How LABe was christened Lab
November 17th was the day we commemorated 33 years of our freedom and the fall of the communist regime. But it was also the day that belonged to the christening of the debut of the new LABe project by Adam Jánošík (formerly the drummer from The Atavists) and the premiere of its live version. The godfathers were the musician František Černý from Čechomor and the director Petr Zelenka.
Live: LABe
place: Malostranská beseda, Prague
date: November 17, 2022
set list:Key, A piece of your sky, Bulbs, Mine, Two hearts – two heads, In bubbles, Mosty nad Něvou, Night shifts, Opiates, Two hearts – two heads (acoustic version), A piece of your sky (acoustic version), Hotel Savoy, If I I was a blacksmith
© Jan Liščák
Thursday’s holiday called for several megalomaniacal events. One was traditionally on Wenceslas Square, JAR less traditionally celebrated their birthdays. Who longed for a smaller format, far from the crowds of thousands, and at the same time wanted to know something new and witness one first, went to Malostranská beseda. The first ever live performance of the LABe group took place here. But pretty neat. In mid-March, the clip “Two hearts – two heads” was released. The song, its message, amplified by the black and white video, really resonated with me emotionally. Drummer Adam Jánošík is primarily behind the mysterious project, Thom Fröde added voice and production hand to the work. It was something for something. Fröde was working on a record for his dad and needed to record drums. As revenge, he offers Jánošík to try recording in his studio. Ten agreed. It was also a kind of therapy for him, the only chance not to lose the fight with the booze demon. And finally, this attempt resulted in a full-fledged record “Night Shifts”, which was released in the first half of November. The name comes from the fact that Adam wrote, composed and actually filmed it at night. So it was kind of another shift. And the result is great.
© Jan Liščák
At the concert premiere, the author invited three more musicians who tried out for the album – Vojtěch Říha (Vanua 2), Zdeněk Ceral (once played together in the Pardubice formations Ready Kirken) and Martin Suchý (Lucky Losers) came. In this line-up, they played their entire debut, and when it wasn’t enough at the end after a long round of encores, they decided to take spaniels and play the two primary ones individually and acoustically – as they were created. Adam swapped the drums for the guitar and sat down…well, under the keyboard. He could not be seen at all, but it was said to be comfortable and convenient for him. He confided that he didn’t like attention. He’s more used to being the one in the back. All with humility and that’s how it should be. He was tight-lipped, the songs or his sidekick Fröde simply spoke for him. He stood out from the band only in a white shirt, the others were in black. It’s great how many people turned up, it was full. It only depended on the interest of the audience, whether there would be a next time. And I dare to boldly say that it will be, otherwise it would be a great pity. Fröde enhanced the depth of Jánošík’s stories with his voice. His authentic expression pulls everything that was in the world on him. This sensibility would certainly not sound quite as good in someone else’s presentation.
© Jan Liščák
An unusual artifact was the opening video edited from historical black and white films with river and boating themes. It served well as an entrée for a project named after a river that she was at its origin. Another enrichment were the announced guests Michal Skořepa on keyboards and Ondřej Klímek (Vltava – how funny, another river!) on transverse flute. It was played as long as the playlist was enough, and also until the godfather František Černý arrived from Čechomor. It is known about him that he is not very friendly with punctuality – after all, he is a true musician. Director Petr Zelenka was more conscientious. The third godmother of Lena Dusilová probably got into something, or she got carried away by the atmosphere at Václavák, where she was performing. It was baptized – as otherwise than thematically – with water from the Elbe. And when Černý arrived, he picked up the guitar (Aleš Zenkl took up the bass guitar and Jánošík completed the trio) and played “Hotel Savoy” and “Kdybych já bel kovář”. This mini-setlist is said to have been created unplanned, on the spot.
© Jan Liščák
I don’t know the real reason for choosing these godparents – except that they are acquaintances and friends of Adam. I’m looking for something more behind it and a certain other connection, of a kind beyond. Petr Zelenka filmed the fictional documentary “The Year of the Devil”, in which, among other things, Čechomor also acted. Moreover, at the end of the evening, “Hotel Savoy” was played, which is also in the repertoire of the group Mňága and Žďorp, about which Zelenka made a similarly tuned film. But back to the first named film. It’s about a man who, although he got rid of his addiction to alcohol, was desperately lonely. Which is not Adam’s case, he won over the scourge of humanity and he will never be alone, the Malostranská beseda and the team of people around the debut witnessed this. He wrote a great album, for which I like drummer he doesn’t have to be ashamed at all, so November 17 became a holiday of freedom for his work and expression this time.