HISTORY

Right from the start, nine line-ups put together from players at IT companies fitted onto the stage. The opening slot went to Springtime, a band around Pavel Michovský from IBM. Nobody expected such a professional performance – great playing and singing from a well-rehearsed group of musicians – and Springtime went on to open the festival for several years. While musicians and instruments were being swapped on the main stage, the D-Prog guys played acoustic guitars outside. The original idea was to have two stages, an indoor (main) rock stage and an outdoor folk one, but in the end it didn't happen and D-Prog remained the only act ever to play outside.

The next set on the main stage was in a jazz spirit and was arranged by e-mail. Maciej Remiszewski from IBM Poland (saxophone), Aleš Křenek from CERIT-SC, the supercomputing centre in Brno (double bass), and Petr Plodík from the IBM division at DNS (drums) met for the first time on stage. They were missing keys, so just before the set they roped in Petr Spurný (Bull), scribbled down a few chords and off they went. It grooved like crazy.

Tři zkoušky nestačí (“Three rehearsals aren't enough”), the band around Petr Vach (Bitservis), won everyone over with their energy and sheer joy of playing. The next act couldn't deny its IT roots either – Veřejný Ajpiny (“Public IPs”), led by the Čermák brothers from Aitcom in Pardubice. They brought along a guest, the charismatic singer Drew, and their set stunned everyone with its professionalism and drive. Then came Digestoř with bassist Zbyněk Řeháček from IBM. Back then nobody suspected Digestoř would become a fixture of every edition to come. Bull was represented by Bull band – Petr Spurný (keys, vocals), Jaroslav Vojtěch (bass, vocals) and Roman Matoušek (drums) – joined by Vláďa “Bull” Beránek. Their blues covers have featured at every edition since.

The night wasn't over yet. Radek Soušek took the stage with a Furch travel guitar and played and sang a few rock bangers in his own inimitable style. The programmed part was closed by Ruda Hruška from IBM, accompanying himself on electric guitar over a MIDI backing track played from a keyboard (that will come in handy in later editions). The festival then ended with an open jam of all the musicians that stretched deep into the next day.

The first edition proved that the IT music jam concept made sense – musicians and listeners, friends and music lovers all loved it. The occasion also marked the handover of the IBM division at DNS from Jirka Dobeš to Petr Plodík. And it was with the support of the IBM division at DNS that sixteen editions of IT music jam took place.

The festival was again opened by the precise Springtime (IBM) – a laid-back start and Pavel Michovský's beautiful voice. Then came the jazz jam. Maciej, Aleš and the two Petrs met again after a year and the audience loved their jazz version of the Game of Thrones theme. Rudovy MIDI followed with Petr Vach (guitar, vocals, Bitservis), Honza and Michal Zmij (drums, bass, RA Solution), Ruda Hruška (guitar, vocals) and two singers, playing mostly Czech rock hits. New faces came from Amcobex and their Hemeroid Revival Band, who caught the crowd's attention with raw takes on rock classics, a small singer with a big voice and enormous energy.

Next up were Veřejný Ajpiny, Bull band and Digestoř, old friends from the first year, and the official part was closed by a Prague legend, Vláďa Beránek's Sdružení přátel hudby (“Friends of Music Society”, Data Intertech). At the very end everyone played together, dominated by Maciej's saxophone and Drew singing Bryan Adams.

Sadly, that was the last time we saw Maciej. After leaving IBM he was busy with work in Poland and never made it back to Prague. Then came the tragic news of his fatal accident. We will never forget – your saxophone playing, your energy and your musical feeling remain written in the hearts of the festival's musicians and listeners.

The second edition was the first to be filmed, so alongside the photos we also have video recordings of the individual sets.

The idea was to hold a smaller in-between edition as a warm-up for the main September Vopice and give the bands a chance to play together. Rudovy MIDI had become a fully fledged band with gigs of their own. Tulamore Brothers from Ostrava took the stage with Zbyněk Smetana from GC System (guitar, vocals), and a pair of women's knickers even landed on the stage. This rehearsal-style IT music jam was rounded off by the blues-rock Sdružení přátel hudby of Vláďa “Bull” Beránek from Data Intertech (guitar, vocals).

