Kad bi bio Bijelo Dugme in Tivoli

Bijelo dugme is a band that shaped the Yu-rock scene for the last 2 decades of the common country. Their influence left a mark on those generations, as it also passed on to newer generations. I myself grew up listening to this music and they are one of my favorite bands.

I saw Bebek live already in 1992. But the highlight was definitely the concert at the Koševu stadium, Sarajevo in 2005. Where the band played together for the first time after the breakup with most of the previous members.

When I heard that they were coming to Ljubljana, I was naturally happy. My sister and her husband and Gregor joined me. The tickets were quite expensive, €35. But the concert was still sold out in Tivoli. This time only 3 singers performed with their groups: 62-year-old Željko Bebek, 50-year-old Alen Islamović and 47-year-old Mladen Vojičić – Tifa. Goran Bregović wasn’t there, that’s why the name of the performance was like this. I myself was even happy about it, because in 2005 he pushed too much ethnic moment to the fore.

The concert begins with Kad bi bije bije dumje, which was sung by all three singers. The singers then took turns performing hits from their time with the band; Selma, Đurđevdan, Lipe cvatu, Tako ti je mala moja kad ljubi Bosanac, Loše vino, Ružica si bila. In between, they also sang some songs from other periods of their long careers. At the end, they sing a couple of hits together again before ending the concert, which lasted more than 3 hours.

Alen had the strongest vocals, however Željko is the one who represents the real Bijela Dugma for me, unfortunately Tifa was not at a good enough level. In any case, the 8,000-strong crowd, made up of different generations, steadily followed the trio on stage until the end of the concert. And I was happy to be a part of them.