A bunch of blurry, useless pics that I took on the way to Maidan tonight are here.
The weather was absolutely impossible, but it improved during the concert. I was watching most of it at home, as I had to be near Marta. But we opened the window and listened to the more or less live sound.
As I mentioned on Twitter, the crowd's spirit was fantastic. Reminded me of 2004: tons of friendly people who chose not to sit comfortably at home and all came to Maidan instead. I kept thinking of my papa - how he would've loved to be there. Tried hard not to cry as I listened to 'Hey Jude' and 'Yesterday' - kept imagining how papa would've been singing along, blissfully, in his bad English.
As for the politics of it all, I think Victor Pinchuk is setting a good example, and I hope some of the rich folks from the other camp will try to bring, say, the Rolling Stones to Kyiv next. Or anyone else who's cool. Would be as awesome, especially if they do it soon, without waiting for the next election. Also, according to AP, this was a charity concert, and the money raised will be spent to buy medical equipment for kids with cancer - which is a very good thing, too.
Mikheil Saakashvili was at Maidan - but without his friend Yushchenko. Kuchma was there, too - which was hard to swallow. His daughter, Pinchuk's wife, was wearing something awful. Pinchuk looked genuinely happy.
I called myself a cab which drove me to Sophiyvs'ka Plosca (we actually had to cross a lake at some point, waves were coming way above the wheels.) Walked down to Maidan and found a spot in front of the Globus's dome on the axis of the stage center, 2 minutes later the concert started (9.35 pm) There was a countdown on stage and when it hit 0.00.00, Sir Paul ran up on the stage. Then I walked to the front and ended up still right in front of the stage, about the "latitude" of Pochtamt's entrance. Stayed there all the time. Umbrellas where obscuring the view first, but then the rain ended. I watched most of it on the giant screens on both sides of the stage, though a couple of times, I caught a glimpse of Sir Paul on the stage.
ReplyDeleteThe crowd was, indeed, exemplary--lots of people in their 50's and 60's with their kids and grandkids, signing along in English. The concert ended at midnight sharp, I got home after 1 in the morning. The metro stayed open until very late.
Sasha
My local newspaper in Switzerland reports on the Kiev concert (half a page), but focuses on Pinchuk, his role in privatisations, etc... Not a word about the rain. :)
ReplyDeleteDo you have a cold today?
Genia