PLAYOFF at “Biker’s Bar”, Donetsk
Having woken up in the morning of 16th February (after a gig the previous night), still sleepy, we embarked on our tour bus and sped off for Donbass. The shiny weather worked its magic on us and our spirits got higher along the way. Passing through the Odessa, Nikolayev, Kherson, Zaporozhie and Donetsk regions, we observed the beauty of their views and by the evening reached the desired point – “Bikers’s Bar” club in Donetsk.
Yet there were 2 hours left before the concert, so we could recover after the distant trip. Some of us recovered on a couch in a suite, another in a club’s shooting range, the others were listening to the opening band “Jebels”, who kindly helped us check the sound.
It should be mentioned that by ten o’clock the crowd was heated by hectalitres of alcohol and top hits of Russian Rock music performed by Jebels. Therefore when it was time for us to come on stage we were a bit worried that English texts by PLAYOFF could be found odd in this place. We were happy to find out we’d been mistaken. From the first (The Star Is Broken) and to the last song (Before I’m Famous) we felt the crowd were filling us with their energy so that we could play more and more songs. And so we did. We played “Just Because” and “Professional Something” for encore and the public rewarded us with their smiles and applause. Especially for the last two songs (see live video below). The instant feedback is what any artist needs most!
We woke up at 10 the next day, and after breakfast tried to leave on a motorbike parked in front of the bar, but failed to start its missing ignition, and got in our good old bus and off we went. Having made a couple of circles round the city centre, we paid a visit to a new live music club, “Liverpool”, which is really fabulous both in its design and interior, and after that left for Odessa.
We said “Good Bye” to Donetsk, and now wanna say “Thanks” to the art-director of “Biker’s Bar”, Valentin – for the invitation and hospitality, to administrators and waitress Natasha – for the concern and stuffed chicken wings for breakfast, to Donetsk crowd – for the hearty welcome!
Special thanks and respect to our heroic bass guitarist Oleg, who, despite his fever, stayed ‘cool as a cucumber’ and played all his parts all right! That was a man’s conduct! At a boy!
