Jurček and its local secrets

“We will chase away the rain by the end of our concert,” the singer and keyboarder of the group, Dominik Bagola, was convinced somewhere in the twisted streets. The listeners agreed with him squeezing themselves under roofs and umbrellas in the narrow streets and their wish soon came true. It was the first time for Balladero to play at Lent with this line-up and they were presenting their new album called Club Deuce. The album received great reviews in England, Germany and Slovenia and was recorded in Slovenia and the USA in collaboration with different musicians from both countries. “The album is like a joint project and is now connecting us into a band,” Bagola, a frequent visitor and performer at the Festival, explained after the concert. “It’s my first time with this project at the Jurček stage and I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised. The people are somehow coming, stopping and going. You have the feeling of playing in the middle of some kind of a musical rumble.”

The musical rumble on the Jurček stage has a special dynamic because it is placed there where it seemingly shouldn’t be which provides it with a unique and a bit unnatural position. “You watch the audience from the right and left side, in front of you is a wall reflecting the sound. But it looks great for Pink Floyd’s hit The wall,« said Bagola. He also told us that for the people from Prekmurje the Lent Festival is one of the first big places where they come and listen to good local and foreign musicians. Mike in Rita from Canada agreed with him and were totally thrilled with their music and want to share our big secret: “There’s an incredible amount of really great and quality music at this festival! We wanted to make a stop in Maribor for a day, but we will definitely stay longer and then continue our cycling odyssey around Slovenia. And we will come back next year!” According to the audience feedback we will see Balladero again on stages in Slovenia and abroad and they wish to play on Lent again. “Lent is the best! It’s a unique festival in the country because it fuses so many genres. Most of the other festivals are focused on one special genre or are somehow elite. But you can find all genres here and there are so many people everywhere!”