2012-07-25   

With the end of the storm month, Trutnov Woodstock is announcing more bands – a Jamaican legend, a Spanish cult band, a discovery from the Foo Fighters stable, as well as Marta Kubišová with her orchestra.

At the end of the storm month, Trutnov Woodstock is announcing more bands: we can expect a Jamaican reggae legend Barrington Levy, Spanish Bombo Infierno Muchachito, a Barcelona cult club band, and a Trutnov discovery from the Foo Fighters stable - English Hawk Eyes. Marta Kubišová with Peter Malásek band are coming, too.

Jamaican Legend Barrington Levy

Reggae and Ska and Czech Woodstock, or Open Air Festival Trutnov, are inseparable. Domestic fixed stars Švihadlo, Sto zvířat, Tleskač or a Trutnov premiere of Michal Šeps will be complemented by a legend of Jamaican reggae and dancehall Barrington Levy. “A nice fatty, renowned entertainer, showman and above all an excellent singer with a powerful voice and explosive lyrics,” Czech Rasta Jiří Charypar says about Barrington. “Hopefully he will bring his great band, too and make the audience go crazy, such as I when I heard him last time,” the Czech reggae legend says.

Barrington Levy comes from the second strongest generation of Jamaican singers and he became famous in the 80s. Born in 1964 in Kingston, Jamaica, he was influenced by the music of Dennis Brown and Jackson Five group. He founded his first band, The Mighty multitude, with his cousin. The first song “My Black Girl” was released in 1975. In 1985 he recorded an album called “Here I Come” with producer Jah Screw. Asong called like the album and the song “Under Mi Sensi” became international hits, and they are still very popular. In the UK, Barrington Levy is best known as a singer and composer of many hits such as Here I come, Gangsters, Murderer, Ms. Dynamite, which will be heard at Trutnov Battlefield. Barrington is currently working on a new album “It's About Time's,” where they should introduce Bounty Killer, Buju Banton, Damian Marley and Beres Hammond. “There is never enough Reggae, and it is the festival spice. We hope that, as in previous years, Reggae will light and heat up the sun over the Battlefield. Jah almighty shall help us,” says the festival founder and organizer Martin Věchet aka Geronimo.

Hawk Eyes - Discovery From the Foo Fighters Stable

Even lesser-known bands are the spice of the foothill festival. When some time ago now a popular band The Subways arrived at their first concert, many moccasins danced under their rhythms. This year, the card is held by an almost unknown band Hawk Eyes. “Hawk Eyes are one of this year’s discoveries. They were recommended to us by great protectors and managers of Foo Fighters. When we heard them, our hearts jumped, ears stood up and we got goose bumps of excitement over the body. It was decided,” this is how the organisers describe the first encounter with their music. These musicians have been playing together more or less since 2005, but they have been calling themselves Hawk Eyes for less than a year. Under this name and the current composition it is a completely fresh band, existing since late 2011 and soon they were nominated for Best Hard Rock Act in the Artrocker Awards.

The roots of Hawk Eyes go back to the grunge group called Chickenhawk, which in 2010 released an album “Modern Bodies”, their live shows, however, had such a devastating impact on the vocal cords of the vocalist Paul Asticka that the band had to calm down in their voice power and Paul had to seek medical help. Young history of Hawk Eyes starts writing in April 2011. Under the title “Mindhammers” they released EP with five songs containing fusion of wild melodies and temperament comparable to bands like Foo Fighters, QOTSA, Alice in Chains and heavily epic “monster” sound of Faith No More. Hawk Eyes debut album titled “Ideas” is sleek and modern hardcore. It is post-post-everything with hints of classic and sometimes sort of cosmic riffs. “The recording process was intense and at times we felt that we can’t survive it in good health. It is a collection of stories of disappointment, adversity, suspicion, pride, false idols, false promises and parties. It's not a negative album, it is pragmatic. Basically, we all together went to the bottom a little, but we like to have parties! Really ugly roar appears on this album again; just don’t tell the doctor ..., " the band says cheerfully of their first album.

