Thursday, July 2nd, 2026 20:00
BRANKO ZAVRŠAN: THE SHADOW OF YOUR DOG
(Songs of Jacques Brel)
There are concerts where you simply listen to songs. And then there are evenings where someone lays an entire life bare before you, drenches it in wine, cigarette smoke, cynicism, despair, and humour, and drives it straight into your ribs. Jacques Brel was a master of that art. Branko Završan is one of the very few artists bold enough to truly take on Brel’s legacy.
The Shadow of Your Dog is not a tribute show, nor is it a museum piece dedicated to the chanson tradition. It is a theatrical and musical confrontation with Brel himself – with his drunkards, lovers, losers, saints, soldiers, prostitutes, nostalgia, rage, and tenderness. Završan doesn’t sing these songs “beautifully”; he throws himself into them. At times he is an actor, at times a storyteller, and at times simply a man who seems to have a deeply personal score to settle with some of Brel’s demons.
Premiering in 2008, the project received outstanding critical acclaim. Reviewers called it “an evening that deserves countless reprises” and praised a performance in which “it becomes impossible to tell where the actor ends and the man himself begins.” The album The Shadow of Your Dog was also selected by Radio Študent as one of Slovenia’s best domestic releases of 2008.
At the Gala Hala Summer Garden, this material will find its perfect habitat: a warm evening, perhaps a little too much wine at the next table, songs about people who have tangled their lives beyond repair, and that rare kind of collective silence that only happens when the audience realises they are witnessing something far more dangerous than a concert.
Joining Završan on stage is an exceptional ensemble of musicians – Žiga Golob, Uroš Rakovec, and Krunoslav Levačić – who expand Brel’s chansons far beyond the boundaries of classic singer-songwriter nostalgia, moving effortlessly from intimate acoustic moments to near-cabaret explosions and jazz-infused detours. If your only acquaintance with Brel is Ne me quitte pas, prepare for a much wilder story.
Join us for one of Branko Završan’s rare live performances.
Music policy: Chanson / Cabaret Noir / Jazz
Tickets:
€16 – earlybird (limited quantity)
€18 – Advance Sale
€22 – On the Day of the Concert
In case of bad weather, the concert will take place indoors.
