Rock Monsters Romania

Everyone was vibing when “Sârbă Ciobănească” started, it did not matter if you were in one of the spontaneous horas that somehow started in the middle of the crowd or you were just watching the amazing show from the side. Music unites people, and this is what E-an-na succeeds to do at every concert.

After the amazing event at Cărtureşti Carusel, E-an-na started their “Alveolar” Tour the next day, on March 16 at Expirat, at a special event organised by Overground Music and Radio Guerrilla.

I was really looking forward to the crazy crossovers during the show, as the band had already announced three special guests – Dora Gaitanovici, Paulina, and Sex Pula Pistol (SPP), who are some of the most trending Romanian artists at the moment.

I arrived at Expirat around 15-20 minutes before the show and I was surprised to see that there were only a few people in the club, despite the fact that the show was nearly sold out. However, due to the huge crowd waiting at the entrance, the start of the show was delayed for about half an hour. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as during this time I had the opportunity to chat with Roxana Amarandi about the show during the previous evening and the upcoming one. It was amazing to see her happiness and energy, knowing that this would be the band’s first-ever full house show at Expirat.

The show started with the same energy, having the band members jumping, headbanging, and doing windmills. They were clearly enjoying every second of it. Well, maybe Roxana did not enjoy so much the moment when she slammed her head into Andrei’s bagpipe, but I loved how she carried on her performance like nothing had happened.

After playing some of the songs from “Alveolar’, including the heavy and powerful “Fântânile de la Capătul Lumii”, the band took a small “break”. You probably guessed it, it was time for “Biba”, an amazing and powerful song that was interpreted on the album by Valeria “Biba” Oltean, Andrei “Solomonar” Oltean’s grandmother. Now, Roxana took over the microphone and made everyone silent with her voice and emotion.

Immediately after that, it was time for the first guest to hop on the stage, Dora Gaitanovici. As Andrei said at her entrance (and I can say the same), her album “Descântec” is probably his favourite one from the last months. The same as the previous evening, they’ve chosen “Apele Înghețate” from E-an-na’s album, “Nesfârşite”. It was another angelic performance from her and Roxana, which deserves to be waved in front of the future generations of Romanian musicians.

Another guest, another amazing album, another amazing collaboration. After her hit “Fetița ta de milioane”, Paulina released in March her second album, “Săraca fată bogată“. The last song from the album is “Basul și cu toba mare”, an unexpected collaboration with E-an-na. It was a pleasure knowing that I had the opportunity to be the first (along approx. 500 other people in the hall, of course) to hear the song live. They were going for about 4 minutes when two music genres collided in a pure and enjoyable song. Not gonna lie, I expected to see at least a small headbanging moment from Paulina, but I guess that I’ll have to wait for their upcoming concert together. Jokes aside, it was a memorable moment and also an adorable one, that proved everyone that the barriers between music genres are, fortunately, just a myth.

Of course, another highly anticipated moment was the performance along with SPP. Their new song, which combines two random things – coffee and Parasinus – had already become a fan favourite well before its official release.This band is truly made for moments like these.

The show ended with ” ‘c’olo’mbia ” along the most electric moment from the whole show. Yes, of course it was “Malere” and the iconic dinosaur. E-an-na, Dora Gaitanovici (back on the stage for this moment), a dinosaur and a full house Expirat to end the show, which started a national tour. In one word: perfection.

Even though I lingered a little bit after the concert and their next stop was Constanța the day after, I watched them stopping at the door, near the merchandise stand for photos, autographs or small talks, as they usually do. It is wholesome to see how much they appreciate each one of their fans. Another wonderful day was over and a new milestone had been reached by the band. A concert to remember.

P.S.: E-an-na will be back in Bucharest on May 19th in Quantic in another type of show that you surely don’t want to miss!

Photos by Patricia Manole

Review by Radu Mihai