The Garden Sessions season of concerts in the Jevremovac Botanical Garden has attracted the attention of the audience in Belgrade for the third year in a row. The concerts are organized by the Belgrade Festivals Centre (CEBEF), and tickets can be purchased online at tickets.rs and at Ticket Vision outlets (among which Ušće Shopping Centre and Cvetni trg).
The audience has at its disposal a diverse musical repertoire to suit almost all tastes.
The Bajaga i instruktori concert (23 July) is sold out.
The performers have prepared a special programme that fits into the ambience of а ‘garden’.
Marčelo's concert (20 July) will be, as he says, a little more jazzy, because that is what brought the band together; on that day, they celebrate camaraderie and long-term collaboration, together with the audience, with a two-hour concert and poetry reading between songs.
All concerts start at 8.30 p.m.
Schedule:
- 20 July – Marčelo
- 21 July – Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša
- 22 July – Tijana Bogićević
- 23 July – Bajaga i instruktori
- 27 July – Jelena Tomašević
- 28 July – SMAK Plus
- 30 July – Nouvelle Vague
On 20 July, musician and writer Marko Šelić Marčelo celebrates the 20th anniversary of the release of his first studio album.
‘The band in full lineup will play a unique concert in honour of the day when we first assembled: it was the 2015 International Jazz Day. A one-time of joining forces with the desire that existing songs merge with jazz turned into a camaraderie and permanent collective, which then resulted in the conceptual album "Nojeva varka" and a permanent concert lineup’, says Marčelo and adds:
‘We are looking forward to this gathering and invite you to start the celebration together, which, through other activities, will continue until the end of the year.’
The group Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša, the well-known KKN, will take the stage on 21 July. Emerging from Serbia’s ‘Generation X’, this is a Belgrade band known for excellent live concerts with a specific blend of rock, funk, reggae, jazz as well as with even more specific vocals of Oliver Nektarijević. They released an album with new songs, called ‘Beton’, in October 2022. Nine new songs carry messages from the inner worlds of the band members, their consistent attitude, through a fierce guitar sound, and an unbridled, infectious rhythm. The singles ‘Beton’ and ‘Tamo gde je sunčano’ immediately stood out on the album.
The band’s current lineup includes Oliver Nektarijević – vocals, Janko Mostarlić – guitar, Nenad Pejović – guitar, Boško Stanojević – bass guitar and Vladan Rajović – drums.
The winner of the latest edition of the festival Beogradsko proleće, Tijana Bogićević, will hold a concert on 22 July. This pop singer, born in Novi Sad, recorded the song ‘Tražim’ in 2010, which became a big hit and an almost indispensable track in all show programmes. She represented Serbia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2017 with the song ‘In Too Deep’. From her debut album released in 2018, the hits ‘Hajde onda ništa’, ‘U redu’ and ‘Bezuslovno’ stood out. In June 2022, she released her second studio album, which includes the songs ‘Blizu’, ‘Umem’ and ‘Ponovo ljubav’.
One of the most famous Serbian and regional bands, Bajaga i instruktori, is set to perform on 23 July. The group was founded by Momčilo Bajagić Bajaga – singer, composer, songwriter and guitarist. This band has a rich discography and a large number of hits that are listened to and loved by many generations. The band’s current lineup consists of Momčilo Bajagić Bajaga – guitar, vocals; Živorad Žika Milenković – guitar, vocals, percussion; Aleksandar Saša Lokner – keyboards, vocals; Marko Nježić – guitar; Vladimir Vlada Čukić – bass and Marko Kuzmanović – drums.
Known for her strong vocal abilities, Jelena Tomašević Bosiljčić is the winner of numerous international and domestic awards for interpretation, hit or album of the year. This popular Serbian pop singer represented Serbia at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song ‘Oro’ and is the recipient of the Golden Badge of the City of Belgrade for the Contribution to Serbian Culture. Jelena had the honor of performing as a pop guest at the concert of the celebrated world tenor Andrea Bocelli in Belgrade. After winning at Beovizija in 2005 with the composition ‘Jutro’ by Željko Joksimović, Jelena's career began to move upward. She has been a successful dubbing actor for feature-length animated films. For years, she has participated in the judging of the children's music competition ‘Pinkove zvezdice’ and she continues to represent Serbian culture in the best way with every performance on the international stage. Jelena Tomašević Bosiljčić will give a concert on 27 July.
SMAK Plus represents the continuation of the work of the band SMAK, but with younger members. Some of the standard repertoire will be replaced by tracks that Smak has not performed at all or performed at its shows decades ago. The members of the group are: Dejan Stojanović Kepa Jr, Miki Mihailović, Filip Milanović, Dejan Zdraveski, Jovan Mitrović, Jovan Pantić, Marko Stojanović Kepa Jr Jr. Dejan Stojanović, Kepa's son, has been an integral member of the band for almost 30 years, more precisely, since the album ‘Bioskop Foks’, which was in preparation as early as 1994. Miki Mihailović comes from Chicago and is the son of Točak's brother Slobodan, who lives there. He played guitar in the band Somewhere in between. Filip Milanović is Zoran's son, who replaced Miloš Petrović on bass in Smak in 2015. Dejan Zdraveski has been a keyboard player in Smak since 2012. Jovan Mitrović was a guitarist in the band Lates from Belgrade. Pantić comes from Valjevo and made his Smak debut at the St George's Day concert in Kragujevac in 2022. Before that, he was in the Smak tribute band Mračni mol from Belgrade. Marko Stojanović also made his debut at the same St. George's Day concert in the song ‘Cigansko srce’. The plan is for Smak Plus to continue to perform where Smak and the founders would not perform that often. The group's intention is to include, in addition to the existing tracks from the Smak repertoire, some new compositions, i.e., completely new songs for the album, which would be called Smak Plus. The concert of SMAK Plus will take place on 28 July.
In just a few months in 2004, Nouvelle Vague advanced the notion of a cover band and began to delight audiences who almost forget the original versions when they hear their sound. Triumphant world tours followed. With several studio albums and extensive global tours under their name, Nouvelle Vague celebrated their 19th anniversary, taking a break of several years due to the world situation. The group's first two albums, ‘Nouvelle Vague’ (2004) and ‘Bande A Part’ (2006), defined their unique sound with bossa versions of new wave classics. Their third album ‘NV3’ (2009) featured collaborations with Depeche Mode's Martin Gore, Ian McCulloch of Echo & the Bunnymen, Terry Hall from The Specials and Barry Adamson. Subsequent acclaimed albums were released in 2010, 2016 and 2019, and the band has performed to rapt audiences around the world throughout their 19-year career. In 2018, the production of Nouvelle Vague revealed the band was returning to its roots: an acoustic guitar, a few keyboards, a bit of ambience and two singers (Mélanie Pain, Élodie Frégé and / or Phoebe Killdeer). After the recent death of founder Olivier Libaux, the group's line-up has been rearranged once again. Nouvelle Vague will perform on 30 July.
