11 000 Days of Chaos

11 000 days. This number stands for the approximately thirty years of my life on Earth, which I decided to celebrate by a real, proper metal concert. Why did I do something seemingly so crazy? Honestly, I think I took a real risk, but this time it paid off tremendously.

In the past, I experienced so many unpleasant events on my own birthdays. Till today, I remember that Saturday when no one turned up to my, I think, 9th birthday party. Together with my Mom, we had prepared our apartment for up to ten children but in the end we were left alone. Mom tried hard to make me happy but you can imagine all her attempts were futile. Later she invested so much money into expensive parties so the kids would come, but how honest was it from them? Nevertheless, at least for a while I had the feeling that I belonged. When I was a teenager or in my twenties, it was still the same, I often paid for friendship, and although I was dreaming of someone throwing a surprise party for me, it never happened. When I had a partner, I liked to spend my birthdays with him even when we didn't do anything special, but when I was single, it often turned out quite bad. For example, one time my friends thought very nicely about my roommate, who celebrated only a day before me, but they completely forgot about me. And this frustration and emotional pain then led me to do very irresponsible things. However, to be fair, there were some nice moments, but most of them originated from my Mom and her friends, and from the very few who appreciated me even when I was the weird one (and who, for example, found me with their wishes even when I was hiding and crying in my high school's art room). Despite these little, lovely whiles, I remember birthdays as something frustrating that I'd prefer to sleep through.

Moreover, as I am getting older, the feeling of ageing joins in. Obviously, I am not a teenager anymore, yet I believe I have been wasting my life, I have no proper job, no partner, I am not successful at anything, but every time I get another year older. So very often I spend at least a part of my birthday crying, being sad about all that I should have achieved by then but had not. It was more bearable in the past when I was with my loved one, but how about this year? I saw people of my age already having families or at least being able to provide for themselves, while I could only show off my reports from psychiatrists and mental hospitals. I feared my 30th birthday terribly, I was even afraid I may try doing something not so nice to myself.

So where did that awesome idea of 11 000 Days of Chaos come from? I don't remember anymore, it must have been one of my friends, telling me simply that if I wanted a big birthday party, I should organize one. I did not aim for just a regular meetup over a couple of beers (not only because I don't drink anymore), I wanted something more special than that. So, inspired by a particular very creative man, I came up with the thought of having my very own birthday concert. I did not know how to organize concerts, but fortunately I have great friends who offered to help me with anything they could. At first it sounded ridiculous, but then I started to talk to the bands and I booked the club, so there was no way to chicken out of it anymore.

Till the very last day, the organization of the show was really stressful, both for me and the team that formed around the event. There were quite a few lineup changes, but especially there was Covid-19, so the concert could have been cancelled at any moment. I still think we were incredibly lucky because in the end everything went according to the plan, we had a great evening and I hope everyone enjoyed it at least partially as much as I did. We ended up with five bands, each of them being incredibly special to me. Now I will briefly introduce them in the order in which they appeared at my birthday show.

The event was opened by Město Šedi [1], my friends from Ostrava, the city where I was born. They play rather raw black metal with that old Norwegian vibe I love so much, and their lyrics deal mostly with the industrial heritage of Ostrava. Their music fits perfectly to the grey, foggy atmosphere of our city, so I got absorbed by it the first moment I heard it (it was at a show where I performed with my former band). At 11 000 Days, I was incredibly honored that Město Šedi let me sing two tracks with them, one as a duet with their vocalist, and the other, called Ostrava, as a solo. These two tracks, with my vocals in them, will be featured on the band's upcoming album, and that is of course a great pleasure for me.

The second horde to perform at the show was Nocturnal Obeisance [2], a black-death metal band from Zlín. Their rather traditional appearance with warpaints and huge iron crosses matches so well the unholy ritual of their music! Similarly to Město Šedi, I first saw Nocturnal Obeisance at one of my former band's shows, and they impressed me very much. I also discovered they were nice and friendly people so I really wanted to have them at my birthday concert. And I still believe it was not a mistake because despite a little accident (the vocalist spilled beer right into some sockets on stage, short-cutting the entire power circuit) I totally enjoyed their show and I hope the others did too!

Then there was the time for the headliner, Naurrakar [3] from Prague. What a long, emotional story there is between me and this band! Over the last ten years, we experienced almost everything you can imagine; love, hate, and sometimes even indifference. Right now we are in the state of a very nice and deep friendship, and I hope it will stay this way. Therefore, my choice was obvious, I wanted their great post-apocalyptic black metal performance filled with smoke and terror right in the heart of my concert! I think I couldn't have made a better pick, these five men in gas masks absolutely astonished us all. And, on top of all this, they let me perform a duet with their vocalist, so I could finally sing live the lyrics I had written about ten years ago.

After Naurrakar had finished their breathtaking set, I thought it was time to relax a little, so we had a birthday raffle and some more fun. Then the stage was cleared for Anselm [4], a melodic death metal band who has been resurrecting the awesome works of Petr Bezruč, quite a well-known poet from the Ostrava region. How great his poems sound, transferred to this band's lyrics and accompanied by the heavy, striking, yet very elaborate music! I can fully recommend listening to the album Technopolis, which includes both Anselm's own works and the Petr Bezruč poems set to metal. Anselm was definitely a great addition to the lineup of the show, I am honored they accepted my invite!

And then the surprise of the night came, no other than my dear friends and co-organizers Voidsign [5], who had reserved the closing performance for themselves right at the beginning of all the planning. Many of us did not know what to expect from them as it was only their second show (and the first with the current set list) but I must bow before their skill! It is so hard to describe the unique sound of their music, it is dark, progressive, industrial, cosmic, and incredibly atmospheric. They managed to open the portal to another dimension and transfer me somewhere far into the universe, so it was the best concluding act I could think of!

In general, I was not only satisfied, but enthralled by the entire show, by all five performances and my friends' reactions to the idea and the music itself. I am incredibly glad this awesome party took place, that so many great bands accepted my invite, that so many people came, that everyone was so friendly. It was my best birthday ever, finally I got what I had always wanted, a real, great party with many people and a lot of fun. Therefore thanks to all who were helping me so much, to the club, the musicians, the photographers, and to all who came. Believe it or not, people were incredibly generous and even when they could come in for free, they did not, so they helped me significantly to cover all the costs. Therefore I did not end up with the weird feeling I had when I was a child and my Mom was organizing those expensive parties for me. Instead, I left with a total enjoyment and a strong belief we all had fun and simply a great evening. And I even got a real, beautiful and delicious birthday cake from my fellow geocachers! I don't remember that I have ever felt this awesome on a birthday. Thanks everyone.