Last night I was at my first and (so far) the only concert this year. 2Cellos have ended their world tour with a spectacular free open-air concert in the heart of Zagreb.
Children of the age of 5 and younger, teenagers, couples, people of all ages – including old couples, grandmothers and grandfathers whose legs barely supported them after more than two hours of virtuoso performance – tourists of various nationalities and languages dotted the King Tomislav Square at the beautiful and warm July 2 summer night. King Tomislav Square has never been packed like this before. I don't remember ever seeing so many people there.
Everything started when Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser, known as 2Cellos, posted their Smooth Criminal cover video on YouTube in January 2011. The video went viral with three million viewers in the first two weeks and Welcome To The Jungle soon followed it.
Then Elton John happened, and their career skyrocketed. Luka and Stjepan played as guests on more than hundred of his concerts and Elton didn't miss an opportunity to share his enthusiasm and delight with young and talented Croats.
2Cellos have played their way into a dream that crossed all borders. 2Cellos-craze have swept the hoards of fans from Japan, Europe to America. With three studio albums (2Cellos, In2ition and Celloverse) and thousands of concerts behind them, Stjepan and Luka had become the first Croatian international music stars, charming celebrities and ordinary people from all over the world.
Last night 2Cellos was the true star of the new open-air festival Zagreb Classic, which takes place as part of Zagreb Cultural Summer under the auspices of the City of Zargeb. The Italian musician The Leading Guy was warming up the audience with his guitar before 2Cellos came on stage and started to play many “beautiful songs”, as Stjepan has been announcing them. More than two hours they were rocking and rolling and dancing away the Zagreb night with almost 50,000 people and their drummer Dušan Kranjc, ending their celebratory and memorable concert with special guests Zucchero and Oliver Dragojević.
As much as it was rewarding and wonderful experience to watch 2Cellos live again, it was also pleasant to walk back home in the endless river of people that has poured out before midnight all over the city center. Maybe the comment of two young men who were approaching us from a different direction describes it best what it was like to be out on Saturday-July 2nd-2016-night in the very heart of Zagreb: “Check this out! Looks like the whole city is here.”
Some of the songs 2Cellos played on their concert: They Don't Care About Us, Viva La Vida, Wake Me Up, Human Nature, Highway To Hell, We Found Love, Smells Like Teen Spirit, With Or Without You . . .
BJ