Although this wasn’t the first time the band Dżem had performed at Atlas Arena, Friday’s concert was special for many reasons. First of all, it took place on Women’s Day, and nothing—besides a little something sweet and flowers—brings such a smile to the faces of the fairer sex as the sounds of well-known melodies and the memories associated with them. Second, although the core of the band has remained unchanged for decades, the audience at Łódź’s largest venue was hearing the new vocalist’s voice live for the very first time. New, though his name is well known to fans… And third, in addition to the new sound of individual songs, a refreshed setlist was to be expected, as suggested by the band’s earlier performances from earlier this year.
It was certainly one of those concerts that remind you that you don’t need to invite a host of special guests or set up any special effects on stage for the audience to leave satisfied. All it takes is virtuosity in performance, total commitment, and… a set of hits honed over the years that the audience knows by heart and can sing along to verse by verse. The audience, it should be noted, was surprisingly large, as the sight of the stands and the floor made a truly impressive sight that evening. If you were to swap out the footage with photos taken during visits by foreign stars, I doubt anyone would notice. I’d bet that the musicians themselves smiled at each other more than once or twice, seeing what was happening in front of them.
It started off fairly calmly—with “Jesiony” and “Nieudany skok.” The greeting itself was also very brief—Sebastian Riedel, who will soon have been the lead singer of the legendary band for a year, simply said “Hey, Łódź” into the microphone. It was as if he didn’t want to get distracted by long-winded monologues at the start. However, the 47-year-old’s intense focus came as no surprise, as he was surely well aware that, in the end, many people would inevitably compare him not only to his father but also to Maciej Balcar, who had stood at the microphone for Dżem for nearly a quarter of a century before him.
The third song to play was the incredibly rhythmic “Kim jestem – jestem sobie,” another track from their debut album *Cegła*. Right after that, we heard “Mamy forsę, mamy czas,” during which the crowd in front of the stage began swaying more and more energetically. During “Ćma barowa”—one of the newer tracks on the entire setlist, from the album with the telling title “2004”—the mood grew a bit more atmospheric again. But as soon as Sebastian encouraged the audience to clap along after another guitar solo by his bandmates, the characteristic sound of hands clapping together immediately filled the entire Atlas Arena.
Later, the excitement only grew as the guys from Silesia treated everyone to their early classics. First, they delivered a brilliant performance of “Mała Aleja Róż,” followed by the moving “List do M.,” which Bastek dedicated to all the ladies in honor of their special day. And for the first time that day (though by no means the last), the hall lit up with the glow of smartphone flashlights, which further emphasized the song’s message.
The next song performed by these Polish giants of rock-blues was “Powiał boczny wiatr.” By the end of the song, the audience’s attention was focused mainly on keyboardist Janusz Borzucki, who dazzled with a solo that was downright mesmerizing at times. Sebastian Riedel briefly left the stage at that moment, only to return just before the opening bars of “Partyzant,” a deeply moving track from “Muza” (the band’s latest studio album to date, released in 2010). In light of recent events in Eastern Europe, the lyrics of this song have perhaps never been more relevant…
The excitement surrounding the story of the “fight against evil” had barely subsided when we witnessed another moment that sent shivers down the spines of the vast majority of the audience. It was all thanks to the ballad “Do kołyski.” This is by far the band’s biggest hit from the era when Maciek Balcar was a member, so this time, the voices of younger fans dominated the audience’s choral singing. Once again, there was no shortage of flashlights on phones, and the thunderous applause at the end was simply a clear confirmation that the version presented by “young Riedel” was to everyone’s liking.
“Paw,” performed shortly afterward, also sounded utterly magical. But it couldn’t have been any other way, since it is, after all, one of the band’s first original compositions—and it was thanks in part to this song that the group quickly rose to the forefront of Polish rock and blues. Before the next song, another dedication was announced from the stage, this time “for everyone kicking off the season.” That could only mean one song—“Harley mój”—during which Sebastian successfully encouraged the audience to sing along to the chorus.
The next song began with a one-and-a-half-minute introduction in the form of a guitar solo. Thanks to the colored lights piercing the interior of the Atlas Arena, it quickly became clear that “Czerwony jak cegła” was about to begin. It’s the opening track of Dżem’s debut album and, for many, the quintessence of the band’s work, so this time, too, the crowd sang along at the top of their lungs. Both the band and the fans enjoyed the vocal interludes so much that the entire song lasted over eight minutes (by comparison, the studio version is just over five minutes long).
To wrap up their main setlist, Dżem took everyone on a nostalgic journey with “Wehikuł czasu.” For more than a few fans, the thought of “that vibe, that laid-back atmosphere, and those wonderful people” brought tears of emotion to the corners of their eyes. By the final chords, practically no one was left sitting in the stands at Atlas Arena, and the band, heading backstage, was soon greeted with thunderous applause. “Dear Łódź, thank you. Thank you all,” Sebastian Riedel added, and… the countdown to the encores could begin.
And we didn’t have to wait long for the encore. If anyone knows what it takes to keep the energy of a show from dropping unnecessarily, it’s a seasoned band like Dżem. Announcing “Sen o Victorii,” Bastek simply reminded the audience that in the ballad about to begin, the titular “Victoria” doesn’t refer to any woman by that name, but rather to the freedom that everyone so desperately missed back when his father and the late Paweł Berger were composing the song. A melancholic mood once again settled over the venue, and once more the audience could savor not only the brilliant sounds but also the scenery filled with the lights of cell phones.
And just like that, the concert’s finale arrived before we knew it. To bid farewell to Łódź and the Atlas Arena, the guys from Dżem played it safe and went with a surefire hit: “Whisky.” But what a sure thing it was—a 13-minute performance during which we heard Bastek playing the harmonica, more masterful solos, and a sort of jam session. In the meantime, Riedel, as befits a true frontman, also introduced each of the musicians one by one so they could receive their well-deserved applause. Significantly, when the clock showed that nearly two hours had passed since the concert began, all six of them looked as if they had no intention of leaving the stage at all…
After a concert by a band with such an impressive discography, discussions about the day’s setlist always start right away. It was no different this time, as the audience slowly began to leave the Atlas Arena. Some were probably a bit surprised that “Jak malowany ptak” wasn’t included. Others shook their heads slightly, thinking that “Autsajder” or “Najemnik” could have been included. Still others missed “Naiwne pytania” (better known as “W życiu piękne są tylko chwile”), while others longed for “Wokół sami lunatycy” or “Modlitwy III – pozwól mi.” There were probably also those who were waiting for some total surprise in the setlist… But such discussions only whet the appetite for the band’s next concert, which—hopefully—will take place soon.
With their Friday performance for the Łódź audience, Dżem proved that, despite the passing of the years, they still rank among the top tier of musicians in our country. There are few bands that, despite such a long career on stage, can still draw such a large audience and then so wonderfully enchant them with their repertoire. You don’t need a master’s degree in musicology to sense the genuine joy of playing in Dżem’s musicians. And looking at the current form of the Otręba brothers and Jerzy Styczyński, I must admit that I can’t wait for the band’s first studio album with Riedel Jr. on vocals…
Bartek Król – A lawyer by education, a journalist by profession. He has worked in various roles in the media for over two decades. His greatest passion is travel—he has visited nearly 50 countries so far and can’t wait for his next adventures. He’s lost count of the concerts he’s attended, but there have certainly been “over three hundred.” He listens to albums while running, among other things—he can often be spotted on the trails of Łódź and the surrounding region. He prefers dark and fairly heavy sounds, but he’s also enthusiastic about artists who perform completely different kinds of music.
