Chapter twenty two: uproar as far as Tanvald
Translation:
- Ondra: You see, we made it!!!
- Tereza: Thank you. It went very well. So, next year, ok?
- Mayor: Rather not. People were complaining about the noise even in Tanvald.
And now for the narration.
Chapter 22 - UPROAR AS FAR AS TANVALD
Over 200 metalheads came to see what all the fuss is about, yet instead of going headbanging, they headed straight for the sausages and beer, making the onset of the festival to look almost like a picnic in the park in the nice summer afternoon. As one of the first bands noted from the stage: “Metal is no fucking ambient for sipping wine and beer, come make some noise!” As the afternoon turned into a cold evening in the mountains, the performances gained a lot more gravitas, especially those played indoors. The performance of Hyperion from Ostrava was almost magical, and their three cellos got the fans into such a rave that we wondered if the hall would survive.
Local authorities also “blessed” the festival with their attention. Right at the beginning, the criminal police from Jablonec arrived, saying that they are here to monitor those Satanists that are about to congregate, but when they saw the afternoon picnic, they left as promptly as they arrived. Next one to appear was a representative from OSA, the Czech performing rights agency. First, he was surprised that we want to see some ID of his to confirm that he is who he says he is, then he surprised even more that the event has all the permits and finally he said “I don’t need to listen to this” and made his exit. Probably the most forthcoming was the city of Smržovka whose leading representatives were present from the beginning and quite enjoyed themselves.
Parkhotel is really a nice place, on a hill right in the middle of the town. There are almost no houses in the immediate vicinity, but in the clear nightsky, the cold air carried the metal packed soundwaves far and wide. The next morning, we came to say goodbye to the officials from Smržovka as well as to make inquiries if we could return the next year to make vol.2 of the festival. We got a diplomatic answer that beside some complaints from the locals, to which they are used to, this time also the local villages and even the rather distant city of Tanvald complained about the noise during the night, so it would be best if we found some more remote area for next time.
In the reviews that followed, we got compliment for a great band roster, excellent organization, and for making the fest on a place where you have a real restaurant and real lavatories, that is, not just the mobile ones. This criterion then became very important for us when selecting places for future open air gigs.
The year is (yet again) 2008.