Rocket Man Rocks the Socks Off Kyiv at AIDS Awareness Concert

Last night I attended what may have been the best concert I've ever been to. Elton John on Independence Square FOR FREE. Sir Elton played a 2.5 hour set including every hit imaginable...and it turns out I know most of the words...Highlights were Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, and The Circle of Life complete with Lion King video montage on the big screens.

Katya and I were a little weary of what the scene would be like: thousands of sweaty, drunk Ukrainians drawn to a free downtown event. Beers in hand, we made our way towards Independence square quite easily. On the street, volunteers were giving out information, condoms and addresses of the HIV testing and counseling centers. Then we came to a fence on the edge of Independence Square. We were happy to see that it didn't seem too crowded on the other side, by the stage. A mob quickly formed by this militsia enforced "entrance." At first we were all moving forward through the gate. Then, much to the mob's dismay, the guards stopped letting people in, and were only letting people out. At first we all stood calmly sipping our drinks. But after 10 minutes of standing and sweating, the mob got restless. So we did what Ukrainians do best: we pushed. The mass of bodies (all still with a bottle or two in hand) was too much for the small gate and few militsia to handle. We knocked the gate and guards over, and were all pushed/trampled/squeezed through. Success! It is amazing the kind of camaraderie that you sometimes feel here in beating "The Man."

We pushed through as much of the crowd as we could, until we could see the top of the stage (Katya and I are short), and had a good view of the big monitors. We got settled just as Elton came on stage. The Ukrainians were surprisingly un-animated for most of the concert, and the songs they really got excited about were obscure ones that Katya and I didn't recognize. We didn't let the placidity of the rest of the crowd stand in our way. We sang along with Elton and danced the Crocodile Rock like it was 1999. We got a lot of confused, yet supportive, looks from our neighbors.

Sneaky Ukrainians that we are, we managed to squeeze our way past another gate into a sort of VIP zone for the encore set. From here we were sort of able to see Elton! And with the help of an enthusiastic picture taker, snap some shots of Elton on stage.

A couple times during the show Elton said a few words pledging his help to Ukraine and our emerging AIDS epidemic. Katya and I cheered. The Ukrainians didn't seem to understand the English, cheering only when Elton attempted a few words in Russian and Ukrainian.

How did this incredible event come to be? The reason is actually quite sad. Ukraine is on the brink of a devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 2005, there were over 80,000 registered cases of HIV in Ukraine. The most common means of transmission are intra-venous drug use, and in-vitro transmission. According to the socio-economic forecast of HIV/AIDS epidemic conducted by the World Bank, by 2014, 40,000 children will become full orphans and up to 169 thousand children will lose one of their parents due to the AIDS epidemic. Most of these children will inherit HIV status from their parents.

Elton John's AIDS foundation has funded twenty-three HIV/AIDS related projects in Ukraine over the last six years totaling over $2.6 million. Last night's AIDS awareness concert was the most recent of these projects. Elton partnered with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation (one of our oligarchs who is actually using his money for the betterment and development of Ukraine) and the Elena Franchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation. Together, they have pledged a $2.5 million grant for the 5 year program of the Elton John AIDS Foundation in Ukraine.

To read more about the concert, and to learn about Elton's AIDS foundation, and about the Pinchuk and Franchuk, see Elton's website:
http://web.eltonjohn.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070605&contentid=11751