Nick Cave’s Prague Connection: A Journey Through Time
Ah, the 90s in Prague – a veritable playground for rock legends, artists, and maybe even a few cheeky chancers! And speaking of cheek, let’s dive into the story of a certain Mr. Nick Cave, who apparently had his paws all over the Czech capital like a cat on a hot tin roof.
The Thirsty Dog and a Thirst for Connection
Let’s start with a tune that whispered sweet nothings in our ears: “Thirsty Dog.” It was named after a bar in Prague, and I assure you, the drinks weren’t the only thing leaving people thirsty. Just picture this: world-renowned artists roaming around a city, practically begging to bump into you in a corner shop. It was a time when anything was possible – including questionable fashion choices and impromptu concerts.
A Snap with the Legend
Enter Mark Smejkal, our intrepid photographer because who wouldn’t want to catch an image of Nick Cave looking sharp, rocking an Iggy and The Stooges shirt with his button-up perilously unfastened? I mean, come on, who could resist that street cred? “I photographed Nick Cave at the airport,” he reminisces, “where social distancing was only a dream.”
In a delightful twist of fate, Mark even met Cave during his nap – sounds romantic, right? Nick cast an ominous shadow and cheekily woke him, like a modern-day Shakespearean prince! A bit like waking up next to your regrets, but instead, it’s Nick Cave.
Bombs, Bars, and Rock’n’Roll
Now, let’s not forget about the infamous 1995 Rock Café concert attempt that never was – all thanks to some joker calling in a bomb threat. (What a way to make an entrance, eh?) Imagine gathering the crowd only for a police cordon to turn the party into a sudden game of hide and seek. But for Nick, it was just another Tuesday on the European tour – “No compensation needed, just keep the drinks coming!”
The Unquenchable Influence of Nick Cave
Cave didn’t just fill our ears with glorious noise; he tickled the fancies of bands like Body Wounds, whose lead singer, Hank J. Manchini, was swept away by Cave’s blending of tragedy and self-irony. It wasn’t just rock music; it was a lifestyle—an artistic explosion of wild, compelling chaos!
“Self-destructive spontaneity” was how Hank described the ethereal draw of Cave. They may have been compared to him, but let’s face it: those comparisons are as common as bad karaoke nights! And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a sneaky bit of artistic appropriation? It’s practically a rite of passage!
Fateful Encounters and Lovely Coincidences
But wait, there’s more! Years later, Hank bumped into Nick – in a Berlin pub of all nonchalant places! A delightful evening turned into a brief exchange, yet in that moment, time itself slowed as he shook hands with his idol. Who needs Instagram when you have the serendipity of drunken nightlife, eh?
Nick Cave Returns!
As if the universe was whispering sweet nothings, Nick Cave is set to grace the O2 Arena in Prague this October. It’s like an encore of our youth, only this time, with fewer questionable hairstyles (hopefully) and a whole lot more nostalgia!
So let’s raise a glass to the self-destructive, the beautifully chaotic, and the quirky connections! If that’s not a testament to all things wonderfully wild in the world of rock, I don’t know what is!
And remember, folks, in the spirit of spontaneity – whether asleep on a lawn or dodging police officers, life is too short for boring stories. Because after all, even if it involves a misplaced bomb threat or a mutual opaqueness with language mid-dream, it’s bound to be a delightful mess! Cheers!
In the end, a certain Czech trace can also be found in his work. Even if it was just the song Thirsty Dog from the album Let Love In from 1994, named after a then quite famous bar in Prague.
In the wild nineties, almost anything was possible. World-renowned artists roamed Prague, and if you were lucky, you could meet them in person. Just like the photographer Mark Smejkal managed to do.
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“I photographed Nick Cave already at the airport when he arrived for his first concert in 1992. There, the picture was taken with his shirt open and a hat with the words Iggy and The Stooges on it. At the concert, we had to go among the people, because there was no designated area for photographers. It was a bit crazy, but then again, the pictures are authentic,” says the photographer.
Photo: Milan Slezák
Photographer Marek Smejkal spent several hours with Nick Cave.
