Brudniy Pes Pageant
Ukraine
Third-4th July 2023

Ukraine hasn’t seen an enormous music competition in a traditional format because the begin of Russia’s full-scale invasion. On Kirilovska Avenue, well-known for its digital golf equipment far past the nation’s borders (K41, Nearer), the music scene is slowly coming alive. The competition befell at Keller Bar, the place the place Ukrainian underground digital music lives, and the truth that it occurred is extremely necessary for our entire music business.

Virtually every single day for a month Kyiv had been shelled by dozens of rockets, and the probability of strikes on competition days remained very excessive. Regardless of this, individuals went to the competition to listen to Ukrainian music.

Over the 2 days of the competition, 100 artists, every of them Ukrainian, carried out on 5 levels. Prior to now, huge Ukrainian festivals used to draw guests with huge names of international headliners, largely leaving native artists within the shade. There’s an goal motive for that – it was virtually inconceivable to make cash with solely Ukrainian artists within the line-up.

One other drawback with the competition was the curfew, so individuals needed to go away the get together at 10pm, within the peak of the enjoyable and nightlife.

Every stage on the Brudniy Pes Pageant hosted a unique style idea. The primary and the largest in measurement was the PARKOVKA stage, which for 2 days was shared by the largest music media within the nation – rap.ua and SLUKH.

On the primary day, rap.ua gathered all the celebrities of Ukrainian rap on one stage. The motion began with a set by gifted Ukrainian Memphis rap ambassador, DJ Sacred, who received the group pumped together with his soiled old-school southern hip-hop sound and warmed up the group for the largest and most revered stars of the style – Гоня, Довгий Пес, PVNCH, NKNKT and OTOY.

Throughout the efficiency of PVNCH there was a really vital and symbolic second: earlier than the efficiency of the monitor ‘30033’ (the title means the command, after which the Ukrainian gunners hearth on the enemy) they referred to as all of the rappers to the stage to rock collectively and present the unity of the Ukrainian hip-hop group. They succeeded.

The second stage was DACHA. It was located on a comfy balcony shaded by timber, and was a sort of “tranquility station” between different levels. Largely mild digital music was performed there, however the spotlight that I personally noticed was a efficiency by Andrii Barmalii, a saxophonist who had launched his first solo single ‘я нормально’ the day earlier than the competition. This man packed the small stage to the brim, and it was laborious to see him until you have been standing near the stage. Why precisely did he get a bunch of individuals from different levels to flock to his present? Andrii performs new and unconventional music, not just for Ukraine, however for the music business basically – he performs racy saxophone elements beneath breakbeat and stay drums. I didn’t wish to lower by means of the group to see him play, however loved watching a pair in love, listening to his stay present with their eyes closed.

The place the place loud instrumental rock indie and various music was performed was the DVIR stage. For 2 days there have been younger and impressive ЗЛИПНІ, from Ivano-Frankivsk, who create eerily psychedelic and hypnotic punk, the darkish duo from Dnipro, KURS VALUT, whose lyrics are based mostly on reflective and rhythmic EBM with parts of electro and synth-pop, and the headliners of the primary day, The Unsleeping, a rock band already identified outdoors of Ukraine.

The central location and stage of the competition was ANGAR stage – a darkish rave “epicentre” which gathered the strongest DJs and musicians of the competition in a moist basement hangar. For instance, ТУЧА, the creator of a strong digital monitor with an important for all Ukrainians message “russia is a terrorist state”, carried out beneath the caustic pink, barely uncomfortable gloomy illumination, to which the viewers exploded. I additionally noticed RUSIIICK’s stay present for the primary time, and I used to be satisfied he was a future star. He raps to a wide range of digital music, and the best way he behaves on stage is harking back to a efficiency of indifferent and but as skilled rock musicians as doable.

The fifth stage was KELLER. On the primary day I couldn’t even discover it, however I did get to it the subsequent day, and as I danced there like nowhere else. It’s a really small room like a dungeon with the darkest and most charged music. I received right into a b2b set by Korper and JM Dasha, which was bursting with guys with t-shirts wrapped as a masks over their heads. The blokes performed an aggressive set with techno, electro and dubstep, drawing applause from sweaty and drained listeners on the finish of the present.

Brudniy Pes competition had another essential goal – to help the Ukrainian military which is the one motive why occasions like this – and the existence of Ukraine – is feasible. And naturally we couldn’t do with out serving to our little buddies after whom the competition was named. One of many competition’s goals was to discover a house for the canine Sanny, who’s already getting used to her new house owners.

Brudniy Pes in Kiev has grow to be one of the crucial necessary music occasions in Ukraine because the begin of the full-scale russian invasion. As I watched the individuals, I realised how necessary it was to really feel the ambiance of an enormous summer season competition, which is just inconceivable to attend overseas because of the ban on leaving the nation. Ukrainians listened to Ukrainians, thanked Ukrainians, created for Ukrainians and loved very totally different music by impartial Ukrainian artists. It was an inspiring weekend, after which everybody returned and continued the combat for our existence and independence. Neither the curfew nor the missile risk prevented us from laying this new cornerstone within the growth of the Ukrainian music business.

The organisers of the competition determined to carry another day, asserting an “epilogue”on a barely smaller scale, however on the identical location. It would happen on 8 July.

~

All phrases by Ilya Kovalenko