Delam kar paše mi.

''Podnevi suženj sem življenja ponoči pa pozabim vse in delam kar si želim. Ritem rock`n`rolla me prevzame in mi požene kri po žilah. Jaz nimam noč za spanje, ponoči se znorim. Nemaram le sanjati, jaz sanje rad živim.''

Šank Rock - Jaz nimam noč za spanje

I decided to do something just a little bit different today. I go on and on and on about bands with worldwide fame, bands we all know or we at least heard of at some point in our lives. And to be honest it's not fair. I should pay some attention to the bands we have here. Home. Great, amazing, talented musicians. Musicians I grew up with and seen about a thousand times.

I had a really busy weekend and as I type this early Monday morning I am still exhausted. I must be getting old. Ha ha. Friday night we had a big charity concert. We were raising money for a burned down hangar. Now everyone that knows me knows that if I love anything then that's charity concerts. Not only you enjoy and have a great time you also do something good for someone else. Which of course brings us back to local concerts. Jesus Christ. The drinking. Why? WHY? Why would someone go to a concert and then get so damn drunk that it wouldn't make a difference to them if there's Marilyn Manson or Madonna on stage? I did mention that guy that slept through the entire Guns N' Roses concert didn't I? Ugh. Humans.

Nevermind, let's get back to the bands or this will turn into a full blown rant about how much people annoy me lately. And trust me they do. Like a lot.

First band that played, Nude, locals, they pretty much live down the street from me. The band started in 1993 I believe, which makes them a year younger then me. I've seen them live at least 100 times no joke. Ever since I was a kid, barely one year old, musician's daughter you know how that works, mom and dad loved music and they used to take me to all kinds of local shows and I've seen Nude so many times because I loved them most, well I still do. I never get tired of their music. Obviously. They are a really great band, they have great music with awesome lyrics and many awards including one for Slovenia's most popular artist. Well deserved too.

You know this is a band that was started by two members in high school, probably in a garage, based on mutual love for Rock 'n' roll music. And their first name was actually ''Every East'' which later sounded teenagery and not provocative enough. Now their biggest concert was local, in our Kayak club that was absolutely packed, and they were actually an opening act for Serbian singer Bajaga that was on tour at the time, they did concerts together all over our country. The name Nude was born then, as in naked, exposed, honest, straightforward and totally in style of their influences such as U2, Metallica, Nirvana, Radiohead...and they started with their own music, no more covers, and let me tell you something thank god because that music, yeah it's perfect. They play this easy pop rock, it's catchy and it's fun, makes you wanna sing and dance along.

So Friday night with them was totally fun as per usual. I just love screaming along to lyrics in my own language for a change. I enjoyed watching a fangirl too, she was freaking out, like ''if he looks at me I will just die on the spot I swear''. I couldn't stop giggling, I never looked at them that way though I must admit they are handsome. But I got a first hand view of how crazy I can be. This was a sort of ''deja vu''. Jon Bon Jovi. If I do recall I was freaking out even more, ''oh my god if he touches me I am never washing my hands again'' kinda thing. Hah.

''Ti si tok popularna, tvoje roke so zlatarna, ko hodiš po mestu, vsak se za tabo ozre. Lačna si ljubezni, jst bom tvoj ulov, dovolj si že stara, da se z mano igraš. Jst te dam na balon, pa tud če tvoja mama me sovraži, ker noče da še gdo se s tabo važi, če boš ti hotela kar takoj. Jst te dam na balon, če slučajn bo težil tvoj stari, dej povej mu naj mi ne sitnari, ker to stvar obvladam, se že leta ubadam, js te dam na balon.''

Nude - Balon

Cheers boys, I love you, see you next time.

And the second band. Locals as well. They're called ''Šank rock'' which roughly translates to ''bar rock''. I haven't seen them as many times which is ironic if you consider that my dad used to live right next door to the singer, and they're friends. But this band I love even more. They are rock n roll, they are fun, they are our very own 80's ''hair metal'' rockers and I honestly love them. They started out in 1982, their first record came out in 1987 and after that an owner of a tv station discovered them and things went up from there. Now past members aside, current members are ah-mazing. The singer Matjaž. The voice guys the voice! Those rock screams. Holy hell. So cool. And the guitar player Bor? He's our very own Slash, I am not joking. The man is amazing, the way his fingers fly up and down those strings so effortlessly. It's just. Woah. I can feel myself melting away when he plays. But then again might not be just music, might be the fact that he's kinda attractive. Okay fine, very attractive but let's not go there. Again. Hah.

