The Prague Post
November 22nd, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Hotel Prague Centre

Home » Archives » Night & Day

Scandinavian glam

The Ark sails back to the outrageous '70s
Stage Review | Search restaurants | Archives

October 3rd, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
They didn't win the Eurovision Song Contest — but then, that was the idea.
The Ark

When: Sunday, Oct. 7, at 8:30
Where: Rock Café
Tickets: 280 Kč, available through Ticketpro and at the venue

By Christian Patrick
For the Post
Remember the 1970s? Yes, the glorious decade when the likes of Queen, T-Rex, Roxy Music and Bowie’s alter ego Ziggy Stardust were at the height of the rock revolution, armed with glitter, cat suits and big-stadium rock riffs. If you thought that glorious epoch of musical and aesthetic excess was over, think again.
Meet glam rockers The Ark — one of Sweden’s biggest exports since snus.
Formed in 1991 by effervescent über front man Ola Salo, guitarist Jepson and bassist Leari in the small village of Rottne, the band was convinced the apocalypse was near. First, though, The Ark had to stave off the evils of grunge and Brit-pop. For the better part of a decade, the band fought and eventually outlasted them both.
Armed with new recruits in guitarist Martin Axén and drummer Sylvester Schlegel, The Ark released its second single, “It Takes a Fool to Remain Sane,” in 2000. The song was an instant smash and catapulted the band to icon status in its native Sweden as well as other European countries — including Italy, where the song remained in the top 10 for an astounding four months.
When its much-anticipated 2001 debut album, We are The Ark, was released, it shot straight to No. 1 and sold 120,000 copies.
Convinced the success was a side effect of work rather than luck, the band members never sat idle in their sudden rise to fame. Over the next few years, they released two more hit albums (2002’s In Lust We Trust and 2004’s State of The Ark) and a myriad of chart-topping singles, and relentlessly toured the world. Because of their energetic shows, flashy stage costumes and balls-to-the-wall showmanship, they developed a reputation as a great live act.
If you aren’t familiar with The Ark, you can be forgiven — after all, this is the Czech Republic, a country that boasts Kabát as one of its most revered rock acts. Although the differences between the two bands are vast, they do share one thing in common: an appearance in the Eurovision Song Contest earlier this year in Helsinki.
With its song “The Worrying Kind” — a ’70s glam rock throwback with boogie-rock guitars and a catchy melody — The Ark was picked by UK bookies as the odds-on-favorite to win the contest. Instead, it finished 18th. But what some would consider a disappointing result was not viewed as such by The Ark camp.
“There was something absurd about the idea,” Salo says, brushing aside his Jesus-like mane. “That absurdity was very much in line with the typical Ark philosophy — being at the wrong place, but doing our very own thing. Not defining our cool through being in an eccentric place, but being cool through being ourselves in the most uncool of places.”
And Eurovision certainly didn’t put a dent in the band’s popularity. Its fourth album, Prayer for the Weekend, released weeks prior to the Eurovision final, quickly went platinum as it camped out in the Swedish top 10 for more than three months.
And playing Eurovision may have broadened the group’s ever-growing fan base.
“I think for many small children, seeing The Ark at Eurovision was their first rock experience,” Axén says. “I’m glad we could be that band. I can imagine that it was probably a lot like the time I saw Kiss for the first time.”
Think the ’70s are gone? Witness The Ark and think again.
Christian Patrick can be reached at features@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (3/10/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Provokator
Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.