“A year later, Cave flew in for a second concert. I thought I would like some pictures off the stage as well. I agreed on this with the organizing agency 10:15 Promotion and I managed to go to him. He received photos from the first concert and I asked him for half an hour of his time if it would be possible to meet somewhere and take a few photos,” he continues.
Photo: Marek Smejkal
Nick Cave in a picture by Marko Smejkal from 1992
“I told him I didn’t want to stalk him anywhere, and I’d rather make a deal like that if possible. He probably appreciated it and agreed. We were supposed to meet the next day at twelve at Loreta’s. I got there early, nobody was there, so I lay down on the lawn and fell asleep. I had a dream and suddenly English started to get mixed up in it and it shouldn’t have been there. Someone was messing with me and suddenly Cave was standing over me and said: Wake up young man, we’re going to take pictures, or are we going to sleep? I jumped up and in less than half an hour I took some good pictures, for example the one at the decorated gate,” recalls the photographer.
Bomb v Rock Café
In 1995, Nick Cave was supposed to perform at a semi-secret concert in the Prague club Rock Café. It didn’t happen because the event was marred by an unforeseen event.
Photo: Milan Slezák
Jaroslav Zajpt (left) and Pavel Zvolenský worked in the Rock Café in Prague in the nineties.
“The performance was supposed to take place as part of a European tour associated with the exhibition of a photographer who worked for him. It was a separate event, not part of the tour, and sold out almost immediately. But a few hours before the concert, a bomb was reported anonymously in the club. After the arrival of the police, the entire building was searched. After about three hours, however, no one found anything. However, they advised us that it would be closed for the next two days. Nick Cave did not want any compensation for the performance at the time. Only the technical background and the technicians were paid for a symbolic sum,” remember the then club workers Pavel Zvolenský and Jaroslav Zajpt.
I loved that self-destructive spontaneity
Nick Cave significantly influenced the bands on our music scene in the nineties. One of them was the Prague formation Body Wounds, led by the singer and guitarist Hank J. Manchini.
“Sometime in the early nineties, Jarda Palát, a Czechoslovak industrialist, brought me a cassette with recordings of The Birthday Party (a group of which Cave was a member) to the Blatnička wine bar. Back then, I was listening a lot to bands like Swans, Lydia Lunch, or people from the New York No Wave scene, and suddenly there was another thing that fit into it all. Moreover, it came more from the artistic and industrial scene, it was more of a lifestyle and a philosophy, and not just ordinary rock’n’roll. I loved their self-destructive spontaneity combined with self-irony and, in terms of image, with great individualism, which was quite rare on the scene at the time,” he explains.
Photo: Milan Slezák
Singer and guitarist Hank J. Manchini
The band doesn’t always like being compared to someone by fans and critics. Even if the inspiration is absolutely striking. Did the comparison with Nick Cave bother the band Body Wounds?
“It bothered me when they said it thoughtlessly and because of ignorance of the context of the world scene. After all, there was no internet or social media back then, so forgive them. Moreover, it was more a problem of domestic critics. When in the first half of the 90’s we toured European clubs with Ranama body, no one had a problem with it. Because we were different from the crowd of unified post-punk or hardcore bands of that time. So it didn’t really bother me, it’s simply a stream of thought and aesthetics that I’m a part of,” he adds conciliatoryly.
Coincidences happen in life, so it may happen that you simply meet your favorite performer somewhere.
“Paradoxically, I met Cav in person much later. It was during the period of his band Grinderman, which forced me to follow his work again. It was about two hours after midnight and after their concert we were drunkenly hanging around the streets of Kreuzberg, after which in some deserted place with only one bar we were spat at by Sonja, known from the bands Kill The Dandies! or Moimir Papalescu & The Nihilists, announced that Cave was standing over there. We exchanged a few polite phrases with him then, shook hands and he left. Nothing more, nothing less, but providence and my beloved coincidence arranged at least one single meeting, and that too in Berlin. There were about a hundred different options as to which street to go down, but we went that time. A few years later, when I was involved as a graphic artist and co-editor in publishing a comprehensive book of Cave’s lyrics, I sent him a copy before the concert, but I have no idea if he ever got to it,” Hank J. Manchini summarizes his experience.
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