In 1995 they got an offer from managers in New York to record an album there. And they did. It's called ''Shut up and play'' but things went a bit sideways then, should they stay in USA or go back...you know I get it, who wouldn't take the offer and record in USA given the chance? I know if I was a musician I surely would want just that. And also I wouldn't want them to go, they honestly are the best band we've got so you know...I'm a bit selfish here I know. Hah. No, seriously I wish them all the best. Anyways the drummer left and then in 1998 the band stopped working. And then in 2002 they're back with the drummer that left and it worked till 2006 when disagreements made Bor leave, the guitar genius! Which if you ask me is nothing short of a disaster. Look I know we have a ton of really talented musicians but c'mon none are Bor. He is all that. Plain and simple. Which brings us to 2011 when disagreements made the singer and bass player leave the band and the band broke up. There were tears I admit when I found out. I was beyond miserable at that point.

Luckily I didn't have to be miserable for too long, in 2014 they were back for what was supposed to be an exclusive show on a local annual festival but they decided to continiue and up till now they put out 2 new albums and are currently promoting the last one that came out in 2017 that I might be a little obsessed with. It is nothing short of perfect. All the songs are absolutely amazing, the slow rock ballads are beautiful, the lyrics packed with emotion, and the heavier songs are energetic and fun and full of guitar solos that could match up with some of the best guitar players in the world. Let's not even get into those vocals. I get goose bumps just thinking about it.

Fun fact, first time I saw then I was around 1 year old, slept through the entire show, which is amazing considering that was back in 1993 or 1994, speakers back then weren't as great as they are today *you'd walk out of the venue and your ears were ringing and your teeth vibrating* and these guys are loud. Really loud. I saw them a couple of times after, through the years, and on that exclusive show in 2014, one of my favorite shows really, just because they were back. But I got to say Friday night was something else. I don't know what it was but it was just completly amazing. Might be that one song ''Metulj'' or butterfly if you will, which everyone knows, and everyone sings on top of their lungs. And this one it was even louder, we were in a hangar, raising money for pilots, and the song is about flying. It was a moment that gives you shivers and makes you feel happy and warm all over. You know what I mean? It's a feeling you have to feel, I can't describe it but it's better then any kind of drug, better then that buzz alcohol gives you, and honey so much better then sex.

''Nova oblast zopet dela red, meni trd kruh, sebi mleko in med. Vsega sem sit, vse je čisti »shit«! Aj, ja, jaj, ja, jaj. Kradejo vsi, jaz naj bom pošten. Kot da sem nor, v čuden čas rojen. Šel bi drugam, nimam pojma, kam? Aj, ja, jaj, ja, jaj. Ko se stemni mi v glavi in vse me tlači dol. Na noge me postavi Rock ‘n’ Roll! Vse bo vrag vzel, Rock bo preživel! Ja, v to sem prepričan! Vse bo vrag vzel, Rock bo preživel! Pošteno, brez kiča! Jaz pa z njim, ko znorim, ko se mi utrga! Še bom pel in verjel, Rock bo preživel!''

Šank Rock - Rock bo preživel

''Ljubezen dela čudeže, le poslušaj srce in prepusti se. Verjemi v ljubezen, to je vse. Ljubezen dela čudeže, le dovoli ji spet, da objame tvoj svet, ves tvoj svet.''

Šank Rock - Ljubezen dela čudeže

I got to admit I ''lost'' it a couple of times during their set on Friday night, we're talking dancing, headbanging, singing along, or better yet howling along. Hey, I never said I'm a good singer did I? Never stopped me though, my voice was a bit shot next morning. But I enjoyed every second of it. Local heroes as a friend of mine would say. They're the best and I love them just as much as I love any of my ''big dogs'' such as GN'R and Crue and all the rest...

And then there was Saturday night. I was in that very same Kayak club I mentioned earlier, there was a kayaking competition and a concert later on. The singer that was preforming is also one of my favorite local singers ''Pero Lovšin''. Amazing rock voice, great music also. He changed quite a few bands in his career my favorite one being ''Pankrti'' meaning punks. Great band, punk rock music and they started a movment in music in former Yugoslavia, new wave? You know about these things right? After Pankrti there was another band ''Sokoli'' meaning Falcons, they put out an album titled ''Marija pomagaj'' *mother Mary help me* which aparently is still to this day one of Slovenian best sold albums. They kinda parted from everything else on the scene at the time beacause they had this hard rough sound, kinda like Motley Crue had in their early days, when it was unpolished and raw but that was exactly the thing that made it perfect.

Sokoli played their last show in 1993 somewhere in Austria where a local reporter said that they as a band are too big for such a small country. Completly true. We have so much talent in this country and they have little to no chance in making it to the big times. Lovšin actually helped a lot of young talented musicians on their way to succsses making them his support bands on tour. Then after he went solo he wrote 5 new albums that were awarded a couple of times but never quite as important as the 2000 football anthem that he wrote with two other musicians. Oh my god does that song annoy me or what? There won't be a sports event in this country without it. It's getting rather old at this point.

