Metronome festival celebrates 10th year at new venue
One of the country’s biggest music festival, Metronome, begins in Prague on Friday. This year’s headliners – Nick Cave, Sting and Tom Odell – will be familiar to Czech audiences, though the 10th anniversary edition of the event is set to take place at a new venue. I spoke to Metronome’s founder David Gaydečka.
Previously the festival was at the Výstaviště exhibition grounds but this year it will take place in Letňany. Why the move out to Letňany?
“We were invited by Live Nation, which is a global concert promoting company, to the place where they do big concerts every summer.
“And logistically, and also friendliness to the audience, it’s much easier to organise a festival there than at Výstaviště.”
What about scale? Will it be bigger than in previous years?
“It will be larger. We have a bigger space. We also have better transportation – it’s just 100 metres from Letňany metro station.
“And it seems that our cooperation with Live Nation sells more tickets than we were used to.”
There are three stages: the Metronome stage, the Live Nation stage and the Cupra Pulse stage. What are the concepts of all three of those?
“The main stage is the headlining acts stage. On Friday we will have younger artists: Orville Peck, Jade and Tom Odell.
“On Saturday we have Nick Cave, Manic Street Preachers and Judeline. That’s more kind of like heritage or legendary artists.
“And on Sunday we close the festival with Razorlight, Of Monsters and Men, from Iceland, and Sting will be the final show.
“Then I would say the Live Nation stage is for trending, or trendy, artists, like Rose Gray and Lykke Li, but also Slowdive, Flaming Lips and Balu Brigada.
“And the Cupra Pulse stage is an electronic stage. We have great electronic acts every night. Every night it will be closed by Dominik Gehringer, who is the son of the [Czech] cult DJ, Orbith.
“We also have Anki, Mat213 & Gufrau – a famous project.
“In addition, Cobrah is coming from Sweden, and Ela Minus will also be playing this electronic stage.”
A couple of your headliners have played at Metronome before; Sting was there in 2017 and you had Nick Cave a few years ago. Does it help to have a previous connection with an artist when you’re making bookings for the festival?
“This year we are celebrating the 10th anniversary since we started Metronome – and both Sting and Nick Cave liked the idea of coming back again.
“I think what helped was that they liked the whole production.
“And Nick Cave is very fond of the Metronome audience. So if somebody is coming every year and they hear this, they’re responsible for his decision.”
What did Nick Cave say about the festival?
“Last time, after the show, he said, What an audience – where did you find them? It was such a joy to perform for them.
“He really liked the crowd.”
Of all the artists who are playing this year, who are you yourself most looking forward to seeing?
“Sometimes I look forward to Monday June 22, when it will be all over [laughs].
“But I think Flaming Lips will be cool.
“And it’s not maybe my cup of tea, but Lykke Li is coming to Prague for the first time, so that will be something we can hear here for the first time.
“She’s a great Swedish artist, and I’m looking forward to her.”
