30 years of Harlej: Hits, decibels and a rock explosion in Prague

Czech rock band Harlej is celebrating 30 years on stage this year and to mark the occasion, they embarked on an anniversary tour that began on October 4 in Liberec and will end on November 29 in Ostrava. On November 8, the band visited the O2 Universum in Prague.

Fans began gathering in front of the arena at three in the afternoon and their numbers continued to grow as time went on. About an hour before the opening, a relatively long queue had already formed in front of the entrances. At half past five, the doors opened for visitors with VIP tickets, while others had to hold back their excitement outside for another half hour. As soon as all the entrances finally opened, fans with standing tickets ran in all directions in an attempt to find the right entrance to their sector, and chaos reigned in the corridors. But then the flow of people was stopped by security – the sound check of the band Koblížci was still going on in the hall.

As soon as the sound check ended, the security guard was given the order and the crowd immediately started moving. A stream of rockers poured into the hall with the only goal – to get the best possible place in front of the stage. And as is my habit, I was not missing in this first flood either. A few quick steps and the first row was mine. 

The stage was built in the shape of the letter "H" and was placed in the middle of the hall, which gave the band a somewhat closer view of all the fans. For a reason unknown to me, the organizers opened only one half of the area at first, and it was impossible to get to the other side – they opened it much later. The fans very quickly took their places both on the area and in the stands, and it was time to start.

The evening started with the band Koblížci. They are a young pop-punk band from Šumperk. Their set lasted 50 minutes. After their performance, there was a very short, ten-minute break, after which the band Harlej greeted their fans from the stage. After a short introduction and fanfare, the hall was already roaring to the rhythm of the song Zfetovanej. The visitors immediately got into a frenzy and sang and jumped from beginning to end.

The concert lasted approximately an hour and a half, and during this time the band prepared a long setlist for us, consisting of an incredible 31 songs. At least one song was played from almost every released album, including the oldest ones — with the only exception being the album Teleskopický tele. They also performed rarities that had not been played for a long time and had not been heard from the mouth of the current singer Tomáš Hrbáček, such as Volání krve, Sbírka or Velbloud.

During the performance of the song Vstávej, Tomáš Hrbáček called on the fans in the stands to stand up, because they were at a rock concert, not an opera. During the aforementioned song Velbloud, in the part of the song where the bandleader and guitarist of the band Tonda Rauer enters with the song "Rozvíjej se, buřtíku...", the song was interrupted and Tonda gave a short speech in which he thanked the fans for their thirty years of support, mentioned his father, who was sitting in the stands, and recalled the original singer, without whom Harley would not be Harley. This was, of course, Vláďa Šafránek, who before Harlej was in the bands Brain and Autogen and after leaving Harley founded the band Walda Gang, which is still active today, in which he then worked as a singer for many years. At the same time, he also pursued a solo career, during which he released two albums. Unfortunately, he left us forever in September 2018. 

It was to his father and Vlad that Tonda dedicated the beginning of the old but still very good song Toník a Vládík, which, as the title suggests, is about the two original protagonists of the band Harlej — Tonda Rauer and Vláďa Šafránek. They also shot a video clip for this song, which I would recommend to anyone who has not seen it yet. 

This was followed by the song Miluju a miluju, which is not by Harlej, and according to singer Hrbáček, it was written by Tonda and Vlada shortly before Vlada left. It was included in the setlist for this tour only and will probably never be played at concerts again.

The setlist also included a solo by drummer Libor Fanta, who, with his rotating drums in the middle of the stage, drove the platform up during this solo, giving the whole performance a new effect. Then Libor Fanta and bassist Kolinss left the stage and slow acoustic songs followed. The first was the ballad Proměna, which left only Tomáš Hrbáček singing and Tonda Rauer and Milan Hoffman (Hofík) playing acoustic guitars on stage. Immediately after that, Kolinss returned to the stage with a tambourine, followed by Harlej Krišna. 

Then, Hrbáček invited the audience to hold each other's shoulders and sway to the rhythm of the next song, which was Svatební košile. During these slow songs, a completely different, very intense and impressive atmosphere prevailed. The fans joined the band, which now left more space for the audience to sing, which immediately turned into a singing choir. Hundreds of lit-up mobile phones lit up the arena.

Singer Hrbáček then recalled the founding frontman Šafránek again in a song that, although it was not originally written about him, is currently more or less associated with him — Až tady nebudu.

"So we'll put it together, we'll break the bar," these are the words that begin the song Optimistická, which has been the end of all concerts of this rock band for many years. Now, however, drummer Libor Fanta has also taken the floor after it, asking us if we want another one — and which one should it be? A shout came from the audience: "Whoever doesn't jump, isn't Harley, hey, hey, hey!" And indeed — that was the last song that followed Optimistická. A song that perfectly encourages fans to jump with the band, which they did this time too.

If I had to sum it all up, I can say that it was a very successful concert. The band prepared a perfectly balanced setlist that captured the entire era of their work — from the first album to the present. There were also rarities that are not usually played at concerts. The setlist included both classic burners and slow crawlers. The thanks to the fans were sincere and heartfelt, but not overly emotional. 

When I left with the other fans, there was a satisfied, almost emotional atmosphere everywhere. We can be proud that we became part of an important chapter in the history of this successful band that has been playing for thirty years. In a moment, I also saw photos on social networks along with short thanks to the band Harlej for an unforgettable concert. I can proudly join them — a great concert, keep it up, and I look forward to the next achievements of this nice band.