A Snowy, Winter Night with Vodku in RoHam Bar

Band: Vodku

Venue: RoHAM Bár, Vas utca 16, 1088 Budapest

Time: February 15, 2012 - 10 pm
Entrance fee: 500 HUF

 On February 15, in a small bar named RoHAM, many fans of folk music of Hungary and surrounding countries - influenced by rock, jazz, and progressive music - had a chance to experience it in full with the delightful show that the Budapesti band Vodku prepared.

Photo taken from www.vodku.hu

Vodku's music draws roots from folk tunes of Hungary, and most Balkan countries, such as Romania, Bulgaria, or Macedonia. Their interpretation of one of the most famous Macedonian folk songs, Jovano, Jovanke, which they played in a mix with some other songs, surprised me quite nicely. This is characteristical of Vodku's music, as the leader of the band, István Bata, described in an interview before the show:

István:  We are a relatively old band from Budapest, founded almost 20 years ago, although most of the members have changed ever since. We play folkish music, with Eastern European folk like Hungarian, Jewish, some Russian, and Balkan, of course. Usually we play in pubs, mostly around Budapest. If we are invited to play somewhere, we go wherever it is. So, we played festivals as well, even in other countries. For example, we had tours in Mexico.

Árpád and Sarolta

At the moment, Vodku are finishing their upcoming album. However, some of the songs from their previous releases are easily accessible on the band's MySpace page, as well as on their official website.
István: We have three CDs, and now we are preparing to release the fourth one, which will be out some time in April or May. All the songs will be folk based, but it will be our own music and lyrics.







Other than their involvement in music and touring, the band takes part in theatre performances, some of which can be heard on their website.
István: There is a small theatre in Budapest, called Radnóti Miklós Theatre, where we have been playing for the last seven or eight years. We did five productions for them so far, with the last two still being on the stage. One of these is a children's play, with music for children, which is in fact similar to our own. The other one is based on Babel's Odessa Tales, namely the stage play Sunset. We play all the Odessa songs, but with our own ideas and lyrics.

Dani

The show on Tuesday started slightly after 10 pm, while the bar was still eagerly awaiting more people to enter. Only minutes after Vodku started playing, a small group of amateur dancers appeared in front of the stage, improvising folk dance moves. The band seemed quite pleased with what their music brought about, so they continued in an even more dynamic way. Interestingly, not only did the show include the fast, dance songs, but also a few ballads, accompanied by the beautiful, strong voice of the singer, Sarolta Bede.

Although the band consists only of six members, the number of the instruments on the stage was barely countable. Each member changed their instruments often, showing great talent and versatile. Throughout the show, there were male background vocals as well, done mainly by István, but also by the amazing violin player, Árpád Szabó. By the end of their performance, one more musician joined the stage - the band's friend Dani, who played an acoustic guitar during one of the most beautiful pieces played that night in RoHAM.

The only disadvantage was the stage lighting, which was not done very well, even considering the size of the bar. Not only did it produce an almost impossible environment for taking photos because most of the musicians were in the shadow, but it also diverted the attention of the people onto the singer and the violinist, who were the only ones properly illuminated. 

Check out the rest of the photos in the Concert gallery.