Půlnoc

Půlnoc
In 2014, the band reunited for a performance on the Habrovka music festival.[1]
In 2014, the band reunited for a performance on the Habrovka music festival.[1]
Background information
OriginPrague
GenresRock
Years active1988 (1988)–1993 (1993), 2011 (2011)–2022 (2022)
LabelsArista Records
Past membersMilan Hlavsa
Josef Janíček
Petr Kumandžas
Tomáš Schilla
Karel Jančák
Michaela Němcová
Jiří Křivka
Jiří Michálek
Jiří Kabeš
Tadeáš Věrčák

Půlnoc (pronounced "pull-knots" and Czech for "midnight") was a Czech rock band established in 1988 by three members of the Plastic People of the Universe: Milan Hlavsa (bass guitar), Josef Janíček (keyboards), and Jiří Kabeš (violin and guitar).[2] Hlavsa chose his sister-in-law, Michaela Němcová, to be the band's lead singer. Hlavsa started Pulnoc because the Plastic People was denied permission to travel or perform openly by the Czech government.[3] In the spring of 1989, Pulnoc went on a tour of the United States that led to them gaining considerable favorable attention there. For example, Robert Christgau named a bootleg of a concert the band played in New York City the best album of 1989.[2] Steve Hochman described this tour as "remarkable at least as much musically as it was culturally," writing that when the band played a show in San Francisco in 1989, "Plastic People fans and the uninitiated curious alike were floored by the combination of heavy metal, art-rock, operatic vocals and locomotive-worthy propulsion."[4]

In 2011, the band reunited (without Hlavsa and Kabeš) and played a number of concerts during the following decade. In April and May 2022, they embarked on an eight-date final tour, culminating on 13 May 2022 in Jihlava.[5]

Discography

  • Pulnoc (Globus International, 1990)
  • City of Hysteria (Arista Records, 1991)

References

  1. ^ "Poslední pražský koncert legendární české kapely Půlnoc bude na HABROVCE!" (in Czech). Superbeat.cz. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  2. ^ a b Hochman, Steve (27 October 1990). "Revolutionary Czech Band Pulnoc to Make L.A. Debut". Los Angeles Times (published 1990-10-27).
  3. ^ Pareles, Jon (24 April 1989). "Czechoslovak Band That Suffered for Its Art". The New York Times (published 1989-04-24).
  4. ^ Hochman, Steve (July 1990). "The Distinctive Pulnoc Is but One Czech Band". Los Angeles Times (published 1990-07-01).
  5. ^ Varhaník, Jiří (13 May 2022). "Undergroundová kapela Půlnoc se loučí na malé scéně DKO". Jihlavské listy. Retrieved 17 May 2022. Czech