Niet – Križanke – 31.5.2010
Niet were preparing the concert Čas za revolucijo – Time for Revolution in Križanke 31.5. to promote the new album 13, which is released on April 13 with thirteen songs. This is actually their first studio album. The creator behind this is guitarist Dernovšek and their producer is Činč. The album would be connected as a whole and follows an alienated individual who finds no comfort in the love and ends tragically. They are supposed to keep the original sound, but they are still evolving, and various musicians have been invited to feature.
Robi and I were excited to hear them live because we grew up listening to their music. I last heard them live from outside of the Gala Hall on Metelkova in 1994, because I couldn’t buy a ticket, without Habič already. Since they revive the band again in 2008 with a new singer, we haven’t had a chance to hear them live.
A reliable introduction is made by Backstage and Bulldogs. Jure Longyka appears on stage and tries to animate the audience with a revolutionary speech, but the youth below did not understand him. Soon Niet will appear with Borut Marolt (vocals), Igor Dernovšek (guitar), Aleš Češnovar (bass), Tomaž Breht (drums), and Robert Likar (guitar).
They played 31 songs on stage in less than 2 hours, of course, there were all the songs from the new album and almost all the rest from their opus. They start with Time for Revolution and after two encores end with the song February. As for the old pieces, most of them are performed OK, but they get stuck in various collaborations and ballads. It may have meant progress, but for me, it was one of the TOP 3 concert disappointments.
My understanding of punk says that this music is simple in structure (2-3 chords), where usually a rebellious message is an important part of the performance. Talking about the revolution and having a bracelet with spikes doesn’t make you a punk yet.
But things got worse every moment. Činč appeared on stage with sungčasses and sat down at the concert piano.
Here were the string quartet Violet for accompaniment in two compositions and Severa Gjurin featured in the performance Beli prah – White Dust. Robi is already thinking about leaving, but I convinced him to stay and we’ll see how far they will go.
Of course, it was escalating and now there was a children’s choir from Litija in the piece Animal Farm.
They put the finishing touch by projecting hearts on the roof of Križanke.
Once again, I accept that I am nostalgic and that the above can be interpreted as progress / development. But for me, it was a similar absurdity as if Pavarotti were doing stage diving. But on the way out, we met a colleague who enthusiastically left Križanke with his girlfriend as if he were at a concert by Jan Plestenjak. So it’s quite likely that time went on and I stayed behind. I definitely felt cheated and I’ve stopped following the band ever since.
