YOGI LONICH QUARTET PERFORMANCE A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

It's not an everyday thing that a renowned session musician and a solo act, such as Yogi Lonich, comes to your town with his amazing quartet and puts you through the journey of 2 sets with amazing stylized covers of blues, pop, jazz and fusion classics. The concert was in Zagreb at a small venue of Culture Center Mesnička, and they also had a special guest, a Croatian pop singer, Massimo.

First, I should introduce the full lineup of the band. Yogi is known in the music world, mainly as a member of Buckcherry, The Wallflowers and Fuel, and for his contributions on Chris Cornell, Shakira, Anastacia and Cat Stevens records, but he also has 3 solo albums out - "Hesistant Poet", "Metta" and "Break The Silence". A drummer who got his back was no other than Through Infinity's Damir Šomen, with a bass player who is one of the busiest in the country Alen Svetopetrić. Gojko Tomljanović filled the sound image with his tasty keyboard and hammond licks.

The band opened with Yogi's ambient solo turning into a set of fusion classics which mesmerized the audience. The technical and creative potential of each member of the band simply multiplies as they let go of all the boundaries and improvise deep in each song. You can hear the background and experience each musician gained over years and years of playing. They crossed from Taj Mahal and Steve Miller to Beatles, which positively shocked the listeners and then ended the first set with a lot of anticipation for what's coming next. With an emotional performance of "Ain't No Sunshine" they made everyone sing the chorus. That was pretty touching, because it reminded me of those good days when people came to pubs and bars and clubs to actually listen to music. The venue where they played was pretty small, so the atmosphere between the band and crowd was quite connected. Those who weren't fortunate enough to sit in front of the band were sitting on the stairs and they could only listen to music, because the wall wouldn't allow them to see the band.