Otherwise it was the classic line-up: Springtime to open, Rudovy MIDI (almost pros by now, with a steady line-up and Marek Slonka on drums) and Digestoř, who got better year after year. New this time: white hats with a blue ribbon and the DNS logo for everyone. A nice touch was that Bull band still played under their own name, even though Bull itself had meanwhile been swallowed by Atos on the IT market, and Peťa Spurný and colleagues from Bull's security division had founded a new company, Iseco. So at that point the name Bull band was really only held up by Vláďa “Bull” Beránek.

Fun fact: in 2026 the HPC division of the French company Atos, after one more rename to Eviden, went back to its original name, Bull. Perhaps just so that Bull band could finally live up to its name again :-).

The Žlab played for the first time, from our home company DNS (Roman Komorný is from the HPE division). They've been playing together for decades, and over the festival's history the steady core of Čombe, Harry and Metyu has been completed by three drummers – this year it was still Drak. An interesting new formation came together at Síť and called itself HPC, after High Performance Computing, i.e. the most powerful supercomputers. Frontman Radek Soušek had performed alone with a guitar in previous years; now he surrounded himself with other musicians from Síť (Marek Slonka, drums). After a long musical break, Denudace, a jazz-rock bunch from Havlíčkův Brod, played one of their first gigs, with Petr Plodík on drums (by then already at M Computers).

Next came Bull band, joined on vocals by Drew from Ajpiny, then Veřejný Ajpiny themselves and finally, as tradition has it, Digestoř before the jam. Petr Plodík sat in with them on drums, so Barbi could pick up a second guitar and play some songs in a special arrangement with two electrics. It sounded great.

The Žlab followed with a repertoire that may always be the same, yet every year sounds different thanks to new arrangements. After Žlab came Asbis band, and it was legendary. The first and last ever performance of this formation, which had been rehearsing in the evenings at the Asbis offices. In IT music jam history, Asbis band had the biggest fan support: the whole company came to watch. One player's mum even snuck in, because apparently she had never seen him play on stage. The Asbis guys played brilliantly – the set had real balls!

Radek Soušek's HPC (Síť) went through another line-up change. Alongside him were Petr Vach (by then also at Síť), Marek Slonka on drums (Síť) and Jarda Vojtěch on bass (Atos). Next up was Elektrický Oslík (“Electric Donkey”) with Michal Vančura on drums and vocals (Avnet), and the musical excitement peaked with the song Majolenka. Jirka Fučík (IBM) joined Oslík as a guest. Then came the well-oiled Veřejný Ajpiny fronted by Drew, and Digestoř, again with Petr Plodík as guest drummer. They finished with covers of Visací zámek and Horkýže Slíže.

Modrá Vopice has a car park on site, and Petr Plodík had his car parked there to take the drums home. But hidden in the car were also gifts for the bands – bottles of good Caribbean rum. After each set Petr fetched a bottle from the car and ceremonially handed it to the band as a thank-you. Unfortunately his colleagues from M Computers noticed, and roughly halfway through the festival they made Petr open the rum and drink to everyone's health. How many of the last bands never got their rum reward will forever remain unanswered.

Bull band appeared in an unusual line-up. Vláďa “Bull” Beránek couldn't make it this time, so a friend of the band (guitar, vocals) stepped in, and on some songs another guest took over the drums from Roman Matoušek (Atos). Bass was held down as usual by Jarda Vojtěch (Atos) and keys by Peťa Spurný (Iseco). Veřejný Ajpiny with the Čermák brothers (Aitcom) played without Drew this year, but it was still great, and besides keys Pavel Čermák also pulled out a guitar and a mandolin.

Then, unlike the year before, a complete Bluemix took the stage, and it turned into one of the biggest bands in IT music jam history. Judge for yourself: Petr Heider (guitar, vocals), Pavel Hrdlička (guitar, vocals), Jiří Fučík (guitar, vocals), Honza Bartošek (violin), Petr Fousek (bass) and Jaroslav Peyerl (drums). Rock, blues and country hits rang out.

