Aleksandra still vividly remembers her first concert in Budapest. It was back in 2004, and she was still a high school student. One of her favorite bands, Gothic metal the band Nightvish, was on tour with the legendary female vocalist Tarja. She was disappointed when she saw that it did not occur to them to come to Serbia, the country where she had been a year before. assassinated prime minister.
The closest concert was in Budapest, and on forums like Ju Metal, which were the forerunners of today's social networks, many fans already had an elaborate plan. Because a decade and a half ago, people looked at Budapest as the first destination where they could see a concert by famous foreign performers. With only a few exceptions of bands that dared to play in our country during the nineties and later in the midst of war, sanctions and political disturbances.
"On the topic of the concert announcement, the team for this adventure gathered, about 20 of us, some knew each other privately and some joined solo, but we were all connected by our love for the same music and the desire for a new adventure", Aleksandra remembers for "Vreme". "Going around the city, hidden rock shops with records and CDs, cool stores with alternative clothes, sleeping in a hostel, hanging out... All this contributed to an unforgettable experience. Especially for me, who was in the fourth grade of high school at the time and went abroad for a concert for the first time."
Bypassing Serbia
During the next 20 years, Aleksandra got "hooked" on concerts and organized many vacations around a concert or festival abroad. She would always look to see if the bands she likes and who are on tour are coming to Serbia, although this was rarely the case.
"We went to concerts outside the country because, unfortunately, many bypassed Serbia and this part of Europe in general when they were on tour," she adds. "Sometimes they were big names, who for this part of Europe only performed in Budapest, and sometimes they were also smaller bands or maybe some metal and rock bands that were even popular here and in the surrounding area at the time. They visited most of the countries around us, but they bypassed us because we were not a sufficiently developed or politically stable country in their eyes. That's why it was complicated to bring someone."
A new age
To her great joy, that has changed in the last couple of years, bands have started coming to us again.
"In the last year, we had the opportunity to see many bands again who hadn't come to us for 10 and 15 years, as well as some for the first time," she says.
So this body is coming to Serbia This summer, Lenny Kravitz, Moby, Nick Cave, Kraftwerk, Judas Priest, Skank Anasi are coming to Serbia... Camelot is performing in Belgrade after 18 years, and WASP also played in Belgrade after 16 years. In previous years there were Rammstein, Ed Sheeran, Massive Attack...
That's why Zoran Vulović Vule, the owner of the publishing house that also organizes the "Long Play" concerts, says for "Vreme" that he thinks Belgrade has a better concert offer this summer than most European metropolises. He says that his house, for the last twenty-five years of its existence, this year for the first time has a large and varied concert offer in Belgrade.
"We can expect that the audience will come to Belgrade for concerts from other countries as well. We are very proud and it seems to us that our offer includes concerts for different generations and different musical tastes," says Vulović.
A lot of factors, Vulovic thinks, influence a better offer.
"What sounds strange at first glance, but Bulgaria, Romania and Greece have become markets that no longer skip big tours and important performers, so Serbia is also on the route of big tours," he adds.
Private archiveAlexandri's favorite festival is Rock Fest in Barcelona
Do we have the money for that?
However, many complained that their tickets for these particular concerts were more expensive, both for bigger mainstream names and for other bands. Has it now become a standard that for two concert tickets, and for the poorest seats, you should give one green, that is, 100 euros. Thus, the cheapest ticket for Leni Kravic is 7.500 dinars, and the most expensive goes up to 27.000 dinars. Nick Cave will cost from 5.900 to 12.900 dinars, and Dip Purple from 4.900 to 30.000 dinars.
Aleksandra says that her friends often comment that there is so much at once, that they don't know how they will achieve everything - mostly financially.
However, she adds that when comparing ticket prices abroad, they are often identical or even cheaper here than abroad. But he understands that it is a lot for people, no matter how many fans they are of some artists.
"The problem is that those prices for our standard and conditions can be high, especially when it happens that sales start in a short period for several concerts that we want to see," she thinks. "Thus, the monthly budget quickly takes a big hit. A couple of concerts, times, let's say two in the house... It's very easy to get a large amount for living in Serbia."
However, she says that she is not protesting and that it is better to have bands come to us, so that we manage our finances, as always, than to suffer because they just bypass us on tour.
Zoran Vulović Vule also agrees that ticket prices in our country are still below the European average, but they are significantly higher than they were.
"In the last couple of years, the fees of all the world's performers have increased at least three times," he adds. "There may not be a logical explanation for this from our point of view, but from the point of view of the growth of the music business in the world, it is very logical. The growth of royalties is also connected with the growth of production costs, and in the end, the rise of ticket prices follows it all. Serbia and above all Belgrade are not yet able to organize the biggest world names because the royalties are multi-millions and they include stadium concerts."
Is the concert still a holiday for us?
Despite the fact that he himself organizes concerts in Belgrade, Zoran Vulović says that even in the nineties he went out to listen to bands, but even now he tries to visit at least five or six of the biggest European festivals every year. He recommends Mad Cool in Madrid, as a place where that mix of new and old is at the highest possible level.
Aleksandra especially likes Rock Fest in Barcelona, because she says that big festivals are a great opportunity to actually see a much larger list of performers and experience the festival atmosphere for the price of a ticket as a total of a couple of individual concerts. The only mistake she made then was that after three days of the festival - she went directly to work.
As easy as it is to go to a concert in your city, traveling and concerts in combination are a special experience for Alexandra. Maybe Serbia forced her to do that a little more than living in an organized country, but she found a special charm in it.
"I advise everyone to experience it. Especially to go to a bigger concert or festival, when the whole city or part of the city is celebrating that event, and others are there for the same reason. The place becomes a big happy tribe that shares the love for the same music," she says.
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