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balkan grill

  • ned alphabet 20252024 was quite year for me. I attended some amazing gigs, met some amazing people, resigned from my day job, and completed a year of service with Majestic XI, along with increasing the profile of Balkan Grill.

    Spring of 2024 was when I got the news that my all-time favourite Ex YU band Električni Orgazam (aka Electric Orgasm/El Org) would be touring Australia in Jan 2025, and that Balkan Grill would be one of the support acts for their Sydney show on 25 January. The show went off, by the way. But as this list is for 2024 events, you can see and read all about it on my Facebook profile as well as the Balkan Grill band page. On with the list (in no particular order). 

    1. Dinosaur Jr – Enmore Theatre – 21/02/24
    It was my birthday, so I got a ticket as a present to myself. They didn't disappoint, plowing through the album "Where You Been?" from start to finish. They followed this with a few songs from different eras, the obligatory "Freak Scene" and "Feel The Pain" of course, and The Cure's "Just Like Heaven". J Mascis has the best Neil Young distortion tone ever, and his shredding is just superb.

    2. Kim Salmon solo – Enmore Hotel – 09/03/24 & 18/05/24
    Totally amazing performance on both nights. Powerful. Great dynamics. Loud and dirty at one end, gentle and tender at the other. Many memorable moments. At one point on both nights Kim dedicated a song to his old friend Ron Peno RIP. To my surprise and delight it was "ETI (Extraterrestrial Intelligence)" by Blue Öyster Cult.

    It was a very sweet moment. I'm kicking myself for not recording it, but I was just so caught up in the moment having a great old time singing along. Being a BÖC nerd, it was such a perfect moment, surreal and celebratory. Life affirming even! Although, I think I ended up annoying Kim by the end of the second show. Oh well, I was pretty high at the time. Fuck it. Kim Salmon is a genius regardless.