Preview...

June 2006 really flied over head as Kiev fan-club eV/olution had been busy preparing for Vacuum performance in Belarus. A list of like a hundred questions should be decided. During the club’s meetings (that took place more often than usually) eV/olutioners had been discussing a lot of things concerning our trip to Vacuum concert in Vitebsk: how to buy tickets, where to live during our staying in Belarus, what to take as clothes, how to promote Vacuum among the masses, what to present to Mattias, Anders and other two musicians from Vacuum band, to our dear friends from Belarus, Russia and Latvia and oh, many others as well. And thanks to Alex we had the best tickets, nice flat even with hot water and a door that can be closed. Well, lets lit a candle and go into the void…

So, morning 07.07.2006…

The whole day like crazy I’m packing my bag (though the list of my baggage has been written in advance and usually to pack my bag takes like 15 minutes for me). It seems to me all the time that I might forget something. And at the last moment my sandals have been torn, so I need to buy another pair as I don’t have any other proper one. Spending some funny moments at the local market looking for the shoes… A dinner, and my father helps me to bring my huge bag and packets to the central Kiev railway station.

05:30 p.m. meeting at the railway station with the fan-club. Mia, Polina, I and our relatives and friends who come to say “goodbye”. Brute and BackFire (Sasha) are late as usual. We’re starting to worry because it’s like 10 minutes before the train’s departure. I’m periodically calling them to hurry up. So, yes, at least we see them running up to us. As I keep the tickets, I want a little “revenge” for making us nervous. And I tell Brute that I don’t have his ticket – maybe he has lost it as I’ve given him the ticket before. As we don’t have enough time for mutual compliments and comments (or even fighting) I stop a comedy and we run to our train. It is a pleasant surprise to meet Shadow there as she has a present to be given to Mattias. Well, 6:05p.m. we are going to Belarus!

Overloaded with food and drink we play the cards. The person who loses in the game must make our wish come true. Sometimes wishes are extraordinary; we are laughing and just spending a great time together.

Crossing Ukrainian and Belarus boundaries at night. As we are caring so many presents we need to show special documents to prove that these things can be transited across the country boundary (like a picture for Alex). So, everything goes smoothly except a problem with Polina’s passport picture (it should have been shot one more picture). We are trying to explain as we really worry of Polina might be got out from the train. Thanks to God we cross the boundary with all eV/olutioners.  

I can’t sleep all the night in the train as well as some of other members. During the stations we have a chance to learn Belarus> language. And when the speaker proclaims the legendary “Bobruisk” railway station no one is sleeping any more, everybody is laughing. So, we promise to make some pictures of this place on our way back home.  

Morning 08.07.2006…

06:06 a.m. arrival to Minsk. Alex meets the fan-club so early in the morning (thank you!), we have a little breakfast and go to see the sights. The more we walk along Minsk streets the more it seems to us that we just walk in our native Kiev>. Streets positions, architecture style of the buildings are very similar to those in Ukraine. We often say: “Oh, it feels like we are in Kiev> right now!” Minsk is a beautiful city, with large streets and not so many people as we used to see in Kiev. And to follow the tradition of making pictures with the government residences on the background – Alex and Brute shaking hands in front of the building of Belarus government. Now it’s a historical place too. Also Alex helps us to exchange dollars to rubles and to buy new mobile numbers to keep us connected in Belarus>. After the lovely walk along Minsk> places of interest we drop in a cozy restaurant. Entering the doors of the restaurant we’re surprisingly pleased to hear  Vacuum song “Fools Like Me”, so instead of ordering the dishes, I just walk around singing this song, the sellers are smiling. Well, we have a very tasty dinner. The weather’s been so hot but the sky is getting cloudy. First drops of rain. We meet our special friend from Latvia Mila who comes to Minsk> by bus. Then we visit a cool park where we have a chance to see Minsk from an eagle’s fly – from the highest Observer Wheel at the post soviet space. Brute films the scenery. Then Alex shows us the great library of Minsk>, the building in a style of “I Breathe” (techno-cosmic). “Wow!” Then we meet up with Nika! She recognizes mostly everyone without any presentation and hugs us. This day I wear specially designed and made by Brute T-shirt with eV/olution emblem.

04:48p.m. train’s departure for Vitebsk. People are playing cards, laughing, having some snack. At about 09 p.m. we arrive to the land of Slavic Bazaar. Aniv, Milady and Lena> meet us at the railway station; it is very pleasant to see them finally. Brute and I perform a little “show” for the pleasure of taxi drivers and just people hanging around: I carry my bag, but Brute decides that it’s too hard for me, that “it weights more than Sveta” so he tries to put it away from my hands, but I don’t share his opinion, so… It all doesn’t come to fighting as in a while I give up. Still reality show’s begun. Well, our group of 10 V/ people takes the taxi to drive us to our flats.

Night 09.07.2006…

01:15 a.m. the fan-club after taking the shower are sitting in the kitchen and drinking a tea. The refrigerator unfortunately doesn’t work, the door is so easy to be broken by just one hit, and we are really tired but so happy.

