100 years of KUD France Prešeren

Not in its original form of course, and not that I have followed it for all of the 100 years (c'mon even I am not that old), but it was a place which importantly formed my love for theatre, live music and gave me an excellent starting point for my photography... It was probably the first place I started going to see plays on my own accord (The ones I remember best are the ones by the theatre group Ana Monro in the 1980s - I really wish I would have been a photographer back then), it was probably the first place I started attending festivals (I was a regular at their one month summer free for all festival) and it was also the first place I started taking photographs on a daily basis and where my good friend Damjan and I started a blog on which Damjan and I posted photos every night after the evening performance, and which we expanded the next year into a photography 'competition' open to anyone who came to the festival (because I believed that I can't be the only one who enjoys photography this much and wanted to provide a platform for anyone else who might want to try themselves out in this wonderful endeavor... I am certain that it was because of my photography at KUD that I got my first paid photography assignment (covering a concert for Mladina).

So when they organised an anniversary concert I knew I had to go (especially as I was back in the country after a long time) and on the night I saw Lolita (the photo above)

 Leon Matek 

Marko Brecelj

 Jani Kovačič

Sakrabolt, Dolly Bad!

As they had various problems, disagreements and financial difficulties over the years (don't we all), this concert did not take place in the original building (it is now run by somebody else) and it only included a fraction of the people involved in the good old times... I must say that I really, really, I mean really missed Ana Monro at the anniversary.   

Ment 2017, day 2

One half of Coals

One third of Birthh

Sara Renar

Two thirds of Straight Mickey and the Boyz

A quarter of The Ills

The wild woman from The Jack Wood

КУКЛА

One third of White Wine

I had a feeling

they were taking themselves way to seriously, and you know I prefer when the band is having fun on stage... So loosen up a bit, everything will be fine.

The metal

band that doesn't take itself seriously.

An opening

at which you can see the work in progress.

 Followed by a  concert of two bands I have never seen before.

What more could a man ask for (well I can think of something, but that is another story (one of woe), and I wouldn't want to bore you all with the details of it in this blog).

Where the hell was Nina?

While we were all waiting for her in Gala Hala, she was drinking beer in Daktari.

A cute

French midweek concert.

They came all the way from Spain

just to put us all in a good funky mood.

Trying to catch up

for the temps perdu when I was at home in bed, alone with my fever. So first I went to see Igor Koruga's Expose, which I watched twice... first while taking photos during rehearsals, then just sitting back and enjoing it for the second time during the performance...

 After that I sat on my bike and cycled through the Ljubljana fog (in which even Sherlock Holmes would get lost) to Irena's exhibition

 After which we all went next door to see a couple of bands (well some of us went in, others decided to stand in the cold and see if they can produce more fog)

By the time I got to another concert, to the final venue of the night (but once again more or less just next door), I was a bit tired so I listened to a few songs and then decided to call it a night and head back to bed (this time without a fever).

A long evening

It all started with exhibition No. 1

followed by exhibition No. 2 (at a different venue)

Band No. 1 (that I saw, it was really band No. 2 of the evening, but I missed the first one)

Band No. 2 of the evening (my favourite of the night)
And after this I hopped on my bike and cycled to the third venue of the evening to see

band No. 3 of the evening.

With her voice

she made us all a bit wobbly in our knees.

My good friend Cat

seems to have become worried that my daily blog has become way too erratic and that it sees new updates on rare occasions (I think my dad also shares this opinion, and I completely agree with them both), so I thought I better post something before my blog is officially (but way prematurely, for it hopefully still has a bit of oomph in it) declared dead, a stiffy, a gonner, a has been that has is forever visiting its 2TB cloud and is riding the great shiny binary code in the sky  (yes, I know you have not failed to notice the great Monthy Python influence here). And I ask you, could there be a better day to do this than a day in which I have successfully proven (once again, and in a matter of hours) to be a true hard core culture whore (without even planning to do so).
First of all I bumped into Lolita

They were in the middle of their soundcheck for their evening gig, but that surely could not (and did not) stop me from taking my camera out and taking a few photos. Unfortunately, they told me that they will start with the gig at 8, and by that time this man with the camera in his backpack had to be elsewhere. So I bid them farewell and dropped in on an opening on the way:

 

where I was glad to see (alongside the art and the two artist of course) a painter (not one of the ones exhibiting) showing and discussing the paintings with his daughter (yes, I definitely decided to go with this interpretation of events). After this I had to whiz off to do some work (which you might notice from the next photo does not differ greatly from the things I tend to do for fun, with the one single great difference, that it pays some of the bills (which, even though I might come across as a care free photographer roaming the streets and having fun, I do have (unfortunately)), which makes my bank happy - at least I think they are by far the happiest when I get some money into my account as they have second dibs to it - right after the government - oh, have I mentioned recently how really great it is?):

I definitely tried to do my best here (but then again, I guess I always try to do my best) even though I was slightly distracted by the commotion going on just a few meters away. Of course, I went to take a closer look, and took with me my little camera. And there they were, a punk band (apparently) from Argentina (I think?) singing a Motorhead song and wearing a Metallica T-shirt (?). Oh well, you live and learn, said the photographer in an old fogey's manner:

Of course, I returned to my work post after a few songs and took some more photos, but afterwards I went to listen to a bit of ska, to get some of that happy music (and even though I did not grow up in the ska era as such (well maybe, at the end of the second wave and during the third wave), I associate ska with the days in London as a child - fuzzy memories, but I remember hearing songs by the Specials and Madness, and I remember the black and white cover of the specials LP, and being in a record shop with my dad where there were some black and white ska posters or badges or something - my oh my, have I strayed...). Anyroad, I think I better end this short report with a black and white photo of the new guy (trying to make his way up in the band, and I am sure that he will soon take over the entire photo) in the ska band Void Union: