A fine thing — a session. A decent club — Oriana. And finally, an excellent style — folk pagan metal! ;). This time three bands were announced, two of which are very widely known here in Ukraine. And in general the event was unusual precisely in that NATURAL SPIRIT and CRYSTAL SWORD are not local but Chernihiv bands, and for many people Chernihiv is associated specifically with them.
So then — they started letting people in on time. The concert was delayed, as usual, by around 20 minutes. This tradition has generally resulted in the majority of attendees always arriving a little after the time stated on the flyer. We didn't hear a soundcheck — it took place before they let us in. Quite right.
So then, a certain Chort takes the stage — a very colourful and well-known figure in Kyiv, who this evening was performing MC duties. Having delivered a couple of monologues (well, you know what MCs usually do — blather about all sorts of things ;)), he announced that albums by NATURAL SPIRIT and HOLY BLOOD could be purchased near the stage. One could not observe any particular rush at the merchandise stand, it must be said.
So — the Chernihiv band CRYSTAL SWORD on stage. It must be said that the band fulfilled their primary warming-up task 100%, and unfortunately certain downsides of this state of affairs were observed. The crowd, in truth, only started gradually getting into it in the second half of the programme. And the programme, it must be said, deserves to be gotten into. Solid, good death metal with black metal elements. Unfortunately, the single composition of theirs I had in my possession — "Zhniva Skorbohy" — plus this one session is insufficient to fully familiarise oneself with the work of this promising band.
Then, while HOLY BLOOD climbed on stage and fussed with the equipment (part of the hall went outside, wrinkling their noses in dissatisfaction — not everyone among us likes Christian black metal ;)), Chort hit upon the brilliant idea of holding an auction and selling the debut album "Begushchy Po Volnam" — by hand, so to speak. The audience, it turned out, does not like walking up to a merchandise stand like civilised people and buying a disc for 17 hryvnias. They want drive — for the purchase to become a competition ;). In the end, thanks to Chort's capitalist instincts, the disc was sold for 50(!) hryvnias.
Well, but that is all lyrical. The Kyiv band came to a field already ploughed by the preceding act and began to sow (I seem to be drifting into strange metaphors =)). So then — the band practically tore their fans apart — not only had they not performed for a long time, not only had those attending come predominantly as fans of Fedor and company, but the band also delivered a thundering folk hurricane to the hall. It should be noted that the more I listen to them, the more dramatically my opinion of them changes. From their very first performance a few years ago, when I spat and said I would never listen to such a thing again, to this one, after which I had the desire to buy their album (a truly unprecedented feeling for me :). In short — one can see that the band is growing before one's eyes. Among the shortcomings I can note their stage presence — which was remarked upon not only by me. The guys simply don't know how to headbang attractively while playing, spin around, and generally demonstrate the energy overflowing in them. They can't do it, but they need to! They also played, it seems, the longest programme of all.
Then, before the headliners' performance, Chort attempted the same trick with the NATURAL SPIRIT disc "Ruskolun". But the expected effect did not materialise — though in my view there are more fans of this Chernihiv band. Nevertheless, the disc went for a mere 30 hryvnias.
A surprise for me was that people began leaving the hall during the NATURAL SPIRIT set. And the hour was not particularly late... strange.
The band also performed very well, but, in my personal opinion, strangely enough, with less drive than they could have mustered. Though the rousing "Oyra!" was performed a second time as an encore. Among the venue's shortcomings I can note the stuffiness. Whether there were air conditioners or not, they clearly weren't coping, and already during the HOLY BLOOD set the mirror at the back of the stage (I'll reveal a dark secret — for those who know, the stage is merely a small raised platform with a mirror at the back and a pole... guess what that's for %)), so the mirror was covered in a dense layer of condensation. Which undeniably attests to the fact that the concert was a success ;).