People who know me - who really know ME - know how hard it
is for me to be constantly aware of multitude of formalities shrouding the
breathtaking beauty of substance. This is a common peeve wherever I go and
whatever I do and I can think but a handful of experiences that have proved themselves
different.
Now I have one more that proved to be… wonderful.
I have waited for Riverside to come to Zagreb for a long, long time. I was in such disbelief that
when I saw first announcements of their arrival to Zagreb I have coldly dismissed
them as fraud. Nevertheless I’ve kept my eyes open for any new information and
one day there was some more on last.fm and muzika.hr and on Močvara FacebookPage. Multi-source information sounded much more legit so I went to town and treated
myself to a ticket (and offspringess to Vincek walnut ice-cream).
And I waited. I ruminated on their lyrics. I listened to
their music. I scoured Youtube for their videos.
I wrote a story of the past to show a bit of myself to theworld. I’ve let my happiness I’ll see them show and have made my commitment
public.
Wednesday night came, bearing gifts.
As I entered Močvara few minutes after nine there were many people
already there and that made me super
pleased because I feel that such great music deserves multitude of fans wherever
it finds itself. Inside there was stage already set and audio mixing console
stationed in the back (I understand this is new addition to Močvara setup, and
I’m welcoming this investment). I met a friend and we mingled a bit and soon Močvara was nicely filled with people
and we resumed our positions in the front.
At about 21:45 roadie came onstage and plugged something in.
Intro commenced. 5 minutes later the band came out and took their instruments. That beauty of complete simplicity and utter unpretentiousness
cannot adequately be put into words. They just got their instruments and
played.
They opened with New Generation Slave, the title song from
January 2013 album. Mariusz Duda, their frontman, lyricist and bass,
cringed for a shortest second as spotlight
awkwardly hit his face for the first time in the evening and just started to
sing and it was so wonderfully clear and noiseless and penetrating it felt like
no real thing ever feels, it felt like complete fulfillment of a fantasy. But
it just went on and on.
They played almost whole new album and some old songs,
Mariusz talked between songs – introduced the band, said a few words about the
tour, spoken of this year being their 10th anniversary since the
band exists, told us “we’re not playing metal anymore, we’re just playing songs” and
he played along with some funny stereotypical expectations a bit. It felt unforced
and natural and relaxed. It felt intimate and human. It felt heartfelt.
Guys look so good on stage, Mariusz is unexpectedly gracile and
Michał absolutely gorgeous, Piotrs cute and wondrously animated, very attentive
and warm.
They are all so young and I love how they have grown up –
from boys into men in their music and their business sense. I love how Mariusz
writes concise, down to the point lyrics that depict a world far from perfect
yet livable, even lovable. When they
played We Got Used To Us it sounded so crystalline I was moved to tears while
time stood still in that perfect cherry-tree-petals-flying -in-the-warm-breeze
moment. Lights were fantastic for a stage so small and there were both blues
and reds common folk like and whites and yellows that are good for taking
pictures.
They played for nearly two hours and they got out for an
encore twice and they closed with their current single Celebrity Touch and it
was wonderful. They took a bow for us twice and they promised not to wait ten
years to come to Croatia again (“Maybe in a year or two we can come back”).
Later my friend and I stayed and had a drink and chatted and
I talked and talked and talked and I was so utterly and unbelievably happy I
forgot all about work tomorrow morning and responsibilities and obligations and
I was just there. In the moment. In rapture.
Next morning, under my usual hot’n’cold morning shower, for the first time in years and maybe even forever I felt
at peace.
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