“Just breathe,” Nick Cave asked of the Metronome
Although without the originally planned Macklemore, Metronome Prague started with a few interesting draws, and this year the selection of headliners shows that the target group is people in their forties living in Prague. After all, the tent town has already been abandoned and the event itself is described as a musical event rather than a festival.
Live: Metronome Prague, day 1
place: Exhibition Grounds, Prague
date: June 24, 2022
Speakers: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Mňága and Žďorp, Čechomor, Lenka Dusilová & Řeka ensemble
setlist Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Get Ready for Love, There She Goes, My Beautiful World, From Her to Eternity, O Children, Jubilee Street, Bright Horses, I Need You, Waiting For You, Carnage, Tupelo, Red Right Hand, The Mercy Seat, The Ship Song , Higgs Boson Blues, City Of Refuge, White Elephant, Into My Arms, Vortex, Ghosteen Speaks Photo Gallery 1
Photo gallery 2
© Martin Bambušek / musicserver.cz
If this year’s festival season means anything, it’s general. It can be seen both in our country and in all our neighbors. The program starts later, there is more betting on the domestic scene than before, the podium is either less or at least not all at once, instead of the accompanying program, sponsor logos are glued everywhere and it is not always companies with noble products. Perhaps only the recently completed Rock For People has been ruled out, but the crisis – whether pandemic, logistical, energy, inflation or war – has affected everyone and it is visible. It’s logical and unfortunately it’s a little sad.
© Marie Trávníčková
The first day of Metronome Prague was a shining example of this. Although no performer canceled his performance at the last minute, which is a big victory nowadays, on the other hand, it was also true that there was not much to choose from. Mňága and Žďorp, Čechomor, DJ Roxtar and Lenka Dusilová with a special concert for the album “Řeka” could normally play on one stage, while elsewhere we could discover smaller foreign bands, but because such a Tree stage has not even stood yet, an alternative, if any of the above didn’t take you completely, somehow it wasn’t much. The main Metronome stage, together with the Ukrainian Go_A, was dominated by only three performers, ČT Fontana stage, which is a space near Křižík’s fountain, even only Dusilenka. So far so much. It should partially improve in the next two days, but Thursday seemed to be closer to the organizers and performers, just like the extended Nick Cave concert that it was all about. But he was excellent, even though he did not come in good sound conditions. The concert itself sounded great, but since the main stage stands where it stands, the music from nearby buildings is back, which has been spoiling the experience to some extent for several years in a row.
© Marie Trávníčková
“Prepare for love,” the Australian lead singer revolted in the song of the same name and immediately went to the barriers to greet his supporters. And then many more times. Walking through the one he had built above the front rows is one of his significant concert pastimes, as is putting his hands on the platform and asking them if I can feel his heartbeat during the song “Higgs Boson Blues”. Thanks to that, it is so popular. Black and black compositions that resonated across the globe throughout his career have remained evident in his work to this day. But at the Exhibition Center, they seemed even blacker than ever. His son Arthur was killed in 2015, and in May this year, long-term mental health problems were behind the death of his 33-year-old son Jethro. It was overwhelming to see sheer show business. Show must go on, what ever it takes. As the leitmotif of the whole performance, Cave’s painful screams kept coming back “cry cry cry” or crushing cries “just breathe”which he repeated until the fainting.
© Marie Trávníčková
The pain in the heart was seconded by the excellent The Bad Seeds, which had previously complemented his music with a varied instrumental cast, the faithful companion Warren Ellis (beware of not to be confused with the award-winning comic book author of the same name) always counted down the songs. But the 64-year-old artist was strong himself. That was when he sang “I Need You” or accompanied by his own piano playing, or, conversely, let the contrast between his dark voice and the angelic vocals of one of the vocalists in the still fresh piece of “Carnage” stand out. And right after that shine a subversive bass introducing “Tupelo”, in which he let his spectators climb regularly on the shoulders. Probably the biggest response was aroused by the ballad “Into My Arms”, which sounded in addition. At least that’s what the hundreds of phones were recording, recording the song extensively.
© Marie Trávníčková
Apart from the concert itself, one more thing was interesting. In front of the grandstand, where wheelchair users enjoyed the performance, a couple in love could be seen. She was a young, handsome woman who could not do without a wheelchair. He was a tall, groomed man with manicured dreadlocks, and the whole concert was beside her. It just didn’t matter as it was offered, perhaps to did not raise, but knelt. To be on the same level with her. Have you ever tried to kneel for more than five minutes? It hurts. Lots of. And he knelt there for over two long hours and didn’t move. He was just stroking his sweetheart’s back and watching a concert with her. It was touching to see. Like Nick Cave. Pain comes in many forms. And even more causes. So perhaps that spending time together in the Výstaviště complex helped both parties in their difficult fate. At least for a moment.