At the end, once again, the traditional Digestoř with bassist Zbyňda Řeháček (Datera) and, for a few songs, Petr Plodík on drums. It was also the first time frontman Tuňa shared a piece of rhyming folk wisdom – loosely: “Better than sleeping with a wanton wench is to give your own member a vigorous shake.” (In Czech, the word for “member” sounds suspiciously like Plodík – a pun that sadly doesn't survive translation.) The internet often attributes it to Comenius himself, the “Teacher of Nations”, although Comenius scholars have never found it in his works. Digestoř also shone with one more thing this time: they brought fangirls to the gig! Very pretty girls, at first glance on the younger side, and we were all jealous.

The festival was opened by Bull band with blues hits, adding Petr's favourite songs – Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits and Bejval jsem dobrej by Mišík. Petr drummed with them and his brother-in-law Fanda Pittner joined on guitar for Sultans. Fanda stayed on stage, joined on second guitar by Ivka Pittnerová, Petr's sister, and together with Petr (cajon) and Petr Fousek, Petr's classmate from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (bass), they played several folk and rock hits. Petr Plodík and Petr Fousek stayed on stage and were joined by Petr's friend from the Bebe summer camps, Filip Šádek (guitar, vocals) from Comp-Any, an IT company in Kolín, and Petr's companion through every edition, Petr Spurný (keys). Folk was on the menu – Žalman, Nohavica, and even the Nedvěd brothers.

Then the drummers from Vašek Lindl's music studio Chantek stormed the stage. Petr Plodík has long supported Vašek, who returned the favour with a drumming workshop that most of the festival crowd joined in. One fan went at the claves so passionately that he beat his fingers raw. Vašek was assisted by another friend of Petr's, Luboš Pavlík, who plays drums for Czech music stars.

Petr's big wish was to see Rudovy MIDI on stage again – the phenomenon of the early editions, who had sadly split up by then. They played, and the energy was back. When you've got two great singers up front, you can feel it. They got absolutely everyone dancing. Another present for Petr was a set by a crossover band from Havlíčkův Brod featuring the bassist of Petr's own Denudace, who played him the song from the TV series Friends, “I'll Be There for You”. Then came the well-wishers from IT music jam regulars Digestoř. Once again they didn't disappoint and, according to Petr, played one of their best gigs ever.

As if that weren't enough, Petr's colleagues from Educanet, the school where he teaches, also performed. Music teacher Tomáš Křovina was joined by two IT teachers and excellent musicians (both double bassists, as it happens), Tomáš Bartáček and Pavel Husa. This time the vibe was folk and folklore. The night was far from over and turned into a jam that went on long after midnight. Petr had a fantastic time and made it home around six in the morning.

Next came the idiosyncratic duo Pepek a Námořník (“Pepek and the Sailor”) from the Infra division of DNS. Pepek played guitar, the Sailor an intriguing instrument called a bass mandala, and they delivered music never heard at IT music jam before – alternative underground indie folk. Then came the traditional and, in a way, home band The Žlab, with frontman Roman Komorný from the organising company DNS. For the first time Petr Plodík (M Computers) played a whole gig with them on drums, replacing their long-time drummer Drak. The Žlab guys also prepared covers of Abraxas, and their take on the song Box in particular grabbed every listener.

Digestoř, with bassist Zbyňda Řeháček from Datera, played in an unusual slot. The guys no longer wanted to play last and wanted to enjoy the rest of the festival as spectators. Their gig was a great success again, and long-time fans could tell that both the musicianship and the stage show were on the rise. You could hear the experience from recording their studio album “Krůty jsou kruté” (“Turkeys Are Cruel”).

New this year was the blues and boogie band The Kingsize Boogiemen led by František Javůrek (HPE). František's great guitar riffs, a singer who also played harmonica, a drummer with a hi-hat in his right hand – they were really cooking, and it was one of the most professional performances in IT music jam history.

After the official part came the traditional jam. Petr Kubíček from AutoCont sat down at the drums – he had never played drums or performed on stage before, but he had a big dream: to play Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. Fulfilling wishes like that is a pleasure, and IT music jam is the ideal format for it. It turned out great. His biggest fan in the audience was his daughter.

