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BalkanRock.com: "Oborri lights up KC Grad in Novi Sad"

Alfabeti ecën vetë, 2016

The respected rock music portal BalkanRock.com has written a review about Oborri's performance which took place in KC Lab, Novi Sad on 22d of December 2017. Below you can read the translated version of the review.

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Oborri from Pristina lights up KC Lab in Novi Sad

 

New-wave, psychedelic rock, reggae, hip-hop and electronic duo “Oborri” from Prishtina, performed last night in KC Lab in Novi Sad. A selected number of people had the opportunity to listen to an outstanding concert in every sense of the word.

 

To warm the hype up, MC/DJ Shpira selected music with various local and international alternative acts. From the beginning you could sense that this will not be your ordinary night out. The KC Lab environment suggested just that, being an “apartment” with various rooms transformed into a concert hall. The audience could move freely through space, socialize, listen to music or play table-football in the room next door.

 

By 23:00, the stage welcomed Oborri, consisting of Tomor Kuçi and Arbër Salihu who equally shared the vocal and back-vocal responsibilities. Their live performance also encompasses Liburn Jupolli (keyboards) and Vedat Hasani (drums).

 

They communicated with the audience in English, making jokes in-between songs and inviting the audience to relax, get close and enjoy the music. What is particular for this duo is that Tomor and Arbër both play guitar and bass, changing instruments between them after almost every song. If Tomor would play the guitar and Arbër the bass in one song, they would change the roles in the other, this formula also applying for the leading vocals. These changes as well as the constant shifts in style attracted great attention, most of all because nobody could anticipate how the next song was going to sound. The keyboards of Liburn Jupolli also contributed dearly to the sound, with daring experimentation of effects and tones, giving a new dimension to each song. Besides the authorial works such as “Po zihet Supa”, “Kangë Janari”, “Hajde te unë (Çantën plot mandarina”, “Gjuj me dritë” and “Shpia ka mbetë vetë”, Oborri in their own authentic style also performed covers of various songs. It was particularly interesting to hear how an old rock-n-roll tune was adapted to their contemporary way of playing music. The selection of their remakes varied from “Tomorrow Never Knows” (the Beatles), going through Joy Division up to “I Wanna Be Your Dog” from the Stooges. With this performance they showed great technical skill in guitar solos, and unique creativity through inserting the riff and tune from the verse of “Billie Jean”, on top of which they reconstructed the chorus of “I Wanna Be Your Dog” once again.

 

All of their authorial works were sang in Albanian language, giving an exquisitely exotic vibe, considering that in our country (Serbia) bands which sing in this language rarely come by. The vocals would vary from multicolored melodic voices to convincingly executed rapping.

 

Through an encore in which all the performers relaxed, with only the keyboards playing in a semi-improvised fashion, Oborri gave its last atoms of their power and their songs, successfully concluding the concert. They brought with them their album in the format of a USB shaped as clothes peg, which on its own stands as a unique and original piece of art.

 

On Friday 22nd of December, Novi Sad had the honor to welcome outstanding musicians who even though are geographicaly quite close, because of political and social factors rarely get the chance to perform in our country, and we hope that new bridges will be built so that we welcome other bands from Kosovo in the future. Through this concert we stand convinced that music has the power to connect people and break preconceptions.

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You can read the original review in Serbian language here.

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