07:43 a.m. I can’t sleep any longer! Excited about the great things that will happen soon. So, I go in a complete silence to the shower but while opening the tap it gets broken and falls off to the floor of the bathroom making really a lot of noise. So, that way eV/olutioners are awakened and Brute thanks me for that romantic morning especially. As all of us perfectly know what Mattias likes we without any doubt ask our guys to go to the nearest supermarket “Nika” (!!!) to buy pelmeni. After the breakfast our other V/ “half” (Aniv, Milady, Lena>, Mila and Alex) comes to see us and invite for a walk. We claim that our refrigerator doesn’t work and Alex fixes it right and turns it on. It works out! “Yes! What would we do without you!” (This we will find out a little bit latter). Well, we see the summer amphitheater where in one day Vacuum show will take place, walk in the park and in the city, order the flowers in the image of the symbolic Swedish flag and the balloons, have a dinner and just come back “home” to change the clothes for a concert (where Mattias is supposed to be in the jury). Brute opens the door and comes in, I follow him. Inside of our flat we can feel a very hot atmosphere, so Brute asks me to open windows everywhere. But still it doesn’t help, it still feels like being in the sauna. We come to the kitchen and find the atomic reactor – our refrigerator instead of cooling is warming! Like the microwave. Well, all the food is spoiled, but we’ve got the Bobruisk chocolate cakes “made by Alex’s special receipt”. Well, the positive is that we eat only fresh food now. So, everybody dresses up and in the best mood is leading our way to the amphitheatre. We take our sits and just are looking around. Then someone of us notices Mattias at the balcony above! He is talking to someone. We are spinning our heads to look at him and to wave “hello”. Mattias notices us and answers “hello” by his hand too, giving us big and sincere smiles. We are happy. I like the festival and the most of all I like a singer from Latvia and the song “Tenderness” by Achmatova (but not the singer who performs it). Mattias likes singers from Belarus and Italy as we can see from his “10” marks that he gives to them. Well, after the competition we “enjoy” another concert by Angelica Agurbash. Then we meet up with Galina from Moscow>. 11:00 p.m. Alex invites Ukrainian delegation to join Belarus>, Russia and Lithonia representatives in celebrating the Slavic peoples meeting at their apartment. But as the fan-club gets really tired, we refuse and go home. But still it is not earlier than 02:00 a.m.> that we go to bed (jams in the shower).

Morning 10.07.2006…

8:05 a.m. oh my God, a lot of things should be done before the concert! Dress, make up, dinner, visiting the sound-check at 01:30 a.m., take the flowers and the balloons, meet Nika and one more V/ friend. Well, it is not my first time I see Mattias (Chaika-5 in 2003), but still I feel like loosing a consciousness, and my hands are trembling like of the coffeman (joking here). So, when Mia, Polina and I are walking to the sound-check Brute calls me and lifts me up: “Sveta, you can loose a consciousness right now, as Mattias is here with us, we’re saying hello”. So, the female part of eV/olution comes up to Mattias and V/ people saying hello and hugging with Mattias. His kindness, friendly attitude and sincerity charm me. So, Mattias with the band comes to the stage and we are finding the best place to watch him singing. Most V/ people are watching Mattias through the gates, but Brute with two girls manage to pass near the security and take their sits right inside the amphitheatre. The sound-check takes a time, so Mattias is walking on the stage sometimes even dancing. Then he comes down to V/ people sitting next to the stage and they have some talking. Our group comes closer to Mattias and stays near the enter of the amphitheatre singing with Mattias and clapping our hands.

So, we visit the sound-check and get informed about the meeting with Mattias at the hotel. Then all V/ people come to the hotel where we find Mattias giving an interview and other two musicians Kalle and Olof sitting on the sofa. Well, for not interrupting we just take a sit at the nearest sofa too making pictures and filming Vacuum band. After the interview is over Mattias comes up to us and takes a sit.

Mattias says that he likes Belarus and that it looks like Sweden. He also adds that the album “Your Whole Life Is Leading Up To This” means that they won’t stop; it’s all Mattias’s and Anders’s lives on the CD and if we want to ask them something we should listen to this music and we’ll find the answers. Mattias seems to be unsatisfied with the promotion of the album as the musicians have been working so hard but the advertisement has been really mostly unnoticeable (completely agree). Also Mattias tells about Video clips for “Fools Like Me” and “They Do It”, adding that there won’t be any Video shot for “Six Billion Voices”, that it’s hard to work with Souz. The meeting is a Miracle, Mattias’s presence is just surreal. Then Mattias asks everyone to make a picture with him - he just says “it’s for me”, so everybody takes a sit next to Mattias and he tells “look here” and makes a photo by his notebook. It is something so unbelievable! Well, after some chatting we start to give him our presents. Everybody can see that on the video I hope. Then everyone is hugged and pictured with Mattias again. We are so happy. Some autographs for eV/olutioners (Yarik, Annette and Ann) who can’t come with us and for other V/ people and we wave “bye-bye”. We have a delicious dinner with Alex, Polina, Galina and Nika at the restaurant near this hotel. An hour is left before the festival so we are hurrying home. Take a shower, dress up (and when I refuse to wear T-shirt with eV/olution emblem it mostly comes to fighting with Brute) and we take the flowers and the balloons – it’s 10 minutes left. I’ve got a temperature 37,6 (sun hit or something like that) and Alex saves me again with a magic medicine. We hide Polaroids and cameras from the security entering the concert place…

