[2] Touring continued in 2006 with Bilo jednom u Hrvatskoj, again performing internationally with concerts in Germany, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Marko Perković, the founder of the group, was born 27 October 1966 in the village of Čavoglave in the rural Dalmatian hinterland of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

It was reportedly composed as an anthem for the territorial defence unit hastily formed by natives of Čavoglave, at that time under JNA and Serb paramilitary attacks.

During his concerts he made obscene comments about the Croatian Prime Minister at the time, Ivica Račan, and the President of the Republic, Stipe Mesić.

[5] Many of the band's songs (such as "Bojna Čavoglave", "Lijepa li si", and "Zaustavi se vjetre") became major hits in Croatia, and are played at football games and other large events.

During the song "Lijepa li si", Miroslav Škoro, Alen Vitasović, Mate Bulić, Giuliano Đanić, and Mladen Grdović joined him on stage.

[citation needed] Thompson soon after announced an initial tour of Croatia and select European cities beginning after the Lenten season through summer, culminating with a performance at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb.

[13] The band's concert in Toronto attracted 5000 people to the Croatian center where it was held, after the original venue with a capacity of 2,500, Kool Haus, cancelled.

Thompson returned to Croatia in November 2007, and continued with shows in Bosnia and Herzegovina cities including Mostar, Tomislavgrad, Novi Travnik, Široki Brijeg, and Čapljina.

After several guest appearances in Croatia, the rapper Shorty was confirmed to be joining Thompson for the Australian leg of the tour, which collectively drew in 22,000 fans at four shows.

[18] Thompson was asked by Croatian veteran groups to perform at the Defender's Day celebrations at Zagreb's Ban Jelačić Square, the concert being free of charge.

[citation needed] Thompson played in Kupres on 19 July at the Croatian Defenders Stadium as part of the town's Saint Elijah celebrations.

Thompson's "Lijepa li si" was recorded with Miroslav Škoro, Mate Bulić, Giulliano, Mladen Grdović, and Alen Vitasović.

A Washington Post writer described the New York stop on the Bilo jednom u Hrvatskoj tour as sounding "like Iron Maiden doing Eastern European folk".

[13] Controversy regarding the alleged promotion of the fascist Ustaše regime led to a number of banned performances, including the band's concert in the Netherlands in 2003.

The song depicts a battle involving a battalion of Croatian soldiers from Čavoglave, a village in the Dalmatian rural hinterland (and Perković's birthplace).

[30] In 2007, the Anti Defamation League reported that many of the Thompson concert attendees, who were primarily young people, wore clothing with Ustashe symbols and carried banners with "anti-Serb, anti-semitic and anti-Roma rhetoric".

[31] Two weeks after the concert in Zagreb on 17 June 2007, Perković made this statement regarding claims by the Simon Wiesenthal Center that he is a fascist: "Me and members of my band saw nobody with Ustaša iconography among 60 and more thousand people on Maksimir.

[33] At Thompson's Zagreb concert for the Day of Defenders, a group of youths was heard chanting "Ubi Srbina" ("Kill the Serb"), according to some Croatian media sources.

In late December 2008, he managed to secure permission to organize a concert in Pazin, despite fierce opposition from the Istrian Democratic Assembly, the region's leading political party.

[38] Although IDS MP Damir Kajin accused Thompson's fans, it turned out that the offender, Vilim Bon (then aged 59), who was injured in the defragration and arrested by police, was acting to stop the concert.

[9] The Croatian Helsinki Committee has come out against any potential bans, with its president Ivo Banac referring to such calls from Stipe Mesić and Damir Kajin as a "weakening of the democratic order".

In anticipation of a New Year's Eve tour in Australia and New Zealand, Perković released an interview with the local Croatian community magazine, Hrvatski Vjesnik, a translation of which was published in the "New Generation" English language supplement,[16] in which he stated that the vast majority of Croats (including himself) do not have negative feelings towards Jewish people or their religion, and expressed sympathy [clarification needed] after the recent controversy with the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

However, based on his tumultuous history, which includes many incendiary and hateful remarks towards Serbs and other ethnic groups, coupled with his seeming support for Ustaše movements, this retort was widely believed to be nothing more than politically correct posturing.

[48] Former Croatian international and longtime member of the Israeli league Đovani Roso went on to claim the song had not bothered anyone at the Israel Football Association.

Thompson made a guest appearance at a humanitarian concert in Jastrebarsko on 5 February 2005, to raise money for a local person's lymphoma treatment.

[52] Following the fires along the Kornati coast during the summer of 2007, the band participated in the recording of a memorial song "Ovo nije kraj" (English: This is not the end), as well as a charity football match at Poljud attended by 30,000 people.

[54] The group performed at the humanitarian concert Pjesmom za život in Ljubuški on 30 October 2008, with proceeds going to the ill Herzegovinian Croat singer Jozo Milićević-Galini.

[56] In November 2008, he appeared at a humanitarian concert in Zagreb headlined by Mate Bulić with proceeds going to the Ana Rukavina Foundation, founded to establish a nationwide bone marrow donation network.

The band line-up for the Ora et labora tour is: Ivica Bilić Ike (drums), Ivan Ivanković (guitar), Duje Ivić (synthesizer), Tiho Orlić (bass and back vocals) and Perković.