After a continuous difference of opinion, Jiri Pala leaves the band called Barricade in 1997 and sets up a new one with a vision of orientation to progressive guitar rock. He invites David Uher (g, ex-Oceloid) and Mira Janas (bg, ex-Spider) for collaboration.
Being troubled by neighbors who had been switching off the circuit breakers, they found their shelter in the nearby roadhouse "Brest". The first official rehearsal of Area 51 took place on the 4th November 1997. On Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th March 1998 they made the first demo which contained instrumental tracks only.
In 1999 the first official demo of Area 51 comes to life. A "singer" Mira Ulehla takes part in two songs. After his departure Franta Smazil comes in and takes part in the second demo recorded in 2001. Singing gains much more room in the band this time. The band begins to perform plentifully (they played as a support to Stratovarius or Gamma Ray).
In 2002 David Uher won a special prize in the guitar contest and accepted the offer to play with a professional Prague band called Dobrohost. He left Area 51 and moved to Prague. Guitarist Bob Rolinek took David’s place for a while. However, his activities in several bands at the same time didn’t bring the desired fruit.
After a year-long break the original lineup begins to rehearse again. Franta Smazil leaves the band and Michal Kopecny (ex-Mastnee Brutwan) becomes the voice of Area 51 in late 2004. His arrival pushes the band forward and impresses a brand new musical face to it. Vocals have finally become the equal part of the band’s creation process :-)
Area 51 released their first regular record called Change in January 2006. You can listen to the complete album for free at www.area51.cz .
In the second half of the year Mira Janas decided to quit the band. The rest of the band had no choice but to respect his decision. At the same time they started to search for Mira’s successor. Eventually, at the end of August Jirka Blazek (ex-Georgen) steps in.
In March 2008 the line-up is completed by the second guitarrist - Marty Zdrazil (ex-Nsoci). The band begins to work on new songs which should end up on the successor to Change.
The rest of band’s history takes place right now...
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