An interesting musical interlude came from Filip Komínek and Katka Hovorková from the organising IBM division at DNS. Together with Petr Spurný and a beatboxer colleague they had rehearsed several original rap songs. The Žlab followed. Even though they had played several recent editions, they surprised again with new arrangements – and with them their drummer Petr Plodík, who was playing his second gig with them. After Žlab came the traditional Digestoř. They presented new songs and invited Petr Plodík on drums for the covers.

We wanted the tenth edition to be a Best of IT music jam, and we were thrilled that the original Rudovy MIDI line-up got back together for the festival: Petr Vach (guitar, vocals, Síť), Ruda Hruška (guitar, vocals, Huawei), Michal Zmij (bass, RA Solution), Honza Zmij (drums, RA Solution) and two energetic singers. It was awesome! Afterwards there was some more jamming, even outside with acoustic guitars. The beatboxer borrowed Petr's guitar and returned it with several broken strings – you don't lend out your girlfriend or your guitar, as one of the truest musicians' rules goes.

The tenth edition also closed a big chapter at Modrá Vopice. The performers weren't happy with the sound quality, so Zbyňda Řeháček of Digestoř (and a sound wizard himself) took the initiative and set out to find a different club for future editions. With huge thanks to the people who ran Modrá Vopice – Kaštánek in the early years and Alenka later on – we moved on, and we look forward to seeing each other again some day.

Musically, we went for fewer bands and longer sets. The festival was kicked off by Bull band (blues rock) in their classic line-up: Vláďa “Bull” Beránek (guitar, vocals, Kancelářské stroje), Petr Spurný (keys, vocals, Iseco), Jarda Vojtěch (bass, Atos) and Roman Matoušek (drums, Atos). Over the years they had polished some songs to perfection and added new ones, and Petr Plodík drummed on a few of them. Next came The Žlab (punk rock) with guitarist and singer Roman Komorný from the organising company DNS. They played old and new material, including the freshly recorded songs Co v tý hlavě máš and Budu sám. Third up was the jazz-rock Denudace from Havlíčkův Brod with Petr Plodík on drums. It's his home band, together for over twenty years, and they were really cooking. For IT music jam they added covers of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wohnout and Blue Effect.

The evening continued to the rhythm of rap. After his big success the year before, Filip Komínek aka Da Comeen from the organising company DNS now had a set of his own. His biggest hit, Velkej Tonda, in particular had the female fans weak at the knees. The night was closed by Digestoř with bassist Zbyňda Řeháček (Datera). The rock club suited them, the sound for the audience was great and, above all, the sound for the players was excellent – which Zbyňda praised most of all. Mission accomplished! Overall the turnout was a little lower than in previous years, a consequence of the Covid year.

The next traditional band was The Žlab with Roman Komorný from the organising company DNS. It was the last time Petr Plodík filled in on drums. From the following year they played with the third drummer to rotate through at IT music jam. After Žlab came rapper Filip Komínek from our home company DNS. His commitment swept away the fans, who thanks to the previous years were now singing along to the key songs. As usual, Digestoř had the most fans in the house. No wonder, with singer Zita (Komix) joining them as a guest. Her powerful voice was a perfect match for guitarist and singer Tuňa and bassist Zbyňda Řeháček (Datera) and gave Digestoř a whole new charge and energy.

A new face was the post-grunge band Mean Daddies led by Roman Lauš (Mewery). They played Roman's original songs with precision and professionalism, and Roman had surrounded himself with excellent musicians. More people came than the year before – Covid is gone, let's get back to the clubs!

The festival was kicked off by a new face, Kernel & Panic, who play IT rock and were therefore ideal candidates for IT music jam. Frontman and singer Ondra Školník (IT department of Komerční banka) also writes the lyrics, and it shows: songs like Plug and Play, Ajťák (“The IT Guy”) and Restart surely stuck in the audience's memory. On top of that, you could find a bit of erotica in almost every song. The guys and their energetic singer were really cooking.

Next up was the traditional The Žlab with Roman Komorný (DNS), this time with a new young drummer, Vítek Navrátil. His dad Radim works at Total Service and has long worked with the organisers at DNS. The Žlab's guests were unusual too – Ivana Rybáková (Intelis) and Petr Plodík (M Computers), who sang Olympic's Jedeme dál together. Bull band played third and once again didn't disappoint, bringing new songs. With Ivana Rybáková and Petr Plodík, who this time went for guitar and harmonica, they played Kalandra, Lucie (Sex je náš) and other rock hits.

