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Laibach

Brief introduction

In the year 1980 Yugoslavia's leader Marshall Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980) died ending over thirty years stable rule. Shortly afterwards in the same year on the 1st of June the group Laibach was formed in Trbovlje, a small industrial-coal mining town just outside Ljubljana. The name Laibach was last used for Ljubljana during the Second World War when it was under German occupation. September, Laibach's first concert and exhibition "Red Districts" is banned, it was due to be held at the Trbovlje Workers' Cultural Centre. The event was designed to highlight the striking contradictions of the political structure of the town at that time but the authorities objected on the grounds of its inappropriate use of symbols. Military service prevented any major projects but in June 1981 an exhibition of Laibach's work took place in Belgrade's Student Cultural Centre. On display were painting, graphic works, articles and a presentation of Laibach's music previously recorded on tape.

In 1982 January 12th Laibach performed for the first time in Ljubljana at the FV 112/15 Club along with an exhibition. This was followed by a concert in Zagreb's Lapidarij Club in April 2nd, Belgrade was visited in May 18th the latter two concerts forming the bulk of the material from the CD album Ljubljana-Zagreb-Beograd with the Ljubljana material coming from the New Rock festival in September 10th. Laibach's sub-group Dreihundert Tausend Verschiedene Krawalle performed along side an exhibition of paintings and graphic art by Laibach on April 28th at the Student Cultural Centre in Ljubljana. Laibach previously had been recording their music on small recording equipment, in July 12th they recorded in a studio for the first time to record four tracks, Smrt za smrt, Drzava (appears in Ljubljana-Zagreb-Beograd), Jaruzelsky and Zmagoslavje volje. November 23rd, Laibach held an exhibition titled - Night of the long knives - which included the first recordings of another Laibach sub-group known as Germania. Tomaz Hostnik performed with Laibach for the last time at the Mosa Pijade Hall in Zagreb on December 11th. The concert was investigated by the Zagreb police and army officers and shortly later on December 21st Tomaz was found hanged. He was buried on December 23rd 1982. Tomaz's influence continues to this day.

-- The Unofficial Laibach Site

References:

Official Web Site

The Unofficial Laibach Site

Lyrics

Stars' data

Formed in Slovenia in 1980