The Plastic People of the Universe were a group of underground Czech psych-rockers known more for their outlandish stage presence than for their songs. After the Communist invasion in 1968, however, they became a thorn in the side of the repressive regime for their subversive messages, not to mention some truly ingenious ways of defying the ban on live gigs. So the authorities decided to put the band on trial – an event that backfired spectacularly. Paul Wilson, a young Canadian swept up in the history of the Velvet Revolution when he became the group’s singer, and Martin Machovec, a historian of the Prague underground, take us inside the courtroom at that crucial moment when a rock band inspired a nation to rise up and defeat totalitarianism