Location: Prečna (Novo mesto) / Lukna / Slovenia
Date: 27.09.2013
El Kachon are a seven-piece that rides with vehemence. They recently dropped their studio debut »In The Bush« (2013) – RockLine review HERE and in the Dolenjska region it’s not hard to catch them on a concert stage. In October they’re heading to Serbia for a short tour. The band is officially based in Dolenjske Toplice and is known for an outstanding team spirit, which is the core of their character and the foundation for reaching all their goals. As I mentioned somewhere, sometime, not long ago, El Kachon are one of the best-organized bands in Slovenia. Organized as far as self-organization goes. The album came out on their own label, they handled the official merch themselves, designed with a careful aesthetic eye, and the band also invests in promo material on its own. When you see them on stage, the bass drum head carries the El Kachon logo, a big colorful banner decorates the backdrop, there are even guitar picks with El Kachon engraved on them. So this is a band on the Slovenian scene that can be a shining example to the rest with its camaraderie and self-discipline. A kind of vision of the future, since it’s clear that bands will have to become independent businesses.
But let’s move on from what the eyes can see. News of the day! Klub Lukna is up and running again. It’s in the village of Prečna near Novo mesto, close to that famous spot where we hope the Rock Otočec festival will one day return! Speaking of Rock Otočec, its father Franci Kek visited Klub Lukna that evening too. One of the most famous rock preachers in Slovenia, Dragan Bulič, was there as well, and so on. Good news travels fast, and El Kachon definitely HAVE a good name! A gorgeous manor house, a cozy place filled with warmth. Dolenjska. The land of ever-smiling faces.
As expected, the band’s set was split into two parts of twelve songs each. The sound was excellent in both, and the band was definitely in much better spirits than at the start of September at the gig in Zagradec (on the Krka), which was by no means bad. The band basically played their entire studio debut »In the Bush«, and added a bunch of new songs plus some outstanding covers of originals that hardly anyone in Slovenia plays (the exception might be the by now “folk-song-ified” Helter Skelter). El Kachon are a crew whose expression stands on a strong blues backbone. And into those blues starting points they splendidly weave elements of the big melodic payoff that adorns their own songs. Role models? Susan Tedeschi, Cream, Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble, Gov’t Mule, Derek Trucks, Mother’s Finest, Allman Brothers Band. And more. El Kachon are unburdened by trends; they’re pure, primal joy and a desire to play the music that flows through the crew’s veins. No pretending. Just a raw urge to express something primal. So we can say El Kachon are a timeless vessel, hopping from one time dimension and galaxy to another. And it’s precisely this drive for the elemental that gives them their strongly recognizable, one-of-a-kind character on the Slovenian music scene. And this time too they radiated all of it to the fullest.
If the first half was still weighed down with a bit of caution, the second one was a total switch-off. With the exception of keyboardist Mladen and drummer Žiga, absolutely every member takes a turn on lead vocals. It got especially fun when PimpS got his chance, and he almost set Krt’s guitar on fire. You could say that, as locals, El Kachon were the ideal choice that night for the reopening of Klub Lukna. They’re fantastically tight! What really stands out is the band’s great care for vocal coloring and harmonizing the lead melodies. Here again are the top-notch solo escapades of the subtle Tomi Perinčič on slide guitar, and on the other side the far more extroverted, wildly untamed ones from Krt (the guy listened to a lot of The Rolling Stones and AC/DC back in the day, and I dare even hint at Motörhead). Krt and Tomi are like the two little schnauzers on the »Black And White« whisky label. They complement each other brilliantly through their differences. Not to mention the brilliance of the rhythm section. Sondža’s melodic, active and warm bass line, teamed with stocky, well-measured swings of the drums, backed up by PimpS’s devoted, almost fanatical percussion output, are the factors that put El Kachon not just in a special spot among Slovenian acts, but, I dare say, even among the best Slovenian bands of the younger generation right now. Especially when it comes to dealing in retro-sound characteristics. They breathe in the days of the distant past, re-encode them, and, masterfully repackaged, serve them up to the listener for fresh consumption. They sound evergreen! At the same time we can’t hide the fact that El Kachon also showed off a nice little bunch of brand-new songs on stage. The band actually already has enough material for a new studio album. The question is where a benefactor will turn up to help them record the material and turn it into a new studio record.
Lukna was really going off that night. The night was long, and the buzz about El Kachon’s great new live show didn’t fade for ages after the gig. I’ve got just one piece of advice left. If you can’t catch the band on stage to check out its strengths in the most authentic way beforehand, order at least their studio debut »In the Bush« through their website. You won’t regret it.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist:
1. Learn How To Live
2. What If
3. Couldn’t Stand the Weather
4. Don’t Start
5. Strawberry Blonde
6. Everything I Get
7. Still
8. Say What You Mean
9. Little By Little
10. Bad Little Doogie
11. Solo Moon
12. Midnight in Harlem
13. Same Time Same Place
14. Mustang Sally
15. A New Mistake
16. Harry Balls
17. Hard To Handle
18. Come And Get It
19. Home
20. Badge
21. You Got Me Rockin’
22. Helter Skelter
23. Damn Your Eyes
24. Snakebite