Now let me point out that two records ''Izlet'' and ''Happy hour'' were recorded on Jamaica with The Wailers which surely you know are Bob Marley's group and also with Brian Jobson who produced Eurythmics and No Doubt. Safe to say he is serious business. In 2014 he was on the chart of 10 best rock singers in Slovenia which was also the first year that chart happened. And no surprise too, his voice is nothing short of perfect.

I've seen him a couple of times. I actually always go see him when he's near beacuse I enjoy his music, I enjoy his concerts, specially those little comments about politics and our country and the way we live and where we're going. Those comments usually go into the song ''Bandiera Rossa'' which is more then controversial here at the moment. For those of you who don't know Banriera Rossa or Avanti Popolo is one of the most famous songs of the Italian labour movement. It glorifies the red flag, symbol of the socialist and communist movement. The text was written by Carlo Tuzzi in 1908, the melody is taken from two Lombard folk songs. And that very socialist and communist part of it is what makes it controversial in our current political state. Not that anyone cares. Everyone was singing this song as loud as they could. "Evviva il comunismo e la libertà" well...let's not go there right now, this is not a political post, even if punk and politics go hand in hand.

Sometimes letting lose and forgetting your problems and life around you is good. And I can't imagine a better way to do that then on a concert. Music is passion, it's like the air you breathe, it's that happiness and freedom I'm missing on a daily basis. It's a getaway from the prison that is work, or school, or whatever else it is that's keeping you down. Nothing is quite as good as live music, screaming the lyrics back to the band. Or as my boys would say...

''Paše družba, dobra zabava, ko rabim se znoret. Paše oder, muzka taprava, da mi da polet. Pasalo bi z mojim bandom, na turnejo it v svet, in ko v postelji sem s tabo, vem kaj nama paše počet. Delam kar paše mi, kar se mi dober zdi, vzamem si, kar si želim! Delam kar paše mi, le enkrat se živi, usodo si sam krojim!

Paše sreče, zdravja, veselja, nekomu zaželet. In paše spanje, mirna nedelja, kadar sem napet. Pasal bi miljon na lotu, ali raje štiri, pet. A najbolj v tem trenutku, paše mi z vami zapet. Delam kar paše mi, kar se mi dober zdi, vzamem si, kar si želim.''

Šank Rock - Delam kar paše me

Cheers guys, here's to a pain free as possible monday. Good luck at school to those that are starting today. Look after one another and don't forget to let lose sometimes. It's good for you.

Take tomorrow one day at a time.

Heaven isn't too far away.

Now the lights are going out, along the boulevard, memories come rushing back and makes it pretty hard.

I've got nowhere left to go and no one really cares, I don't know what to do but I'm never giving up on you.

Heaven isn't too far away closer to it every day, no matter what your friends might say we'll find our way.

Rest in peace angel.

February 1, 1964 - August 11, 2011

Take me back cause I need to be reminded what I left behind me so far away. Take me back cause I need to feel the fire, yesterday's desire ain't far away.

''I can't tell ya baby what went wrong I can't make you feel what you felt so long ago, I'll let it show. I can't give you back what's been hurt, heartaches come and go and all that's left are the words I can't let go. If we take some time to think it over baby, take some time let me know if you really wanna go.

Don't know what you got till it's gone, don't know what it is I did so wrong, now I know what I got, it's just this song and it ain't easy to get back, takes so long.''

Did you ever notice how pain comes in waves? Sometimes nothing and sometimes it hits you full force? Sometimes you're completly alright, dare I say happy? And sometimes all you know is pain, pain, pain.

It's been a long week. Long hard week. And I sat here for an hour just thinking what to write about. Complain about the weather? Jesus summer go home you're drunk. This is Europe not hell. Well, feels like hell in more ways the one anyways, so I guess close enough. Should I give you another speech about any of the many things that bother me? About all the things that are wrong and ugly and unfair on this planet? Would I even make a difference?

I suppose I wouldn't. I picked a record to write about. Chester Bennington's death, literally swept the rug from underneath me and I am still processing and healing, it doesn't seem to hurt any less, thinking I'll never get to see him live again, thinking what an amazing man and kind caring soul was taken away from us by something as ugly as depression, thinking about his family and best friends…that is unbearable. So I've been listening to a lot of different music, to distract myself. Lord knows if I play their album I'd be a sobbing mess within minutes…

So it's this instead…

You don't know what you got till it's gone? Aint that the truth?

