Bijelo Dugme concert at Hajdučka Česma
On August 28, 1977, at Hajdučka Česma at Topčider, Belgrade, Bijelo Dugme held a concert, marking the peak of the tour promoting their third album.
After nine performances in Poland in 1977, the rest of the tour was plagued by numerous technical and organizational problems. There were noticeably fewer audiences than before, and tensions began to arise among the band members. All of this led to the summer concert plans falling through – after the performance in Šibenik, the next one in Split was canceled, and the tour was cut short. The band’s greatest crisis reached the newspapers with headlines like: “Dugme is Breaking Up,” “Goodbye Dugme,” and so on. Rumors of serious arguments, along with lukewarm reviews of the past summer’s concerts, led to the cancellation of performances in Zagreb and Ljubljana, where – interestingly – Bijelo Dugme’s first live album was supposed to be recorded.
The pivotal moment occurred in Osijek, where only a few hundred people attended the concert.
Bregović was desperately searching for a solution to the crisis, especially because he was soon to begin his mandatory military service. The lifesaving idea came from Belgrade rock journalist Peca Popović – to organize a free open-air concert at Hajdučka Česma, where rock festivals had been held in previous years, with the pretext being a farewell to the audience before Goran’s departure for military service. This is how the idea for the “Yugoslav Woodstock” was born.
The concert was scheduled for August 28. One of the opening acts was “Leb i Sol.” From the very beginning, it was clear that this would not be an ordinary concert and that something massive was brewing. People began to gather spontaneously from early in the morning. Everything culminated in the evening when, due to the sheer number of people and the excitement surrounding the event, the concert was nearly called off.
As for the number of people who attended the concert, there are no official figures, but estimates range from 50,000 to as many as 100,000 people.
Whatever the exact number, it was undoubtedly the most spectacular concert the Yugoslav music scene had seen up to that point. It significantly boosted the band’s popularity and the confidence of its members, so much so that the following concert in Novi Sad is considered one of the best in the group’s entire career.
