Mad Heads and Ukrainians

By Volodymyr Kish

As most of you are aware, the Bloor West Village Ukrainian Festival kicks off in a couple of weeks, running from September 17 through 19.  Now in its fourteenth year, the festival, now officially known as the Toronto Ukrainian Festival, has become the largest Ukrainian street festival in North America, attracting some 350,000 people over the course of the weekend.

The highlight each year is the grand concert on Saturday night which for the past few years has typically featured one of the top bands or performers from Ukraine.  Last year, the Haydamaky put on as energetic and entertaining a show as I have seen since I was a rebellious teenager frequenting concerts that my parents thought were scandalous!  To me, the Haydamaky are a prime example that the Ukrainian music scene is as hip, edgy and contemporary (not to forget as enjoyable) as any other in the world, while still maintaining a distinct Ukrainian flavour.  It is a far cry from what was considered “Ukrainian” music when I was a kid.  Back then, “modern” Ukrainian music meant something played by bands such as the D Drifters 5 or Rushnychok.

Today, particularly in Ukraine, you will find Ukrainian bands playing a broad spectrum of contemporary sounds that covers everything including pop, rock, rap, hip-hop, punk, ska, etc., not to mention what has come to be referred to as “world music”.  These bands play to huge crowds not only in Ukraine but throughout Europe, occasionally even venturing out to North America.

This year’s Ukrainian Festival features one such group from Kyiv known as Mad Heads XL, who have achieved rock legend status in their native land.  They were formed as the Mad Heads in the heady days that followed Ukraine’s independence.  Their first album Psycholula came out in 1996, followed by three others.  In 2004, they underwent a transformation and expansion, adding the XL to their name, and have since then produced three more albums.  Like many other prominent rock bands of that time, they were particularly active in supporting the Orange Revolution.  The band consists of six musicians which, in addition to the standard guitar, double bass and drum instruments, is complemented by a strong brass section consisting of sax, trumpet and trombone. The group is headed by Vadym Krasnooky who is also the lead vocalist.

Over the course of time, their style and sound has evolved to what it is now – an eclectic mix of rock, punk, ska and folk.  To contemporary music experts and aficionados (which I must admit I am not), they belong to the musical genre known as “psychobilly”.  When I first heard that term, I had to look it up on Wikipedia, my trusted source for information on things about which I am ignorant, which at my age, continues to grow every day.  According to Wikipedia, psychobilly is “a fusion genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. It is one of several subgenres of rockabilly which also include trashabilly, punkabilly, surfabilly, and gothabilly.”  Apparently, it is characterized by lyrical references to science fiction, horror, violence, sex and other such stuff but “presented in a comedic or tongue-in-cheek fashion.” 

Well, let it not be said that I am not adventurous or over-the-hill when it comes to music.  I am looking forward to experiencing this cutting edge Ukrainian band and hope they are as entertaining as the Haydamaky were last year.

One other group performing at the Festival that I definitely know I will enjoy is violin virtuoso Vasyl Popadiuk’s gypsy world fusion band Papaduke.  No one who has ever seen Popadiuk play ever leaves one of his performances without being totally awed and amazed.

Of course, there will be numerous other groups and performers catering to almost every musical taste playing almost non-stop throughout the Festival. Whatever your comfort level and personal preferences may be, you are guaranteed to find something you like at the Toronto Ukrainian Festival.