Tag Archives: gigs

Gig reports, Various

(gig report)LVMEN(CZ)+TOMAŠ PALUCHA(CZ)+EMPHASIS(HR)-14.09.2018.-Prostor Čakovec

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Well, it has been some time since we were last attending some gig at club Prostor in our hometown. On Friday it was time for the new gig season opening, so it was about time to see some interesting bands coming to our town.

While on tour, this interesting package stopped in our hometown and I was eager to see what kind of experience will Lvmen be, since it is more than a decade since I last saw them live.

Upon arriving to the club, I immediately saw that this time the attendance will be really great and I was happy to realize this. Almost according to the schedule, EMPHASIS from our hometown took the stage and began delivering their dark set of post metal with tortured vocals, empowered with some awesome samples in the background.

I saw them playing the same place couple of months ago, and if I am not mistaken they played the same list as back then, minus maybe a song or two.  For this gig they had a slight lineup change, because the drummer from Bednja played with them this time and the guy fit in just fine in their music. They are still promoting their Black Mother Earth album and they also had some nice merch for those who wanted to buy an lp or cd and maybe t-shirt. Their rolling set full of atmosphere lasted for about 45-50 minutes and then they finished to make space for the first guest band from Czech Republic.

I must admit that I have never heard of TOMAŠ PALUCHA prior to this gig, so I was interested to see and hear what is this band like and what they play. The music this band plays is some kind of atmospheric postrock indie with casual expedition to harder riffs and without vocals. They had a movie projected on the canvas behind them and it suited their music fine.

After couple of songs their music was just not really my cup of tea so I went out in front of the club to chat a bit with my friends and share a laugh or two.

Time passed and after about 50 minutes they finished their set and after a little stage makeover time has come for the headliner of this evening, LVMEN start to play. I first saw this band in our hometown like 20 or so years ago and couple of times after that. In the meantime, the guys tragically lost two members who passed away, broke up, reformed and last year they  released the new album.

Ominous intro backed up with wicked movie collage on the canvas above stage marked the beginning of their set. How to describe the music? It is some mixture of Neurosis styled hardcore, post metal, sludge core and it just can´t be described because over the years the guys developed their unique style with screamed vocals, rolling dark riffs, two drummers, samples, loops and the projections that make one dark and adorable whole. Almost without pause Lvmen played five or six songs in their set and after 50 minutes this wonderful dark audio visual experience finished. I was a bit tired and my ears were humming but I went home happy after yet another great gig I saw and heard.

Gig reports, Various

(gig report)PUNK U DEVETKI:BKD(HR)/TAHIJEVI KMETOVI(HR)/THE INSURGENT(SLO)-25.08.2018.-Caffe bar Devetka, Varaždin(HR)

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We didn´t actually plan to go to this gig, but sometimes good times come unplanned. In the afternoon hours the four of us went to Lendava, the nearby town in Slovenia to check out this year´s edition of Bogračfest and it was awesome there.

The evening came and we remembered there is a punk gig in Varaždin, so we decided to go check it out a little. The weather was not so much hot as it has been during the whole week so the short ride to Varaždin went by in a bit, thanks to our driver Allegra who drove us the whole afternoon.

When we entered the venue THE INSURGENT from Slovenia were already playing their set. I noticed that there was the new guy playing bass, but later on the guys told me that this is only temporary replacement. We already wrote about these guys on the pages of this zine, so for those who don´t know, The Insurgent are playing their vision of melodic punk hardcore, a mix of Californian sound and Slovenian bands like In-Sane. The guys in the band are young and they improve gig by gig and I am eager to hear how their first studio effort will sound like. They threw in Lagwagon and Bouncing Souls covers in their set and played about between 30-45 minutes.

TAHIJEVI KMETOVI from Karlovac, Croatia are band whose existence reaches even almost 30 years back, but I must admit that I have never heard of them prior to this gig. They recently put out their first album, so they´ve been busy all these years, hehe! The music they play is punkrock with some faster hardcore parts here and there, but mainly old school punkrock, almost that 77 vibe punk. As I understood the lyrics are in Croatian language, but I didn´t catch what are they singing about. They were okay, but I am fan of more faster stuff, so it was not my cup of tea, so to say.

BKD, local heroes were headlining this gig, hehe. It´s a joke, no one really headlined because all three bands were kinda equal but normally, BKD drew the most people in the crowd. I love how people know all their funny lyrics about drinking, then again some more drinking and everyday problems that this oi punk band sings about. Their gigs are party guaranteed, with the band joking between the songs and being just natural on and off stage. They played mainly the material from their recent debut album and also some newer material that is also awesome.

All the good things end quickly, so when the gig was over, we went home, tired, but happy that we supported another diy punk gig in nearby Varaždin. This town needs the club and needs it quickly. There are so many awesome bands and people there, the scene is not big, but it is tight and friendly community, so it would be nice to have a club and organize gigs there. Now the guys manage with house and backyards diy gigs, in a caffe bar here and there, but the club is an urgent need there. I sincerely hope they˙ll get it.

