Libar

Libar is a band from Split that began as a klapa, the Dalmatian vocal group, and grew into a rock band. It was formed in 2007 as klapa Libar, with five singers from some of the best Dalmatian klapas, among them Iskon, Šufit, Cambi, Tragos and Grdelin, and four instrumentalists from Split bands such as TBF, Dioniz, Đubrivo, Dr. Evil and Benighted.

Their first concert was in Rijeka in 2008, at the Rijeka Summer Nights, and the audience voted it third among all the events of the programme. The same year they released Libar Prvi, an album of twelve cover versions with a fully klapa, acoustic sound, which won the Prvi Indexi award in Sarajevo in 2009 for the best regional ethno album. After it the line-up changed and the band dropped the word klapa from its name.

At the Večeri dalmatinske šansone in Šibenik in 2010 they won three awards, for best debutant, best lyrics and the third audience prize, with "Dite", their first song of their own. It became a hit and brought them a record deal with Menart and years of concerts across Croatia. They also worked with Darko Rundek and with the fashion designer Milena Rogulj.

The second album, Libar (2012), was fully rock, with a sound compared to Queen and Muse, and was nominated for the IMPALA award for the best European independent album. That year they played their biggest concert, at Tvornica kulture in Zagreb, and filmed the video for "Ne mogu reći ti zbogom" in the Spaladium Arena. In 2013 "Oprosti mi" won the jury's second prize at the Split Festival, and "Vrh", produced by Ivica Čović Pipo, the award for best lyrics in Šibenik.

In 2017 they returned to Šibenik with the art-rock single "Zakon soli", again produced by Čović, their tenth festival appearance. The line-up then was Andro Rivier, Sina Jakelić, Nikola Colnago, Nikola Čelan and Mario Alajbeg on vocals, Tonči Radić on guitar, Ivan Ivanišević on bass and Marin Koceić on drums. Their own channel, with "Dite", "Kapi", "Odrasli" and live recordings, is the playlist here.