I love Tom Keifers voice. I absolutely love it and to think we almost couldn't get to enjoy it. He has been cursed with performance problems for so many years due to paralysis of one of his vocal cords, horrible situation for any singer. Yet I mean, would it be so bad if it happened to someone like Justin Bieber or would it actually be a blessing from above? Think about it…

Either way I believe that Long cold winter is not just Cinderella's finest moment but one of the best moments in 1980's hard rock. Yes you heard me hard rock. Calling them hair metal is just plain rude. They are so underrated it's not even funny. Sure they looked all poofed out on the back cover but under all the hair and makeup *yeah yeah hair metal I get it* their sound really more reminds of like 1970's southern rock. Did you pay attention to the inner sleeve? The cowboy hat? And live covers of Sweet home Alabama? Or Tom Keifer singing on a top 10 country album by Andy Griggs, okay it was what 14 years later but still. Not to mention the themathics, country songs have this eternal theme of trying to find your way back home, but isn't that what Gypsy road and The last mile and of course Coming home are all about?

This album is a step up for Cinderella if you ask me, I love Night songs but honestly this one is better in so many ways. This new found sound they got, a bit of bluesy rock kinda like the Stones you know. But we're at it again the ballad Don't know what you got, which I love don't get me wrong is what made them most commercial success. To be honest though the combination of those pop rock hooks and serious badass rock n roll on other songs such as Fallin apart at the seams is what done it for me. Amazing album, sound, lyrics. An amazing mix of screeching rock and bitter blues. Not to mention the lyrics, Tom is completly underrated as a song writer, you can hear just how much of his soul he bared on this record and he would deserve a lot more credit.

Night songs was all about hard rock, party all night long and basically sex. It was fun, but Long cold winter started picking up on some other influences which helped them find their own thing, their own voice. The acoustic blues parts that slowly transition into that well known hard rock sound are really cool, they actually remind me more of Aerosmith then of their first album.

Fun fact; did you know that Fred Coury their drummer was touring with Guns N' Roses almost through the entire recording process of Long cold winter. Steven Adler broke his hand while punching a wall. Really Stevie, really? Lol. Denny Carmassi and later Cozy Powell *R.I.P.* stepped in to help.

Bad seamstress blues is where I think it shows most clearly that the band has grown up and changed. In a good way mind you. The electric blues and organs and ''moaning guitar''. Not to mention how Tom stretches his voice almost to a breaking point. I'm willing to bet this right here was pretty much the first taste of blues rock if not blues alone that many hard rock loving fans got in the 80's.

Followed by Gypsy road and Fallin' apart at the seams which are holy shit amazing, they're hard rock, they're totally badass. That voice! My god. People call these two songs hair metal songs, which is why I don't like people. To be honest they only made one ''hair metal'' album which is Night songs, after that, their music sounded a lot more like Aerosmith rather then Poison. No offence to Poison either. I love them. But if you're still doubting then please, go check out their third album Heartbreak station, if you still hear hair metal there then all hope is lost for you.

Don't know what you got (till it's gone), power ballad. Epic one, radio stations still play it. Beautiful song to be honest. Tom's voice on it is really beautiful and that great guitar solo in between is also a total hair raising moment.

I really liked ''If you don't like it'' classic rock song which is follwed by three amazing songs, Coming home, which to be honest is the song that I was hooked up on almost more then Don't know what you've got, I like the vibe, the feeling, it's obvious they wrote songs while on the road. Then you've got Fire and ice, totally heavy and it totally stands out, for me at least. And then the album closes with Take me back, kinda the same vibe as Coming home yet a lot heavier, but an amazing closing song to such a great record.

Long cold winter is and will remain my favorite album they've put out and one of my favorite 80's rock albums in general. People lately are childish, ''embarrassed'' to admit they like something that was labeled ''hair band'' once. Like Poison. Well shit I still like Poison, Nothing but a good time, Talk dirty to me, So tell me why, Your mama don't dance and obviously Every rose has it's thorn are totally my jams and I aint ashamed to say I love them, so do expect me turning up the volume when either Poison or Cinderella come on.

Here's a life lesson for you kids, be who you are, don't be afraid to liking what you like, and loving who you love. No matter what people say. They have no right to tell you who to be or how to live your life.

''I can't feel the things that cause you pain, I can't clear my heart of your love, it falls like rain, ain't the same. I hear you calling far away, tearing through my soul I just can't take another day, Who's to blame. If we take some time to think it over baby, take some time let me know if you really wanna go...

Don't know what you got till it's gone, don't know what it is I did so wrong, now I know what I got it's just this song and it ain't easy to get back, takes so long...

Do you wanna see me beggin' baby, can't you give me just one more day? Can't you see my heart's been draggin' lately, I've been lookin' for the words to say.''