 

 

Gig reports, Reviews, Various

(gig report)Pičke vrište(Zg)+Diareja Eksploziv(Slo)+The Insurgent(Slo)-14.04.2018.-Mansarda, Lendava(Slo)

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Moram priznati da već jedno vrijeme nisam bio na koncertu u Mansardi u susjednoj nam Lendavi, u prelijepoj nam Sloveniji u kojoj sam pohodio milijun odličnih gigova. Za one koji ne znaju, Mansarda je mali klub u centru gradića Lendava, cirka 20 km udaljen od Čakovca i izgleda kao mali intimni obiteljski klub u potkrovlju zgrade, za sve koncerte na kojima sam tamo bio vežu me samo odlične uspomene.

Kada je naša ekspedicija u večernjim satima te tople subotnje večeri stigla pred klub, nekoliko ljudi je razbijalo vrijeme do početka giga ispijajući pivo i časkajući o svemu i svačemu. Naravno, kako to obično biva, kada ne možeš nekoga pobijediti onda im se pridružiš, pa smo se svesrdno pridružili sveopćem veselju zabavljajući se. Pošto je počela koncertna sezona, bilo je vidljivo da je prilično malo ljudi koji su došli na gig, ali nema veze, ponekad su mali gigovi sa dvadesetak ljudi bolji nego oni sa dvije tisuće.

Malo po malo, došlo je vrijeme da gig počne i kao prvo su nastupili THE INSURGENT iz Gornje Radgone.

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Riječ je o mladom bendu koji svira melodični punk koji me ne znam zašto podsjetio jako na Face To Face. Svirali su otprilike 40-ak minuta svoj autorski materijal sa tekstovima na engleskom jeziku, nešto sa dema kojeg su izdali, nešto novijih plus sve skupa začinili sa ponekim coverom kao što je “Linoleum” od Nofx. Postoji još puno mjesta za napredak, The Insurgent su mladi bend i biti će jednog dana super bend jer marljivo rade, a hrabro su otpilili svoj set sa smiješkom na licima pred ne baš brojnom publikom koja je pratila njihov nastup.

Nakon kraće preinake i setupa, na red je došao i drugi bend, a to su bili DIAREJA EKSPLOZIV iz Ljubljane.

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Ovi momci sviraju punkrock i to rade jako dobro, sa tekstovima na slovenskom jeziku i to čini mi se ako sam dobro shvatio na ljubljanskom dijalektu koje ja baš ne razumijem previše. Neke stvari su mi dobre, neke manje dobre, jer ne volim previše tu vrstu punkrocka kakav oni sviraju, ali nitko im ne može oduzeti to da su dali cijele sebe u taj svoj set i odrokali kao da ne postoji sutra. A sad, meni su čak bili i dobri na neki čudan način, pogotovo veliki hit “Menstruacija” kojeg su sačuvali za sam kraj seta.

Za kraj, ostali su headlineri, bend zbog kojeg sam i došao na ovaj koncert, a to su zagrebačke PIČKE VRIŠTE. Ovo mi je bio šesti njihov gig kojeg sam pohodio, a još uvijek sam prije bio uzbuđen kao da mi je prvi.

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Teško je nešto objektivno pisati za bend čiji članovi su ti prvenstveno prijatelji, pa ispasti objektivan, a ujedno ti je taj bend jedan od najdražih hrvatskih punk bendova. Svi koji su ikada slušali ovaj bend znaju što mogu očekivati, a to je odličan melodični punk sa tekstovima na hrvatskom jeziku punim emocija i životne energije koja te nekako rastuži, ali ti ujedno da snage da u najcrnjim trenucima kreneš dalje i boriš se vječno. Pred binom se okupila brojem ne velika, ali srcem ogromna publika koja je uz raspoloženog vokala Iveka otpjevala sve stare provjerene hitove sa prvog albuma “Nedovršena priča”. Krenuli su sa provjerenom “Zrno nade” preko “Sam” da bi nastavili novim pjesmama sa novog albuma “Crna kutija” koji bi trebao izaći za nekoliko dana, od kojih su mi nekako najdraže “Tko ostaje” “Dostojanstvo prodano” i “Večeras odlazim”. Naslušao sam se tih pjesama po gigovima već tako da neke od njih već znam kao da su izašle, a album još nije vani. Ali biti će, jedva ga čekam. Naravno našle su se tu i “Tvoje ime” i “Boje tuge”, a za kraj  naravno najveći hitovi “Oprosti” za vrijeme koje se jedan gospodin iz publike spontano popeo na binu i otpjevao je cijelu zajedno sa bendom hehehe. “Sjeti se” me uvijek rastuži, jer postanem svjestan da je kraj još jednog giga meni ovog jako dragog benda. Prije samog zadnjeg dijela, Ivek je pozvao sve da se popnu na binu i otpjevaju sa bendom kraj pri čemu sam se naježio na činjenicu da tako malo ljudi može proizvesti tako veliku koncertnu energiju.

Gig je završio, a mi smo nastavili druženje još neko vrijeme pred Mansardom uživajući u prijateljstvu i toploj proljetnoj noći. Imao sam prilike čuti neke glasine da se Mansarda zatvara i da je ovo bio zadnji gig tamo, ali se toplo nadam da to nije istina i da su to samo glasine i ništa drugo. Bila bi šteta, jer se samo lijepe uspomene i pozitivna energija nalaze u tom prostoru.