On Sunday, April 24th,2022, Ukrainian band GO_A hit Klub Zaścianek in Krakow as part of their European Tour. The show was organized by the booking agency Follow Step and was set to start at 19:00.
The venue was packed and started an hour later due to technical issues. People came exclusively for GO_A, but who are they? The band makes a modern reinterpretation of Ukrainian folklore packaged in electronic sound. They gained a lot of attention worldwide after Eurovision 2021 where they placed 5th with 364 points, much due to the viewer’s votes. The stage was minimalistic, with no decoration, no photo pit, just a turn-table, mic stands, and an electric guitar. The band entered the stage accompanied by loud cheers. Some Ukrainian and Belarussian flags were seen in the crowd. The opener hit the audience with up-tempo Berlin-style beats, which instantly increased the heart rate to 100 bpm and Katya Pavlenko‘s vocals were like a spoon of honey poured into this techno-heavy guitar-flute porridge. All songs were fast-paced with the exception of “Solovey,” which has a more mellow rhythm and emphasis on Kate’s “white” singing. In between songs, she was talking to the crowd, mostly in Ukrainian, telling jokes or mentioning how they miss home. A big chunk of people in the front row were representatives of the Ukrainian community, knowing all their songs by heart. The highlight was “Shum” – last year’s single; from the first notes, the crowd went into full-on rave party mode. Important to mention, they performed their fresh single, “Kalyna,” and all the proceeds would go to support the Ukraine. The closing track was the extended version of “Shum”; Kate entered the stage with a Ukrainian flag, then went down to the crowd and fox-trotted her way across the club medieval. After the show, the musicians met the fans, interacted with them, took pictures, and gave hugs.
Overall the show was something else! The energy and fun were beyond the roof. The musicians, undoubtedly visionaries in their own right, were down-to-earth and open which made this show stand out.
