2024-07-28 10:48:03
Singer Michal Prokop and the band Framus Five started the program of the 30th edition of the Benátská festival this Thursday afternoon in the Vesec recreation area in Liberec. The 77-year-old member of the Beat Radio Beat Hall of Fame and the Anděl Awards Hall of Fame opened the concert with his well-known composition Kolej Yesterday. Thousands of visitors came to the area in pleasant weather.
With his hits, Michal Prokop created a friendly atmosphere, many viewers sang the choruses of songs like Battle of the Charles Bridge or Blues about swallowed words with him. The group O5 Radeček presented themselves next, offering the audience the song Hory. It became the song of the year in the Český slavík poll last year.
On Thursday, the YoYo Band, Jelen or Vypsaná fixa, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, will also play. Around midnight, Ondřej Hejma will perform with the band Zlutý pes, which for the festival will expand the line-up to include drummer Jiří Hrubeš from the Prague Selection and guitarist Kateřina Pelíšková from Gaia Mesiah.
The German dance music group Scooter will perform at the festival. | Photo: Venice! with Impulse
“Jirka is one of the founding members of Zlutý psa, and Katka Pelíšková played with us for ten years,” reminds Hejma. “It’s been thirty years, but I still vividly remember the first year of Venatský. Although we were supposed to start playing at nine in the evening, the line-up was so wild that we didn’t get to our turn until four in the morning. But that didn’t matter at all, on the contrary , it was one of our best concerts,” he adds.
The program of the first day of the event on Friday morning will end with a DJ set by Radio Impuls, which is celebrating 25 years on the air at Venátská.
The festival will last until Saturday, in three days it will welcome six dozen performers on three stages. The biggest foreign stars will appear on Friday, when the German dance band Scooter, the English rockers Slade and the American singer Suzi Quatro will arrive.
Especially due to the restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic, performers from the Czech Republic and Slovakia have performed at the festival in Liberec in recent years. The last foreign star was the Swedish pop rock band Europe in 2019. Last year, the British Chris Norman was supposed to arrive, but at the last minute he canceled his participation due to health reasons. The bands Divokej Bill, Čechomor and Marie Rottrová will perform from the Czech scene this year. Venétská traditionally gives space to younger artists, such as this year’s singers Pam Rabbit and Sima or rappers Yzomandias and Nik Tendo.
Video: My music even moves me. In my dream, a squinty dog is wearing it, says the Bert & Friends singer (18/06/2024)
The concert itself can even make me cry, Albert Romanutti, frontman of the Czech band Bert & Friends, said in the Spotlight program. | Video: Team Spotlight