Issue 3, Altered States

Sarajevo Gong Show by David Yeager with Gordana Stanisi_

Few states have been altered as much in recent memory as Bosnia and Herzegovina. Following nearly four years of brutal ethnic warfare in the early nineties, life in this portion of the former Yugoslavia underwent the sort of drastic changes that can only be occasioned by civil war. In 1984, Sarajevo, Bosniaí¢â‚¬â„¢s capital city, prospered on the world stage as host of the Olympic Winter Games; ten years later, it was a city besieged by shelling and snipers. Today, seven years after the conflictí¢â‚¬â„¢s end, Bosniaí¢â‚¬â„¢s economy has yet to recover, and war damage remains a prominent feature of Sarajevoí¢â‚¬â„¢s urban landscape. Life moves forward, but, even to a newcomer, it seems like nearly everything has changed in one way or another.

But once a week in Caffe Gong í¢â‚¬“ a cozy rock club situated along a tiny street near Sarajevoí¢â‚¬â„¢s Art Academy, just off the Miljacka River, past meets present as pre-war Yugo-rock fills the ears and hearts of the post-war generation. Every Friday night, local cover band Dí¢â‚¬â„¢Blavorí¢â‚¬â„¢s rips through a two-hour set of classic domestic rock that inspires the sort of crowd enthusiasm most bar bands could only dream of. Gong attracts a mixed but mostly early-20s crowd that regularly belts out choruses in unison while dancing, swaying arm in arm, and generally having a (Very active) good time. Thereí¢â‚¬â„¢s not much standing around here; when Dí¢â‚¬â„¢Blavorí¢â‚¬â„¢s play, it seems every song is an anthem requiring audience participation. Considering that most of the songs probably pre-date the average patroní¢â‚¬â„¢s musical consciousness (or birth, for that matter), this passion for the music is truly impressive.

On any given night, Dí¢â‚¬â„¢Blavorí¢â‚¬â„¢s set is certain to include regional classics by bands like Azra, Zabranjenjo Pu_enje, Haustor, Bajaga, EKV, and others that ruled the airwaves from Sarajevo to Zagreb to Belgrade in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. And their straightforward rock interpretations of these numbers, with a Jimi Hendrix interlude thrown in for good measure, all seem to be crowd-pleasers/ And, even to one not familiar with the originals, the set comes off as a collection of fun, high-energy rock songs, and the Gong clienteleí¢â‚¬â„¢s enthusiasm is infectious.

Lead singer Mirza Golo started Dí¢â‚¬â„¢Blavorí¢â‚¬â„¢s in January 2000, and since then the band has gained great popularity with the youth of Sarajevo, while also appearing in other Bosnian cities. Guitarist Denis Amitovi_, bass guitarist Adnan_eljkovi_, and drummer Mirsad Krupalija round out the group, which released a live CD, recorded at Sarajevoí¢â‚¬â„¢s Rock Club Sloga, in May 2002. While developing original material on the side, they see the Dí¢â‚¬â„¢Blavorí¢â‚¬â„¢s project as an outlet for playing the music they love. Though the band members were only in their mid-teens when the Bosnian war broke out, they grew up listening to older, pre-war, classic Yugoslavian rock songs. And, if their fan base is any indicator, new generations are doing the same. To the members of Dí¢â‚¬â„¢Blavorí¢â‚¬â„¢s, the reason is simple: Old Yugo-rock is great music, and great music stands the test of time. í¢â‚¬Å“We only play god music,í¢â‚¬  says Golo, who at the same time is not so enthusiastic about the current state of Bosnian rock. As for Dí¢â‚¬â„¢Blavorí¢â‚¬â„¢s popularity, Amitovi_ is philosophical: í¢â‚¬Å“When you do something, you do it; you never know why people relate to it.í¢â‚¬ 

But they obviously do, and with good reason. The songs are catchy, the band is tight, and frontman Golo puts on a charismatic show í¢â‚¬“ smiling, smoking, drinking, and regularly sharing the microphone with enthusiastic audience members, which only adds to the communal nature of the Friday night Dí¢â‚¬â„¢Blavorí¢â‚¬â„¢s experience. And Gong seems like the perfect venue for the bar, where you are greeted with a blast of sweaty air, smoke and sound. Although a few mirrors on the wall make it seem a little larger, Gong is in fact quite tiny í¢â‚¬“ perhaps 25 by 35 feet, with a bar, 8 booths, and a few tables and chairs crammed into this space. By 10:00 on Friday night, the place is packed. Surely, this intimacy adds to the excitement, and inside Gong ití¢â‚¬â„¢s easy to get swept up in the music and the good-time atmosphere. There is a sense of nostalgia here, too í¢â‚¬“ perhaps a post-war cultural phenomenon í¢â‚¬“ that seems to transcend the usual connection modern twenty-somethings make with classic rock songs. But not that much analysis is needed. What Dí¢â‚¬â„¢Blavorí¢â‚¬â„¢s homage to classic Yugo-rock delivers is quite basic: a chance for people to kick off the weekend singing and dancing to old songs they know and love. Prijatno!í‚  í‚