A Ukrainian band is to take part in the famous rock festival in Budapest for the first time
Finally, Ukrainian musicians are starting to break through to the top European music fstivals – and I don’t mean the pop carnival Eurovision. I mean the real rock fests which gather world music stars on their many stages – those fests basically indicate what’s going on in the music scene today, and becoming a part of them means leaving a trace in musical history – even if just a small one. This year the Ukrainian band Mad Heads XL will have a chance to leave their trace at Sziget – one of the most popular and recognized European festivals that take place every year in the capital of Hungary – Budapest.
In fact just two years ago there was serious talk of VV going to perform at Szidget, however, in the end VV didn’t get to go to Sziget, which makes Mad Heads XL the first Ukrainian band to take part in the festival. The name of the band is already featured on the official site of Szidget, which indicates that they will perform at the international stage Wan2 on August 9 – the first day of the festival, which will be on from August 9th to August 16th. Gogol Bordello from New York, fronted by the charismatic singer of Ukrainian origin Eugene Hutz, will perform on the same stage, so Mad Heads XL will find themselves in good company. The company would be an excellent one inded, since this year’s Szidget headliners are Franz Ferdinand, Radiohead, Scissor Sisters, Placebo, Progidy, Iggy Pop and the Stooges.
Its not quite clear why Mad Heads were picked to represent Ukraine at Szidget 2006, as they can hardly be called a very famous Ukrainian band and their music is not too original – though they started their career as a rockabilly band performing in English, they have now turned to a much softer pop-rock sound and Ukrainian lyrics, which doesn’t make them stand out much. Nevertheless, Mad Heads XL have just released their latest album “Nadiya Ye” (There is Hope) which is to be sold in some European countries including Hungary, so their performance at Szidget will give the band a good chance to promote it among Hungarian fans.
