The fort Kaštel in Pula yesterday hosted two concerts. The two ethno bands, Veja & Kries, did an amazing job and created a night worth remembering.
Veja (term for an istrian custom of gathering around a dead person and watching his body all night (source: http://www.vejamusic.com/)) is an ethno band from Pazin, Istria. The band was founded in 2007 and has 5 members. The instruments in the band are various, from mih, violin and gajde (bagpipes) to percussions, guitar, accordion & bas guitar. This symbiosis of different melodies and sounds creates a perfect expression and something truly worth listening. The traditional Istrian melody in combination with other instruments really reaches the audience. The band merges the traditional folk music and perform it in a modern arrangement. They played for cca hour and a half and had the public's support until the very end of the concert. The public was full of energy and ready for the next band.
The second band of the evening was a Croatian ethno band Kries (pronounced kree yes, a symbol of gathering, warmth, light....(source: https://www.kries.info/)) The seven member band began to play sometime before midnight. The public was still there, the place was still full and the atmosphere didn't change. Their powerful performance enhanced by the vocal's energy and expression made a feeling worth remembering. The instruments are also various, from lijerica, bagpipes, diple, kaval, flute to percussions, guitar, bass and drums. The audience was dancing and enjoying their music for the whole concert and the vocal was sharing some of his memories of past times with the audience and transposing them into music which was magical and very notable. Kries was a little bit slower and darker compared to Veja but that just contributed to the evening with more variety and energy which made an amazing result.
The bands matched perfectly, not just because of the ethno genre but also because of their amazing energy.
Kaštel was truly a perfect place for this ethno spectacle organised by Incognito Agency. It created an amazing atmosphere and that is why the concert had even bigger impact on the public. The place had enough public to say that it is full but it still wasn't crowded, which was perfect indeed.
Photos by: Patrik Zubaj
