Traktor started this year's final club tour - the smaller the stage, the closer to the fans

Czech rock band Traktor has embarked on its final tour of the year, which it has called "Final chapter". It will consist of exactly 9 concerts - the opening one took place on October 31st at the MOOD club in Hradec Králové and the final one will take place on November 22nd at the Eurocentrum in Jablonec nad Nisou. I went to the first one, to Hradec Králové.

This year, the band Traktor has been touring for its new album Jungle XXI, which was divided into 2 parts - first the spring part, which started in the Enteria Arena in Pardubice, there were a total of 7 concerts and then the tour was interrupted by summer festivals and in the autumn there were three stops in the Czech Republic and one in Slovakia. The end of the autumn part of the tour took place in the Datart hall in Zlín. In late autumn, the band announced the aforementioned Final Chapter, which will conclude their 2025 concert season.

The first fans began to gather in front of the club at approximately four in the afternoon. Among them were mainly die-hard fans who had attended dozens of concerts by this Moravian rock fivesome in recent years.

After the entrance opened at 6:30 p.m., there was some confusion when security ordered some visitors to put their backpacks or jackets in the cloakroom, while others were allowed to enter the hall with them. And as is often the case at similar concerts, the first row in front of the stage was occupied within a short time, while the others stood in groups at the back or at the bar. 

Shortly after the opening, or rather at 6:45 p.m., the band Traktor appeared at the tables where the autograph session was taking place, without much fuss or attention. Subsequently, a queue formed, which was not long and moved very smoothly. The band members were in a great mood, eloquent, funny and helpful, they radiated well-being and signed everything they were given to their fans with a smile on their faces. After the signing, there was a joint photo session, a new queue formed again, however, this time everything went smoothly and was well organized and none of the visitors caused any problems. Everyone waited politely and patiently for their turn.

At 7:30 PM, the Slovak Eufory warmed up the fans.

The band Eufory is not unknown to fans who have visited any concert from the spring or autumn part of the Traktor tour. They accompanied them at all concerts of this tour (and another friendly band, Forrest Jump, joined them at selected stops). Eufory is a five-member band, founded in Martin, Slovakia in 2008 by their drummer Miriama Hodoňová, who is also still in the band today. The band also has experience with performing in other European countries, such as Germany and Poland, and has therefore recorded many songs in English. However, only two were performed during this concert (Falling Into Nowhere and Cheers!). Most of the repertoire was in their native Slovak. Schizofrénia was also included, which the band itself describes as Czechoslovak and in the original they sang together with Czech singer Tanja. In addition to songs already known from Eufory's previous work in the Czech Republic, new songs were also performed, such as the song Tam. The setlist consisted of nine songs in total, including the intro.

Eufory were a great success with Traktor fans. They joined the band and it was clear that many of them knew most of the lyrics of this Slovak band well. This was confirmed by frontman and singer Jaroslav Mojžíš, who also did not forget to mention that he saw familiar faces in the front rows that he already knew from previous concerts.

With the stroke of nine, the stage belonged to Traktor. 

The lights went out. The well-known song Wash it all away by the band Five Finger Death Punch rang out throughout the hall. Everyone in the hall already knew what would follow as soon as this song finished. After it and a short intro, the curtain fell and Jungle XXI, the title song of the current album, was played. The songs got the audience moving, dancing and singing from the first notes to the last. 

The setlist was essentially identical to the previous tour, but compared to the large arenas, the concert differed in a much more intimate atmosphere and was without pyrotechnics. The setlist included both harder hits, such as "Sirény", "Outsider" or "Neber si Rockera", as well as slow ballads such as "Kdy dojdou náboje a vzduch" or "Svíce". Songs from all albums were performed, starting with the album Tmel (songs from the oldest two albums are rather rare these days, the band does not normally play them at concerts and are not even sold in stores). Most of the songs that were performed came from the latest album, specifically 8 songs, while only one was performed from the album Šachoffnice.

Probably the biggest novelty compared to this year's tour was a short but effective solo by drummer Pavel Balek, which was performed between the songs Soudnej den and Vstaňte pane Lincolne. The setlist included a total of 19 pieces, including the drum solo. Singer Martin Kapek also invited to the tour next year, when Traktor will celebrate 25 years of its existence. The concert will be special, but he has not revealed more information yet, we still have to wait and see. 

During the song Bludičky, the hall traditionally lit up with the lights of hundreds of mobile phones, and after the following song Katakomby, the basic set ended. Encores followed - the first was Horizont, ending with a longer and impressive solo by guitarist Standa Balko, which smoothly transitioned into the song Vivat Festival.

And as is customary at all concerts, whether it is a tour or a festival, the show cannot end with any other song than the band's most famous hit, which is Letokruhy, which has over 32 million views on YouTube to date (and the published studio video has over 16 million views). The choruses in this song were sung entirely by the fans themselves. 

After Letokruhy ended, Jungle XXII, the final song of the latest album, came out of the loudspeaker, which the band chose as the outro of its concerts this year. The band members scattered small items (picks, mallets and keyboards) among the fans and said goodbye with a gesture they have been using since this summer - all 5 members stand in a row next to each other, put their hands in front of each other and together "play" large imaginary keyboards and thus move from one side to the other, while a dramatic keyboard passage from the song Jungle XXII plays in the background. This time, fans in the first rows joined them and used this gesture as well.

After the concert, many fans stayed in the hall and danced to the music that played from the speakers - songs from foreign metal or rock giants such as AC/DC, Metallica, Bon Jovi or Queen were heard, as well as Czech classics such as Kabát, Harlej or Divokej Bill. Meanwhile, members of both bands – both Eufora and Traktor – moved freely among the crowd, chatting informally with fans and anyone who wanted could take a picture with them. They proved that they had not become inaccessible stars, but remained modest and humble towards their fans, which was a very pleasant ending to the entire successful evening.