Obraten Efekt at the Rokenrola rock club in Sofia on October 17 - the ska band that parodied the Beatles

Sofia band Obraten Efekt play the Rokenrola rock club in Sofia on October 17, starting at 22:00. The concert is standing-only, and the organiser is announcing just a hundred tickets. Bulgarian ska and rock, in a club where the beer and the guitars are within the same arm's reach.

The band has officially existed since 2000, but its members were playing together back in the nineties, as Electric Shock - a thrash metal outfit with one album that didn't make much of an impression. Then they changed name and direction: ska, with witty, sarcastic lyrics that often parody other people's songs and entire genres. The first line-up was Moni, Kolyo, Drago and Yako.

The first album under the new name, "Efekten obrat", became a big hit in Bulgaria, with songs like "Za Marcheto", "Molya vi, madam!" and "Plis-plis, morski briz", a ska parody of the Beatles. On the second, 2001's "Vyarvayte ni", they toughened the ska with hard rock and mixed it with Bulgarian folklore. "Bulgarish" sounds like Rammstein meeting a Bulgarian folk song, and "Pavel mi pie" is pure pub rock. How many bands would think of parodying the Beatles to a ska beat?

Tickets cost 15 euros, or about 925 denars, and are on sale at bilet.bg. Anyone who wants a table or a seat has to book directly with the club, because the ticket only guarantees standing room.