “Xmas Girl” the crowd at the front livened up quite a bit, and it was no different during “Gotta Believe”. “Letargo” is my personal favorite, and it was lovely to hear it live again after last year’s Frequency festival. One more, “Devastante”, and then the girls in the front row went a bit wild during “Break It Out”. Sadly, it was already getting close to midnight, which is when shows at Orto bar usually end. But the guys still had a few songs up their sleeves. Among them were “Broken Car” and “Unfriend”. Near the end came what was probably the most anticipated song – “Umbrella” – and everyone was bopping along, even the men in the crowd. Two girls actually opened an umbrella during the song, which brought smiles to Vanilla Sky’s faces. One more “Ghost track”, and then the guys wished us goodnight.
The Orto show was pretty dismal, and all we could do was hope for a better repeat the next day at Štuk in Maribor, where both Multiball and Vanilla Sky played as part of the Punk is dead tour.
Text and photos: Lea Lesar
Setlist
Multiball:
1. At Last
2. Intro (Multiball Hits Your Town)
3. Ladies Room
4. When I`m Done
5. Absent
6. Too Many
7. Friday Night Anthem
8. After You My Friend
9. Today Or Tomorrow
Vanilla Sky:
1. Nightmare
2. Your Words
3. Cut Away
4. Se Vuoi Andare
5. Distance
6. On And On
7. Thousand Miles
8. Xmas Girl
9. Gotta Believe
10. Letargo
11. Devastante
12. Break It Out
13. Broken Car
14. Unfriend
15. Umbrella
16. Ghost Track
Photo gallery
