2024-04-11 20:55:11
The last star of this year’s Metronome festival, which will take place from June 20 to 22 at the Prague Exhibition Center, will be the singer Raye. The twenty-six-year-old star of the Tiktok social network and recent winner of six Brit Awards will come to the Czech Republic for the first time. “It’s a big event,” says organizer David Gaydečka.
According to him, Raye, who mixes pop with R&B, has a strong story behind her. She started as a guest vocalist in the compositions of other authors. “She also wrote songs for others. The label pushed her into a position that was not entirely comfortable, but she made her own way,” says Gaydečka.
In 2021, the singer terminated her contract with the major label Polydor, which still did not want to release her debut album, and decided to break out on her own. She became a star thanks to the album My 21st Century Blues and the single Escapism, a slightly sped-up excerpt of which spread on the Tiktok network. Last month, the artist made history at the Brit Awards when she converted six of the seven nominations, the most in history.
“She is often the author of lyrics and music. We went to see her sold-out concert in London’s O2 arena and realized that it would be absolutely great,” believes the organizer.
“When she let the audience in the sold-out hall vote with applause according to different generations, the applause showed that the representation of the audience from 15 to 60 years old was very even. It will probably be the same at this year’s Metronome,” believes David Gaydečka. This Wednesday, together with his colleague Martin Voňka, he presented the complete program of the festival.
Visitors to the Metronome can expect eight dozen musical performances. The German duo Milky Chance, former representatives of the shoegaze genre Ride, the British musician Michael Kiwanuka combining soul, psychedelic rock and funk with gospel, or the girl indie-rock group The Last Dinner Party from London will perform. Kosheen will also perform in the renovated area, who will celebrate a quarter of a century on the stage in Prague.
Janek Ledecký will sing Bob Dylan songs at the festival. | Photo: Miroslav Belančin
Concerts at Metronome will be performed by the Czech November 2nd, who are recent winners of the Anděl award for album of the year, or Michael Kocáb. He will celebrate his seventieth birthday at the festival. “There is a lot of work to do, because Michal has no small goals. There will be the Prague Selection, a symphony orchestra, and an American conductor will fly in,” suggests David Gaydečka.
Janek Ledecký and his colleagues in the band named 333 are preparing for the final day of the festival a tribute to Bob Dylan called Mr. Everest. “For the first time, at such a festival, I will be able to present the songs that I have been playing for more than 40 years at all parties and after-parties after concerts. They will be Dylan’s compositions with both original lyrics and examples of how our best lyricists managed to translate them into Czech ,” outlines Ledecky.
The American Dylan was a defining role model for him in his youth, just like the British Beatles or the Rolling Stones. “Ivan Hlas always told me that we should send half of the royalties to Dylan. Not because we are copying him, but because we probably learned the most from him,” adds Ledecky.
The Czech rap scene will also grow at Metronome, where singer Annet X will perform with producer Nobodylisten or performers Redzed, Rohony and James Cole.
Young Czech singer Sofian Medjmedj with friends, the band Lake Malawi led by Albert Černý or the group We Are Domi led by singer Dominika Hašková will perform.
In addition to music, people can look forward to a separate podcast scene where moderator Čestmír Strakatý, Jan Dobrovský and Jindřich Šídlo or Oto Klempíř with the KO podcast will talk
According to the second organizer, Martin Voňka, the Výstaviště area, where Metronome is waiting for its seventh full-fledged year, has changed again.
“It’s getting greener again, some constructions are being completed, this year we will partially return to the roofs of the Křižík pavilions. And compared to last year, acoustic adjustments will be made inside the pavilions,” Voňka responds to criticism from last year, when concerts on indoor stages suffered from poor acoustics.
The main outdoor stage will be enlarged, specifically to 533 square meters with a load capacity of up to 45 tons. The festival will be cashless again, but unlike last year, the organizers will for the first time not have to return deposits for recyclable cups to spectators in coins, but will return them directly to the account linked to the credit card they paid for.
The organizers also teamed up with the new student project Kreativní kampus, which will provide a theater program. The Křižík pavilions will also include the works of sculptors Aneta Filipová and Michal Gabriel, while Michal Škapa is creating a new work especially for Metronome.
Metronome has been held at the Exhibition Center since 2016, last year it was visited by approximately 22,000 people over the course of three days.
Sting, Nick Cave, Iggy Pop, David Byrne, John Cale, Beck, Zaz, Liam Gallagher or the bands Massive Attack, Jamiroquai and Kraftwerk have already performed at the festival. Tickets are still on sale, a basic one-day ticket currently costs 1,790 crowns, and a three-day ticket costs 3,190 crowns.