Hey all,
So here's my gig report from Celje.
Me and my friends got there at 19:12 and to my shock, there was no queue, but a crowd of people (maybe 100 or so) waiting on front of two entrances of the sports hall in no order whatsover.
Luckily, they opened the doors only a few minutes later, and we slowly got in and the people were very chil, there was no pushing, shoving etc. Took a bit of time to hand in our coats, then we went inside. The warmup group just started and they were super loud, so we actually moved a bit further back. The sound technician "space" was way in the back and not in the middle which was strange usually they are at the end of fan pit and thats where the sound is best.
We had fan pit tickets which were sold out, but there was still plenty of room, it was nice not to be so squeezed together. In Koper we also had fan pit tickets, but there were so many more people and I think the section was smaller. The warmup wasnt that great but they had a sense of humour, so kudos for that. (they took plenty of selfies with the audience in case they never perform in front of such a big crowd, they said
)
Later JO got on and I think you already know the gist. B was sick, you could see and hear it in his voice (especially when he spoke), he coughed a few times but overall, he still sounded great. To me, Kris also looked a bit sick, Nace coughed a few times as well. But regardless, they were still amazing as always. They played all the songs except Padam. B didnt talk that much and there wasnt much interaction between the guys as usual, but who can blame them. I'm just very grateful they didnt cancel the show and they didnt even make it much shorter whuch they could havecdone easily. Umazane misli wasnt sung by individual fans (B said he dudnt want to infect anyone), but by 4 sections of audience (you can watch the video by Safursey on Tiktok if interested) which was a nice change in a way. I saw one girl had a big Finnish flag, and another one a smaller one on the other side. There was also a Swedish flag.
After Novi val B started thanking and saying goodbye and you could see the audience was a bit puzzled. They walk off - he forgot that they still have CD to play. They come back and he of course charmed his way out of the situation.
His voice was pretty shot by then and he was clearly exhausted so I knew there would be no second SSOL.
The concert was not sold out but the hall was pretty full. There is a lot of events and parties at this time of year, including a really popular (among young girls especially) singer having a gig in Stožice on the same day so this was a great turn out. It was really really loud though - it reminded me why I like outdoor gigs more. My ears are still not okay today and I didnt have this problem at any of the outdoor JO gigs back in the summer even though I was at about the same distance from stage.
The audience was very very nice, at least I didnt notice any pushing or other weird behaviour which was great. My feeling was that the audience really appreciated them performing despite health issues and giving it their all, and we (especially fanpit) tried to give back our best as well.
Since the sports hall is pretty big (high ceilings), it was also nice that it didnt get too hot, nobody fainted, asked the band for water etc. Drinks were sold inside and you were fine to bring them wherever.
I took some videos and uploaded to my tiktok but I cant stand still, so there isnt much to see...
For good clips, check out Safursey...
Sidenote, this was the first time I saw B's luscious hair in it best shape, as every time I saw them in the summer, all of them were already all sweaty by the time they got on stage.