VACUUM at Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk & Six Billion Voices of fans

The final of festival is like a preparation for using our hands for clapping and voices for singing and creaming. We greet our beloved band with applauding and creaming, and while Mattias is singing the first song “I Breathe” Mia and Brute perform the first surprise: blue and yellow balloons flying up in high! It is an amazing vision! Well, after two songs Polina prefers to change her sit (as she sits next to me and she’s been several times occasionally hit by my elbows and has been deafen by my crazy screaming). Mia takes her place and now three of eV/olutioners (Mia, I and Brute) are acting like mad in the eyes of people around. The concert is a seance of magic; there are no separations between Mattias and the audience, when he is singing we are music, heart, love. We are screaming so laud that we won’t be able normally speak after the show (especially Brute, as sometimes I hear Brute singing over to my ears not Mattias), we are applauding so hard that Mia will have a corn on her hands, we are jumping so high that we are even threatened by the security to spend the last of the concert outside. When Mattias is singing the song “Starting”-“Evolution didn’t change you at all” Brute proposes to all the eV/olutioners stand up to show that we’re Vacuum fan-club eV/olution, the idea is supported and this makes the security nervous again. Well, as Mattias is about to sing “Ecaros” Milady, Mila and Galina present the flowers to Mattias and the girls leave the stage waving with the Swedish flag brought to Vitebsk by Galina. That is very beautiful. Mattias shows the flowers to the audience and thanks V/ people. That is our second surprise. I can’t describe the whole rainbow of feelings while listening to and singing with Vacuum. I love all the songs and every of them is performed in a special way, but the most I remember how Mattias is singing “I’ve six billion things to say TO YOU” and pointing by his finger at us and we are doing just the same. And while Mattias is singing “Your whole life is leading up to THIS” we are pointing by our hands at him. Also Mattias says something like this “We are in Vitebsk now, your whole life is leading up to THIS”. And when Mattias presents the song “Let The Mountain Come To Me” he says like this: “I come to YOU”. And six billion other magical moments as well, just impossible to tell everything. “Preview” is performed and listened to with closed eyes, such a great sounding! And “Fools Like Me” is performed by Mattias mostly walking among the audience. Well, Mattias says “goodbye” and disappears in the darkness of night. And we are walking with banner along Vitebsk> streets promoting Vacuum among people. We also meet up with other V/ fans there; it is so nice to see them everywhere! Then Galina leaves us, Nika, Milady, Aniv, Mila and Lena take a taxi to drive them home, and Alex, Brute, Sasha, Mia, Polina and I are walking along Vitebsk streets guided by “the listener I knew” – the moon. Well, that night we sleep like for an hour because at 6:50 a.m. our train takes us back to Minsk. There we buy tickets for the bus to drive us to the airport to say “goodbye” to Mattias, Olof and Kalle. Everybody at the airport is happy but not me. Waving “goodbye” at the concert isn’t the same as saying “goodbye” at the airport. So, I am very sad. Maybe you say I’m too sentimental but I am very sad and about crying when hugging and watching their plane flying away.

So, the Vitebsk concert is so special and unforgettable performance ever, it is so good to look around and to see smiling and happy faces of people whom I adore and love so much. So good to share love for Vacuum with people who completely understand me and just feel the same. Sometimes during the concert we hold our hands together and make the love ocean waving to Mattias. We are the HEART beating in the rhythm with Vacuum music.

You know, people, 3 years ago I wrote the report about Vacuum concert at “Chaika-5” festival in Kiev, expressing a HOPE that we would meet each other at the next Vacuum performance. And the dream has come true. So, I strongly believe that if to HOPE than something will definitely happen!  

Well, lets HOPE that we all see each other at the next Vacuum concert really soon!!!!

Thanks go to:

Vacuum >for the best concert ever and the amazing meeting;

Alex >for making all this possible! For being a great friend of all of us;

Nika> for keeping all us together under your wings;

F/c eV/olution for your existence! You are my best friends:

Brute> for your brilliant ideas and energy to make all the show come true;

Polina> for your creativity, kindness, love and support;

Mia> for your sunny mood always, for your smiles and participation;

Sasha> for sharing this trip with us and for your friendly support, humor;

Milady> for your kindness, sharing happiness with us;

Lena> for your friendship, support and happy smiles;

Aniv> for friendly care, attention and being the best Video maker;

Galina >for your company and for the great Swedish flag;

Michalina >for your kindness, friendship and good memories;

And Mila, my dear friend, for your coming and singing!

With> ALIVE HOPE,

Svetlana