Vienna In Love: Belgrade

SERBIA IN LOVE

It was New Year's Eve 2011, the celebrations were in full force as I caught myself in thought, "So...I wonder what 2012 will have in store?" Secretly, in the back of mind I had hoped that this year in particular would be somewhat that extra special...and it was. In 2012 Vienna In Love played EXIT Festival in Serbia, Novi Sad. Of course, it was a dream come true.

However, just like every rock'n'roll story, some of the the basics were an absolute nightmare in moments, like when we arrived at the airport to board our flight to Serbia. We were scheduled to fly with Wizz Air who couldn't have been a worse choice in that we had to purchase two 'additional' plane tickets (at full cost) in order to take our guitars on board - only to later find the stewardess telling us that they need to be stored at the back of the aeroplane. So.. a word of warning to musicians.. please be aware and try to avoid this airline if at all possible when travelling, otherwise be prepared to purchase extra adult fare airline tickets for your instruments. The discomfort, however, was soon forgotten as we landed at Serbia's 'Nikola Tesla Airport' on a beautiful and warm summer's day.

The temperatures were soaring and we were all super excited to be there. Our first stop was at a Serbian restaurant to enjoy some delicious cuisine. And, so the adventures began.

Our Serbian bass player Predrag was a a fantastic host. One of the places he took us to in Belgrade to rehearse was called the 'Bigz' building. The building is a gigantuous pre World War II architectural landmark from Yugoslavia's former golden age of Socialism. It is now considered a cultural and social gathering spot for artists and musicians. The building was so cool inside and was covered in graffiti everywhere and looked like something from the movie fight club or from a post apocalyptic science fiction movie. However, we started off with a bit of difficulty when the lift got stuck on our way to the thirteenth floor containing the four of us and all of our equipment, whilst the alarm was out of order and the temperatures outside almost touching on 40 degrees celcius.

The Bigz building - Belgrade

To make matters even worse, there was nobody nearby to assist us. At this point it began to feel less like a science fiction movie and more like a horror film. “Hello people, anybody there?”, Predrag called, to which he was greeted with silence. We waited patiently hoping that somebody would soon answer but nothing. What started off as a joke was now becoming more of a nightmare. Where was everybody? Surely, somebody must be close by somewhere. Suddenly to our surprise, the lift began moving on its own accord and finished off its journey to the "thirteenth" floor. Might I add, we wouldn't be using the lift for the remainder of the day and instead we opted to transfer the remainding equipment by foot.

At midnight Predrag took us to the top of the building where the rooftop overlooks Belgrade by night at one of the highest points of the city. High in the sky beneath the moon. It was a gorgeous warm summer evening to the back drop of a live jazz band. It was beautiful. Suddenly, the mobile rang, our tour manager Dragan (Toza) reminded us that we need to be up early in order to be up and ready for the studios of RTS1 (Radio Television Serbia Channel 1) where we were due at 9am with famous and fun TV & Radio Presenters Gorica and Dragan on their show 'Budjenje' ('Waking Up'). We had to go home and get some rest.

The alarm rang and we were up on our feet as breakfast was served. We had so much fun that morning. We loved meeting our new friends Gorica, Dragan, and their lovely assistant Bojana who greeted us in the lobby. We were about to be featured on a very famous morning television and radio show in Serbia.

Later that day, we were called out to by passers by in Belgrade and Novi Sad. We then realised as it dawned upon us that they had recognised us from morning television. Some of them approached us said they'd come and see us play, which was really nice.

Our hotel in Novi Sad was great. On the day of EXIT, there was a lot commotion at the hotel with friends, family members, and press coming to meet us ahead of the evening’s concert, which was fast approaching.