The Hawk Eyes gig was placed straight on the main stage and in one of the prime times. “I am convinced that Hawk Eyes of Leeds, the good old England, will be one of many foreign surprises of this year. If this happens, we will be delighted and one of the meanings of this festival will be fulfilled. Discovering the unknown,” says Martin Věchet, the founder of the oldest festival show of its kind in the country.

Muchachito Bombo Infierno – Barcelona Cult Club Band

“The band to which we enjoy,” say the organizers of Woodstock Trutnov. First you hear the vigorous sound of guitar, then accelerating drum rhythm created by stamping feet and finally spirited Spanish vocals. Southern temperament and spontaneous conversation with the audience, which creates a shared sense of community and soul - this is the music of Muchachito Bombo Infierno! “It is made for Trutnov show, of which the Chief Vaclav Havel nused to say that he liked it for its conspiracy community that can be felt here,” the organizers say. Their performance will take place in an enlarged underground tent, named after Ivan Martin Magor Jirous this year. “We expect that it will be a ride full of energy and immediacy of musicians with a natural connection with the audience. Perfect for the Underground tent.” says Martin Věchet aka Black Elk Warrior.

Muchachito Bombo Infierno are recruited from within the Barcelona cult clubs, ​​where even the well-known French-Spanish musician Manu Chao used to play. “Truly iconic venue is the bar with a German name Super Glüh, located on the near by Verdaques i Callis Street, which is the home stage of Muchachito Bombo Infierno and La Familia rustication, the best that today's Barcelona club scene has to offer,” Stanislav Škoda, a reporter from Lidové noviny, said in his Barcelona report.

Muchachito Bombo Infierno are the restorers of traditional musical styles resulting from the sounds of Spanish flamenco, rumba, folk music and rock. Muchachito, real name Jairo Perera Viedma, comes from Spain. He has been playing the guitar since the age of six. In 1993 he formed the band Trimelón de Naranjus. After seven years they broke up and he is fed up with the music scene. Jairo then starts again. He played alone in Spanish taverns and pubs. This creates its own style which he called rumboxing: rumba and swing played as quickly as possible in the unique delivery. In 2003 he started to play in a quartet and two years he releases “Vamos Vamos que nos”, an album that surprised not only the media but also the audience. Muchachito are then getting more and more popular with each concert and after a few years the band reforms from a small club band into a team of over twenty people, including technicians. In 2009 the band was given a break and Muchachito, driven by the desire to be closer to the audience, goes on a short one-man show tour. Subsequently, the complete Muchachito Bombo Infierno set off to hold concerts in fifty cities in Spain, which are mostly sold out.

Muchachito himself describes his rumboxing as follows: “It is playing without a stage, a concert body to body with the audience. When I perform like this, especially at night, I sometimes have accidents. I once broke a tooth, for example.” So we'll see if anything comesd up in Trutnov.

Marta Kubišová Will Perform Between Heavy Hawk Eyes and Alternative dEUS

A popular star of the sixties and then a banned singer for twenty years. The First Lady of dissent, a former spokesman of Charter 77 and a lover of animals, cats and dogs. This is Marta Kubišová. A distinctive, peculiar woman and a close friend of Chief Václav Havel, whom this year's Festival is dedicated to. “Who else should be at this year's festival, dedicated to the Chief and the guru Martin Jirous, if not the first lady of dissent and a close friend of dissident Václav Havel? A popular singer who performed at the legendary underground III. Second culture festival held in the barn at Hradecek of Václav Havel in the dark ages and timidity of 1977. Marta Kubišová with Jaroslav Hutka sang among the underground community bands back then. Her performance at the Chief’s 75th birthday last year unfortunately failed to happen, therefore we are paying the debt at least this way... “ Martin Věchet says.

In 2007, the festival Chief Václav Havel said of the festival: “Trutnov Woodstock is a model example of honest pluralism: often very different musicians perform side by side or one after another, which can not be seen anywhere else.”