Digestoř were already getting ready on stage with bassist Zbyněk Řeháček (Datera) and rapper Filip Komínek from DNS. Everything was set and... there was no sound engineer. He had run off to do the sound for another event at Cross. It's not a nice feeling to stand on stage ready to go, with fired-up fans in front of you urging you to play the first notes, and not be able to play. Seconds and minutes drag on unbearably, and some fans who don't know what's going on start whistling. The sound engineer turned up after fifteen endless minutes. But then Filip got going and earned a big response for his own songs, including Velkej Tonda. Digestoř, where singer Zita Nyklová (Komix) had settled in as a permanent member, unleashed a hurricane of punk-rock bangers. Vši (“Lice”) was there, already in its third arrangement with Zita, as was the new song Zonky štěstí, where the vocal interplay of Tuňa and Zita went full throttle.

The night ended with the boogie-blues formation The Kingsize Boogiemen with guitarist František Javůrek (HPE), their second appearance in the festival's history, and once again they were superb and utterly professional. Another edition was behind us. But we weren't happy with how the club was run, so we had another change in mind and started working on it.

First on the stage of one of the best music clubs in Prague were Kernel & Panic, who had already shone the year before. IT-flavoured rock with a dash of erotica from the pen of frontman Ondra Školník (Komerční banka) got everyone at Rock Café properly fired up. They were followed by the regulars The Žlab with Roman Komorný (HPE division of DNS), who confirmed the rising quality of their sets with drummer Vítek Navrátil, a permanent member since the previous edition. Filip Komínek aka rapper Da Comeen (IBM division of DNS) performed alone this time, to backing tracks. Well, not quite alone: on some songs he had great support from his son, whom he brought on stage – hats off, he nailed it!

After Filip came Digestoř with bassist Zbyňda Řeháček (Datera). Rock Café really suited their music, and with singer Zita Nyklová (Komix) it had real balls. They played old bangers in new arrangements with Zita, as well as new songs written specifically for the vocal duo of Zita and Tuňa. Next up was the jazz-rock Denudace from Havlíčkův Brod with drummer Petr Plodík (M Computers). The guys came in from all over Bohemia – guitarist Kuba from Liberec, bassist Bíťa from the Krkonoše mountains. They played brilliantly, with original songs as well as tracks from the band's more than twenty years of existence.

Unusually, the 14th edition was closed by Bull band. The guys were worried that the festival would run late, start behind schedule and nobody would stay for them. The opposite was true: the festival ran like clockwork, and putting Bull band at the end proved to be the best choice. They added more numbers with singer Ivana Rybáková (Intelis) to their traditional blues-rock covers.

We have to praise the organisers at Rock Café. The catering was great, and so were the sound and lights. We all agreed that choosing the new venue had been the right call. The musicians also praised the facilities – the backstage was big and well equipped, with armchairs, sofas, a fridge full of drinks, a toilet and even a shower. The musicians could feel like rock stars.

Next up was Czech lyricist and musician Michal Svatý (AMI Praha). His lyrics are very personal, touching on relationships between partners, between parents and children and between people in general, and they don't shy away from painful social issues either. They made a deep impression on the IT music jam audience, especially in the author's distinctive delivery accompanied on piano by his musical colleague. Petr Plodík (M Computers) sat down at the drums – he didn't know a single one of Michal's songs, but, listening closely to his delivery, he added percussion to the performance.

Michal was followed by the jazz-rock Denudace from Havlíčkův Brod, Petr Plodík's home band. For the 15th edition they prepared two new songs, Naháč (“The Nude”) and Malíř (“The Painter”), and brought along their two most loyal fans, Ivetka and Pavlík. Then came rapper Filip Komínek aka Da Comeen, this time with a live band – Petr Spurný (Iseco) on keys, plus drums and bass. The guys put on bandanas and flat-brim caps and let rip.

