Bez ladu a skladu, Michael Kocáb and Karpatské chrbáty Head Out on Tour to Ukraine
Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil and Borodianka – these are the four Ukrainian cities set to host Slovak bands Bez ladu a skladu and Karpatské chrbáty in the coming days. Joining them on stage will be legendary Czech musician Michael Kocáb. The short Ukrainian tour will take place from 7 to 10 May.
07. May 2025
Following the success of the one-day Pohoda loves Ukraine festival held in January 2024 in Kyiv, Slovak music is returning to Ukraine after a year – this time to four cities. The tour kicks off on Wednesday 7 May in Lviv, moving on to Ternopil the next day. Symbolically on Friday, 9 May, the bands will perform a joint concert in the capital, Kyiv, alongside the Ukrainian group FAKTYCHNO SAMI.
A particularly special concert is expected in Borodianka, a town near Kyiv that was occupied by the Russian army and saw widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, including its cultural centre and the local elementary school of arts. The atrocities committed in Borodianka prompted a response from world-renowned street artist Banksy, who created two now-iconic works there. The final concert of the Ukrainian tour will take place in the partially restored section of the town’s cultural centre.
One of Banksy's works in Borodinka (photo by Oleksandra Sherhina)
“It’s an honour for us to return and play again in proud Ukraine. We want to share our music with the Ukrainian audience and also show that Slovakia is not just Robert Fico and those like him. We believe that the majority of Slovaks value human life and would never cynically celebrate “peace” with an aggressor terrorising a neighbouring country. Slovakia stands at a crossroads, and we must not allow it to be dragged into the company of rogue states – the more our leaders pull us that way, the more artists and civil society must rise up. To anyone with empathy, it’s clear who the aggressor is and who the victim is, which is why we give Ukraine our full support in its fight for freedom. I’m deeply grateful that an exceptional artist and human being like Michael Kocáb is supporting us,” says Michal Kaščák, singer of Bez ladu a skladu, about the Ukrainian concerts. Michael Kocáb adds: “For me, joining these concerts is about supporting Slovaks who are fighting to preserve basic moral values. Through his relations with Putin, Fico is, to put it plainly, bringing shame upon Slovakia. To blur the lines and obscure the reality of Russian aggression against Ukraine – in a moment as critical as this, with the Russian threat hanging over all of Western Europe – is a deliberately misleading act. There is no excuse. The truth is simple: Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine the victim. Attending celebrations with the aggressor and thereby indirectly legitimising his actions is a fundamental political failure.”
Bez ladu a skladu will return to Kyjiv after two years, in 2023, in addition to the concert in Kyjiv, they recorded a new music video at the Olympic Stadium (photo Vladimír Šimíček)
“The huge burden of shame we’re forced to carry because of the traitors in the current government coalition is so unbearable that any part of it we manage to cast off feels like liberation,” says Braňo Jobus of Karpatské chrbáty, and adds: “Playing alongside the man who oversaw the withdrawal of occupying troops from former Czechoslovakia is always a great honour. Playing with Michael Kocáb right in war-torn Ukraine is not only about the freedom we wish for our Ukrainian friends, but also the freedom we ourselves are currently having to fight for.”
The Ukrainian tour featuring Michael Kocáb, Bez ladu a skladu and Karpatské chrbáty is organised by Pohoda Festival. All ticket proceeds will go towards supporting Ukraine’s fight for freedom.
