PUNK ROCK HOLIDAY 1.6, TOLMIN, SLOVENIA

DAY 1

The morning sun forced our hungover butts out of the tents at around 9 in the morning. It’s not easy to sleep when there’s loud music blasting around you all night, but you get used to it. If you don’t, you buy earplugs. Bam, problem solved. The first thing on your mind is bodily fluids. There’s a routine every festival-goer is familiar with: the ultimate quest to find the cleanest portable toilet with paper. There were none. Guess that’s just a downside to having 5000 people at a festival. Metaldays visitors have it even worse, trust me. This was never a problem before at PRH before, but we waited for the toilets to be cleaned and restocked with paper. We survived.

Another routine that’s more typical for the festivals in Tolmin is the daily march to town in order to resupply on smokes, booze and food. March might sound a bit exaggerated, it really only takes about 15 minutes to get to the town shops, but when you’re hungover and dog-tired it can feel like marching, especially if it’s boiling hot. Sunscreen, y’all. A popular alternative to the festival toilets is going for a cup of coffee in town and just, you know, do your thing there.

“Slovenska vas” (Slovenian village) is the place in the camping area where the food stands and bars are concentrated. I met some people who run one of the stands, and they complained that very few people are eating there when compared to Metaldays, the festival that happens a week before PRH. I sincerely hope that more people decided to do so in the days that followed, I know I tried their food, and it was delicious, so I just ate there daily. Metaldays has (for now) 2,3x times more people than PRH. But the metalheads have been doing their thing a lot longer than us, since 2004. PRH started in 2011. We’ll show them ;)

FLAG

Flag is a band composed of five very special old farts. Four of ’em are the founding members of Black Flag, including the legendary self-acknowledged asshole Keith Morris, and the fifth one, Stephen Egerton, is an original member of the Descendents. They play Black Flag songs. Now, it’s hard to comment on how Flag compare to Black Flag live since I’m way too young to have seen the latter perform. Only in dreams and on Youtube. Flag definitely replicate the attitude, it’s all there — anger, despair, but at the same time determination to keep fighting. For their age, they all performed surprisingly energetic, except for Keith. You could easily get the impression he seemed uninterested and distant while singing, but when you even briefly meet him you understand he stays very true to his conviction and beliefs, and if he doesn’t feel the crowd, the crowd won’t get the privilege to feel him and his band as a whole. We heard songs like Depression, My War, Rise Above, Six Pack, Nervous Breakdown and even Louie Louie, a rarity when it comes to Black Flag tunes. At the end of the main part of the set they all hid behind their amps and waited for the crowd to call them back on stage. Didn’t happen. So they left. A bad thing to do? I wouldn’t say so.

BOUNCING SOULS

Bryan, their bass player was kind enough to give me an interview. I’ll transcribe and publish it asap, I promise. It’s really good. When I think of the Bouncing Souls, it kinda makes me feel like they’re my best friends, which is silly really©. They’re the most relatable band in punk rock if you ask me. So sincere, so warm and homey, these guidos. I saw their show at the first edition of PRH. This time it was equally satisfactory for me, probably even more so. There were about 3x more people this time. Greg, their singer, looked extremely shy and stiff last time. I mentioned this to Bryan. Perhaps he told him, because this time, Greg wasn’t like that at all. A lot more enthusiastic and confident, he was all over the place. Undeniably, an amazing performance with a more-than-satisfactory setlist.

DESCENDENTS

“Dork!” is what Milo called himself when he failed to kick the inflatable ball off stage properly for the third time. The proud, the few DESCENDENTS, definitely not rocking alone tonight! Finally in Slovenia for the first time. The only punk band comparable to the Descendents to play Slovenia yet are Rancid. Here’s hoping! Well, back to the former. Karl Alvarez, their bass player since ’86 or ’87, was also kind enough to give Punky an interview, and we’ll publish it soon. It was almost a shock for me to see them live for the first time. I’m not worthy! Such respect is due to these guys. This might sound a little incorrect, but if I were blind, I’d say Milo’s voice does not give away his age, he still sounds very youthful, and the others kept up with speed too. The energy was there, we heard a wide specter of their music, from old classics to fresh stuff from their brand new album, which is, by the way, excellent. Very fast and melodic. I must say better than some of the records they put out after their now-cult debut. They have every right to represent the good guys. That’s a privilege they’ve earned through hard work, and I’d say they stayed true to it. Rain started pouring, and I mean pouring, which kinda sucked, but what can we do? ALL didn’t mind. We did neither.

Primož Belak

All photos taken are property of their rightful owner. Punky says thanks!