Digestoř, with Zbyňda Řeháček (Datera) on bass, surprised once again with novelties. In fact, from now on we should correctly write Dygestoř. The main change was the band's name itself, which got them the Czech domain dygestor.cz and set them apart from kitchen appliances (“digestoř” is Czech for a cooker hood). The name change also brought a new logo, T-shirts, social media and catering services. What didn't change was the energy Dygestoř brought to the stage.

For the second time, the festival was closed by Bull band. The classic line-up of Vláďa “Bull” Beránek (guitar, vocals), Petr Spurný (keys, vocals, Iseco), Jarda Vojtěch (bass, Eviden) and Roman Matoušek (drums, Eviden) was joined by two guests: singer Filip Staněk from IT4Innovations in Ostrava and Vláďa's companion from his home band SPH. Once again it was great, and those who stayed to the end had a fantastic time.

The second act was the Czech-American The King Bees with guitarist František Javůrek from HPE, who had played the festival in the past with The Kingsize Boogiemen. The King Bees are his new band with young musicians bursting with energy, playing a fusion of boogie, rocking blues, Americana, roots music and rock'n'roll that had everyone in the room hooked. Filip Komínek aka rapper Da Comeen performed with keyboardist Petr Spurný (Iseco), a drummer, a bassist and his son. They all put on bandanas and flat-brim caps and let rip. Dygestoř (yes, spelled with a hard y since the name change) with Zbyňda Řeháček (Datera) on bass and singer Zita Nyklová (Be a future) delivered their trademark untamed set. Zita, small in stature but with a powerful voice, entertained the crowd with her singing, guitar playing and dancing.

And now back to that attempt to return to the jam. Bull band's lead guitarist and singer Vláďa was abroad, and the question was how – and whether – to put Bull band together at all. Luckily, over IT music jam's whole history we've built up a deep bench of great musicians. But time was flying and for a long time nothing was settled. A few songs were agreed with Peťa Brusová, a singer and former DNS marketer; Petr Plodík (M Computers) would sing a few bluesier numbers and play guitar; and Petr's colleagues from M Computers, Betty Svobodová and Eliška Pechancová, sent a list of songs they'd like to sing. So did singer Filip Staněk from IT4Innovations, who had played successfully with Bull band the year before. An electric guitar was missing. Fortunately Harry from Žlab stepped up on the spot (huge respect!), and we had a foundation and one rehearsal planned.

The singers didn't make it to the rehearsal. Peťa is from Jablonec, Betty and Eliška from Brno, Filip from Ostrava. Petr and Harry arrived at the Jižák rehearsal rooms to find a skeleton Bull band – Petr Spurný (Iseco) on keys and vocals, Jarda Vojtěch on bass (back at Bull again!!) and Roman Matoušek (Bull) on drums. They managed to run through the Bull band songs and the songs for Peťa; there was no time for the rest because Petr had to rush to another meeting. Petr sent Peťa the recordings, and that was all there was time for. Even right before the gig there was no final set list. On top of that, Peťa's son fell ill and she couldn't come. Chords for replacement songs were being dug up on phones, keys were confirmed... and off they went on stage.

It wasn't perfect, but the atmosphere was amazing. The better-rehearsed Bull band songs at the start were played by Harry, Petr and Filip, and Zita stood in for Peťa perfectly. Then it flowed seamlessly into the jam, where Betty, Eliška and Filip sang Marsyas a Apollón, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, C'est la vie, Podvod and Čerešně. A bassist from Datera smoothly took over the bass from Jarda, and Petr took over the drums from Romča for a few songs. The fans were great and gave the performers perfect support. Tomáš Šteffl (M Computers) joined the girls for one song and carried the musicians further. Dygestoř burst onto the stage and played a few of the covers they've been playing since their student days. The King Bees followed with blues and rock'n'roll standards, and the musicians mixed and matched. Petr Spurný picked up an acoustic for a while, Jarda Vojtěch a hand drum. That's exactly what IT music jam should look like.

The sixteenth edition closed one big chapter. From the very first edition, the main sponsor and partner was DNS, above all its IBM division. But the IT market has been very dynamic lately, and distribution is changing with it. Huge thanks to DNS for all the support and long-standing goodwill (sixteen editions is an incredible history!).