Review–Haydamaky at the Garrick Theatre, Sept 25 2009

-review by Eugene Osudar/photos by Ailsa Dyson

oH
YoU
Beautiful
Madly
dancing
Ukrainians

a hundred on the floor

jumping up and down
with every
pogo popping heart,
beat
with every
driving
thumping heart,
beat
of
bass
snare
toms
cymbals
s
m
a
s
h
ing

driving us
song after song
no time to rest
for
the dancers
for
the Ukrainians

and!

a
c
c
o
r
d
i
o
n

the way it Really is

like Gogol Bordello

Haydamaky
makes you Move
makes you RoaR
makes you
ferocious
on the dance floor

there are
hundreds
more Ukrainians
gathered in the Garrick
Theater
for
a taste
of what will come
October 3rd,
Gogol Bordello
at the Burton Cummings

Haydamaky

all the way from Kiev.

hard
kicking

Ukrainian folk
music

Really
punked
up

with a syringe blast of reggae
into your veins
and straight
to the heart

a
d
r
e
n
a
line

r
u
s
h

90 plus
minutes

and lead singer
Oleksandr Y
hopping pogoing
Ukrainian dancing
every song

www.myspace.com/haydamaky

i didn’t know about this gig
until Friday morning
the day of the show

and when i went to their myspace

i didn’t even make it
to their truly
incredible
cover of
Motorhead’s
Ace of Spades
with accordion!
with trombone!
and trumpet!

oh my!

when a band
is brought in from the Ukraine

to Winnipeg
home to tens of thousands
of Ukrainians

hungry
for the culture of that far away
land,

expect
Brilliance!

last year,
it was straight folk
Burdon,

glorious!

and Now

Haydamaky.

Oleksandr Yarmola, lead vocals
Ivan Leno, accordion
Volodymyr Sherstyuk, bass
Eugene Hajduk, trumpet
Oleksandr Dem’yanenko, guitar
Rusian Ovras, drums
Oleksandr Charka, trombone

they gave Everything,

and bowed deep
and long
after their set

we felt their honor
as they felt ours.

the set lists
are in Ukrainian,

and I
don’t know
how to read
it, and i don’t speak
it
this beautiful Ukrainian
only

dances
it

my madly
passionate
Dancing
Ukrainian
soul
inherited from my beautiful
parents
and grandparents
from the rolling
farmland
they came from.

we know
how to party
and
how to dance
and
This Music
this mix
of punk and Ukrainian
folk and reggae
that Haydamaky
has dreamed
and translated
from their Ukrainian
heritage
to their youthful
Punk Ecstatic
exuberant
souls
is

Ukrainian
Dance
Music

in a new form.

so, i asked for translation
of the set list,

Trompita
Don’t Have Bread
White White
Vorota
Trambuy
Music
Malanka
Kavalok/Stodola/Shidi Ridi
Susidka (traditional song)
Ace of Spades
Kozack System

first encore,

Dolynon Dolynon
Kohania
Ephyr

second encore,

Veshla Moloda
Yabko
46 Years

on Thursday
i saw The Hold Steady
and Two Hours Traffic.

on Friday
The Bop Ensemble
and Haydamaky

and without
question

without doubt

the band
to have Not missed
of the four,

and truly
another
Legendary
show,

Haydamaky.

it makes me wonder
what kind of music
scene
is happening
in the Ukraine,

Burdon.

Haydamaky.

Bring more.
we need to dance.
and celebrate
our rich culture.

Haydamaky
September 25
Garrick Theater