Massgrav in Czech Republic in 2024
Friday
Last year, we played a few shows that were… there was absolutely nothing wrong with them, but they were a bit more organized maybe, a bit more grown up, a bit cleaner. There were people involved that were part of the venue, and the venue did all kinds of various things, so they had no DIY connection and sometimes it got ridiculous, where we weren’t even allowed to bring beer on stage. Like I said, still great shows that we appreciated, but we also started thinking that it would be nice to mix it up with some true DIY punk shows with a bit more grit to them.
So when Johan got in touch with us about maybe playing the Stop&Go! fest in Brno, and also the pre-party in Prague, that seemed like it would fit the ticket nicely. Also, Czech republic in September sounded like it might be really nice, it’s not exactly Siberia in February. So we worked out the details and accepted the invitation.
The first day was long, as they tend to be when you play in a different country from where you wake up. We got up around five and headed to the airport, flew to Prag and were picked up by Johan, who seemed to have everything under complete control. Never before have we received an itinerary in advance that was this detailed and also completely devoid of the madness some promotors like to add. No getting up att 4.30 in the morning. No carrying your instruments for 14 kilometers, no craziness at all. And on the day of the first gig, he seemed totally stress free! Impressive.
Johan dropped us off at the hotel where we left our bags in the luggage room and headed into town. We had a few hours to kill, so we just walked across the river to the old town, walked around for a bit, had lunch at a steakhouse, drank a beer in the sun and grabbed a tram back to the hotel for a little rest (some more beers in the sun in the hotel yard).
And then we were off for the venue, which was an old student pub, OO7. This was exactly the kind of place we had hoped for. Classic punk venue. Stickers and graffiti everywhere. Good size live room, albeit a bit small stage, but we’ve had worse. A bunch of other fast bands playing before us, but not insanely many. The backstage was a pretty cramped single room jam packed with gear and band members and a fridge full of beer. This was exactly what we signed up for. We hung around, watched some poor kid get drunk enough to get picked up by ambulance, watched the sets of some of the other bands and met up with Barvak.
Barvak is the guy who always prints (almost) all of our shirts (check him out at a
And then we played our set and it was hot as hell and cramped and loud and fun and the good people of Prague seemed to enjoy it a lot, even if Norses schtick about mixing up Prague and Brno did not go down a storm. Afterwards though, they had better things to do, so once we got done putting our things away, the place was pretty much empty. We hung around, talking to Otto and Barvak and some of the members of the other bands for a while and also to two german guys who had travelled to Czechia just for this, and who were also coming to Brno the next night. Thanks guys! But when the place closed and Johan offered to drop us off at some nightclub we suddenly felt every hour we’d spent awake since 5 in the morning, weighing on us heavily and we opted to go back to the hotel and get some shut-eye.
Saturday
After a nice breakfast, we hit the road to Brno, as Johan had some stuff to do and we wanted to see the town. About halfway, when we stopped at a gas station for refreshment, Jesper discovered that he didn’t have his passport. Which is a problem, unless you want to stay abroad forever. A few calls to the hotel and they were able to find it in the place where he hid it in the hotel room and we could pick it up on the way back on sunday. The rest of the weekend was spent asking him if he was sure he’d brought everything, offering to take care of his wallet and so forth. He was not amused.
Johan dropped us off outside his apartment, and we wandered off into the streets of Brno. We ate some schnitzel and fried cheese (because why even go to Czech republic if you don’t enjoy their exquisite cuisine?), had some beers in the sun (because why even go to Czech republic unless you drink all the beer you can lay your hands on?) and just enjoyed things the way you should. It’s great when you have time for some aimless wandering and tourism. We also checked out the two crypts of Brno, one with a huge selection of bones from back in the plague days, and one with a lot of mummified monks, so that was… something.
Johan then drove us to the flat we were spending the night in, and after getting ourselves installed there, we once again walked into town. There was a local wine festival going on, so we took in some folk singers, ate some Czech street food and had another beer or two, before heading to the venue - Kabinet Muz - just in time for the first band to play. This was a bit let grotty of a place, a nice bar with high ceilings, a record store in one corner and then a great size live room with a bit bigger stage and plenty of backstage space too, even a private room for the mega rockstars of Massgrav, which is wonderful and a bit cringe at the same time.
We did what you always do: sold some shirts, talked to some people, avoided getting too drunk, checked out some other bands. The ones of us who caught the Lickspit show loved it but all in all, it seemed like a good lineup, most of the stuff we caught was good, and with the place filling up to near capacity, things seemed in our favor. And sure enough, we had a great time when playing. Great crowd with lots of singing, diving and surfing made this an awesome show. Complete success. Thank you and good night. Well, not good night, we stayed around until they closed, downing plum brandy shots with the locals (including a Swedish guy who had relocated to Czech rep) and doing the usual stuff. Hung out with the people from Lickspit, Facepalm Nation and others. Good times.
The plum brandy must have hit the right spot because the walk home was a bit fuzzy around the edges, with a fair bit of disturbing the locals, but we also ate a really good döner kebab. Sorry and thanks!
Sunday
Going home day. We had to leave the apartment at ten, but not Brno until two. So once again, we did some aimless wandering and some beer drinking in the summer sun. We found some sort of October fest tent in the main square and made good use of it and then went for Vietnamese food, before meeting up with Johan and the nice couple that is Facepalm Nation and then Johan drove us back to the aiport (via the hotel, remember?). Even though this was a nicer going home-day than most, they always suck. You awake in the morning and realize all you’re doing today is pretty much going home, and yet you won’t be home until midnite.
You know, when you write it down, maybe this is not the wildest of giglogs. Having a catastrophic trip with all sorts of disasters makes for much better reading, but for US, this was a great trip. A long weekend in Czechia, with two great gigs, lots of good beer, good food, nice people, all while being taken care of by Johan in the best way imaginable. Not only a good host, he’s also a great organizer. When we saw the line-ups for the gigs, our initial reaction was “so yeah, this will run late – lots of bands with really short changeovers, that never works” but it did, he made sure we were all on time. If he gets in touch with YOUR band, be sure to say yes, you won’t regret it. Until nex t time Czech republic, hope it doesn’t take 12 years this time!