As part of the project, concerts were held for the first time in Bolesławiec in the form of a musical duel between Czech and Polish bands. Admission to all concerts was free, and a special shelter—a 600-square-metre tent—awaited visitors, perfectly protecting them from the heat prevailing that day.
The bands played alternately, entering into a musical dialogue with one another, with the active participation of two presenters from the neighboring countries. The musical duel began at 3:00 p.m. with a performance by the Czech band Liberecki Olds Stars. They were followed by Poland’s DBL 59-700 and Świnka Halinka, and the Czech bands Nasycen and Volupsje. Each band performed a one-hour concert, with appearances arranged in 30-minute blocks immediately following one another. The international musical exchange concluded with a performance by this year’s Polish representative in the Eurovision Song Contest—the band TULIA!
One of the most interesting and oldest Czech bands at the musical meeting was the jazz ensemble Liberecki Olds Stars. The band was formed in 1958 amid a fascination with American Black jazz, which was unavailable behind the Iron Curtain. The band gave its first concert at a secondary school in 1959, and from then on the musicians began their career. Despite short breaks, they have continued to play to this day, although unfortunately with a changed lineup due to their age. Liberecki Olds Stars was among the five most popular Czech bands in the 1960s. The band’s leader and founder, Jiří Maršík, spoke about how difficult it was to play American jazz in communist Czechoslovakia.
“We had to explain why we sang in English,” said Jiří Maršík. “It was the language of rotten capitalism. We had to prove to the censors that the songs we sang in English were the voice of humiliated slaves who had also suffered harm at the hands of capitalists. Only thanks to such explanations were we allowed to sing in English,” the musician added.
Two other Czech bands also performed on stage. Nasycen, a four-member rock band from Prague, was formed at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s and released its debut album, “Provazochodci,” in 1990. In March 2019, the band released its new album, “Morning,” which it presented at the concert in Bolesławiec. The third Czech band was Volupsje.
Poland was represented by the cover band DBL 59-700, the rock-and-roll band Świnka Halinka, and the previously mentioned Polish representatives in the Eurovision Song Contest—Tulia.
Bolesławiec is a city that cooperates very actively on joint Polish-Czech projects within the Nysa Euroregion. This time, the project “Under One Roof – a Polish-Czech Musical Meeting” was an idea for an artistic event unlike anything previously held in Bolesławiec.
As part of the project, a delegation from Bolesławiec visited its partner, the city of Liberec, and actively participated in its city festival—the Liberec Medieval Fair—while also promoting the concerts held as part of the “Under One Roof” project.
During the Polish-Czech musical celebration, residents of Bolesławiec visited the Liberec city stand, which invited Poles to enjoy the attractions of the region and the city situated in the heart of the Jizera Mountains. In addition to Liberec’s monuments and charming city streets, the city’s attractions include the oldest zoo in the Czech Republic and a large amusement park featuring IQ Landia, a science center.
The “Under One Roof – a Polish-Czech Musical Meeting” project is co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund and by state-budget funds via the Nysa Euroregion.
