Okay. I stand corrected. When I first played in Prague (with my solo project), it was a miserable affair. I played for a private party. They paid well, but the audience was godawful. Completely disinterested, closed-off and rude. They made snide remarks during my performance, they didn’t applaud and they sat with their backs to me.
But I’m not somebody who lets defeat define who they are. A quote from Winston Churchill that I quite like is “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”. Everyone fails at some point or another. Every artist has shitty shows.
My instinct at first was to say that Czech Republic just isn’t a good match for me. However, the night that I played, Nastasia and i ran into a charming writer/ musician named Lucien who then put me in touch with other Czech promoters/ bookers. He didn’t actually see my show. We ran into him in the street and asked him for directions to our hostel.
So, with certain trepidations, I agreed to play a few shows organized by a fellow named Marek.
And I returned. I returned determined to not let my previous experience taint me. I would throw myself whole-heartedly into my show.
I played at Cross Club in Prague. It’s a steam-punk-type venue with lots of blinking lights embedded in the wall behind the stage and iron sculptures everywhere.
I had a blast! Faith was restored! It was one of those shows where everyone is on board from the get go. Applauding, dancing, screaming, jumping onstage and dancing behind me. They asked for two encores. It was a perfect concert. It was a little too short, as the DJs playing after me were waiting impatiently in the wings to play for four hours, but it was a great experience, nonetheless.
I am now sitting on the steps of Prague’s Main Railway Station. I played a show last night in Olomouc. I played in a basement-venue that was jam packed. Getting there was a bitch. I had problems with the bus company and travelled to and fro ZOB (Berlin Central Bus Station) 3 times, but in the end, I made it.
Once again, the crowd was amazing. They had so much energy, dancing nonstop. When I arrived, the bar burst into cheers. It was a beautifully warm welcome. The ceiling was low (yes, I smacked my head and ended up with a goose egg), but the room was full of smiles and good vibes.
My faith in Czech audiences has been restored. They loved me. I loved them. We partied til dawn.
This experience goes to show that sometimes a bad experience is just that, an isolated bad experience. It happens. You can’t let these things get you down. You gotta get up, dust yourself off, get back on the horse and ride into the sunset.
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Big thanks to Marek, Thereza and Petr for being total rockstars and helping make this happen
stephenpaultaylor 