Concert Review: Dool, Tengri @ Modra Vopice, Prague, Czechia (June 7, 2024)
By Flork
On a warm, summer evening in Prague, the intimate venue of Modra Vopice played host to the entrancing sounds of Dool, a psychedelic rock band hailing from Rotterdam. Although somewhat unknown in this neck of the woods, they are quite established on the alternative music scene in Western Europe, but after this night’s performance, will have gained new fans and ground here in this part of the world.
Driving into the outside seating area of the Modra Vopice music club felt more like approaching the lumber yard of the local Home Depot rather than arriving at a psychedlic rock concert. We parked next to a couple of construction-site toilets and quickly took in our surroundings. The area was large, kinda hidden off a major road in the Nové Vysočany district of Prague 3 and far enough away from the Old Town district and the Prague that most out-of-towners are familiar with. There were several picnic tables as well as an outdoor bar where people could smoke and talk, even the the warm-up band Tengri and members of Dool themselves were hanging out there before their sets. I liked Modra Vopice right away, especially the friendly reception of the people at the front door who even let our gracious driver in for a beer without the need of paying the entrance fee. Artists here can play as loud as they want without any fear of receiving noise complaints from their neighbours.
The Prague-based atmospheric post metal group Tengri began their set around 19:30 and the crowd gathered quickly. Tengri is a quintet with heavy guitars and an electric violin. They have no lead singer nor vocalists of any kind, which is interesting to listen to, although some of the crowd lost interest in their performance, at least those who were unfamiliar with this group, and chose to wait for Dool in the outside seating area. But Tengri showed no worries, they played tracks from their latest release Kontinuum and entertained their fans with songs that told stories without words, getting the crowd in the mood for the night ahead.
And it needs to be said that the atmosphere was amazing. The following day, my colleague from Jablka remarked that despite being a „buda“ (wooden hut), the acoustics were really good. But the best thing about watching this show at Modra Vopice was its small size. Even if you weren’t standing right up front (there are tables and places to sit off to the side), you still had the feeling that you could reach out and touch the band. So when Dool came on, there was an immediate mutual energy and connection, which could be felt between the members of the band itself and the members of the audience. The night could be described as a meeting of like-minded individuals—rockers and intellects of all ages and walks of life.
The concert began with the electrifying Venus in Flames, instantly captivating the audience with its intense energy and setting the tone for the performance ahead. This is an amazing track which also leads off their third and latest release, The Shape of Fluidity. The setlist was comprised predominantly of songs from The Shape of Fluidity, while also paying homage to their earlier work with selections from Summerland, and Here Now, There Then. Raven’s voice is so captivating and her presence alone is hard to resist. Anger, pain, and determination, even hope exuded in every track she sang. Her bandmates added to the experience with their energy and devotion to their instruments, bringing this concert to a true next level. It was like being swept away in a current of deep emotions charged with introspective themes of dissenchantment and disagreement, but also relentless determination. At carefully-timed moments, the spirits of the 50 or 60 of us who witnessed their performance that night were lifted by the melodic and expansive soundscapes. Not one person in the room wanted to let go of the moment.
The show was undoubtedly immersive, with Raven providing background to some of the songs and taking time to speak to audience members after the set. My colleagues also got to speak to the guitar player (who also provided vacals) and drummer, who mentioned that just the night previous, they had performed to 2,000 people in Poland, yet just as much enjoyed the ambience of the show in Prague. They were so receptive to us, talking in depth and showing no sign that they were being held up from taking their instruments off stage and loading their van. Dool are those types of rockers who appreciate their fans.
And since returning to Bratislava, the band has taken the number one position in my Spotify library. Definitely a band worth keeping inside your radar, they will continue to play shows throughout the summer in Europe and, fortunately for us, come to Vienna in autumn, where we look forward to repeating the sensation left to us on this summer evening in Prague.
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