The legendary Three Sisters celebrate 40 years: book and album launch at the Na Staré Sokolovně inn in Braník
On November 12, a press conference was held by the Czech rock band Tři Sestry, during which the book 40 let Pod Vobraz and the new album Pop Art were also christened. The event could not have taken place anywhere else than in the Na Staré Sokolovně pub in Prague's Braník, which is closely associated with the band. Among other things, they have the Tři Sestry lager on tap, and the pub's interior is in the style of an old gym (for example, the tables with slanted legs resemble the goat that we used to jump over during gym class as children). The event was intended for a closed journalistic group.
Before the event began, journalists, photographers and band members gradually gathered. The atmosphere in the pub was calm and friendly. As soon as 4 p.m. struck, the band sat down at their table at the head of the improvised stage, everyone found their places and the show could begin. The pub is not particularly large, but everyone fit in without any problems and filled it almost to capacity.
This year is a year of celebration for the band Tři Sestry. Here is a small overview of how the whole year went:
January: annual Vinyl Tour – only songs from the band's first five albums were performed
Annual concert in Braník: Marky Ramone, who was in the American rock band Ramones, performed as a special guest
Summer: Three Sisters 40 Years Open Air Tour, more than 25 cities and festivals throughout the Czech Republic
Now: joint tour with the band Trautenberk – The Mountains Are Calling Tour, which will culminate on December 20, 2025 in Prague's O2 Arena, which is said to be a kind of "Krkonoše-Šumava derby in a friendly spirit"
After a short introduction and summary of the celebration, Jan Hlaváč, who is also the author, editor, publisher and publisher of the book, came to the podium and was described as the modern "Jár Cimrman of the 21st century". In his speech, Hlaváč mentioned that the Daranus publishing house, which published the book, originally had a three-member team, but because one was tunneling and the other died, this team fell apart and was left alone. He also entertained those present with an anecdote about how he came to create a book for the Three Sisters - after the publication of Aleš Brichta's memorial book Losses and Finds, which Seznam titled "Memories of a Drunkard Who Doesn't Remember Anything", he expected a lawsuit. Subsequently, Jiří Urban from Arakain contacted him, saying that he had not read the book and would not read it, but that he was certain that it would lead to a lawsuit. Then he asked him if he could publish a book about the forty-year history of Arakain, which would be four times thicker, four times more colorful and a little more focused on Bricht – Hlaváč accepted this challenge, as he does not hold back from anything. The book Arakain 40 History was a great success and since this year the Three Sisters are also celebrating their 40th anniversary, he had the idea to publish a book about this group. Ing. Magor approved this idea, right at the Na Staré Sokolovně inn.
He managed to get tens of thousands of photos (Hlaváč mentioned two cabinets in the archive, four four-terabit disks, a 16-terabit cloud and four laundry baskets at Ing. Magor's) and hundreds of thousands of other various documents (contracts, invoices, ...), some of which appeared in the book. Hlaváč searched among the photos for real rarities that even die-hard fans of the Three Sisters do not know about and often even the band itself did not know about their existence. He mentioned, for example, a beer race that was held between two villages in the 1980s, and according to the rules, you had to drink a warm bottle every kilometer, followed by vomiting (because it couldn't be done otherwise). These shots were captured on photos found in Ing. Magor's laundry basket. The book is packed with a huge number of photos, and not everything could fit, so Hlaváč promised to reprint them.
Tomáš Doležal (known primarily as Ing. Magor), frontman František Moravec (Lou Fanánek Hagen, hereinafter referred to as Fanánek) and chronicler Radek Diestler, who meticulously processed the history of the Three Sisters year by year and month by month, and Alena Rydvalová, who found a lot of information that no one remembered in her Excel spreadsheets, also helped create the book.
Then Ing. Magor and Fanánek came to the stage and said a few words about the book. Ing. Magor mentioned that he still had a lot of material in his improvised home archive and promised that the book would certainly be reprinted. Fanánek then commented on the number of photographs: in the beginning, there were only a few pictures from each year, because concerts required 200 people and one photographer with a film camera. Moreover, the events were not always completely legal, so only a few very rare pictures were created. Over the years, the number of photographs increased, and in the last 10 years there have been tens of thousands of them each year. The Three Sisters in Photos Are Getting Old. Fanánek also thanked Hlaváč for his work with the photographs.
The moderator then introduced other godfathers of the book – key photographers: František Ortman, Jan Cyterák, Miroslav Korbel and Jan Urbánek. However, a total of 114 photographers collaborated on the book. František Ortman gave a speech on behalf of all the photographers, summarising his history with the band: he first met them in 1992, when he created the cover for Fanánek's solo album Hagen Baden. Another collaboration took place in 1999 when he photographed the cover of the album Soubor kreténů. The book includes many of his photos, e.g. from the mountains. He enjoys working with the Three Sisters very much. Ortman also showed respect for the precise selection of photographs, as it is difficult to choose the best from such a vast number of images and create a book. He wished the book to sell well and reach as many people as possible.
Then Ing. Magor, Fanánek and the four photographers christened the book with the Tři Sestry lager. Then, another photographer Pavel Vítek, who unfortunately could not attend the launch due to work reasons, spoke to us via video call, and in the video broadcast he wished us a happy anniversary and a new album. The broadcast took place from the Inteligence Bridge, where the first promo photo of the group Tři Sestry was taken and where the band was repeatedly photographed over four decades (1987, 2005, 2015 and 2025). These four photos are included in both the book and the cover of the new album Pop Art.
Then followed the launch of the album Pop Art, which is being released on the same day, November 12, exactly 35 years since the release of the album Na kövárne to je nářez. Ing. Magor and Fanánek talked about the album again. Fanánek expressed his joy at the completion of the album, because he had a period when he did not feel like creating anything. Subsequently, they agreed that everyone wanted to release the album. The lyrics were said to be no longer as cheerful as before. The recording went very quickly: in January they said they would try it, they pulled the songs out of the drawers and now the album is finished, there is no need to further improve and postpone the release of the album.
Ing. Magor mentioned his initial concerns, especially regarding the lyrics, which he soon overcame. According to him, the album is the most lyrically balanced and complex that the Three Sisters have ever released. The lyrics are direct, with good slogans, but they also have a second and third level and carry a message. According to him, the fan in them depicts life in its complexity.
The band members christened the album and Ing. Magor, unlike a large and heavy book, threw it among the staff. This was followed by a screening of the video clip for the single 40 years, after which they invited people to watch the documentary Three Sisters in Film, which will premiere on December 6th on Czech Television Art, and a cut of this year's concert in Prague's Braník will also be broadcast.
The whole evening ended with a small autograph session, individual interviews with the band, and free entertainment.
Verri