This year’s Glastonbury saw the return of a traditional live format, the festival successfully bounced back after two cancelled years due to Covid and its subsequent restrictions. This year’s annual music event also had many firsts, including a debut performance from Eurovision winners Kalush Orchestra. The Ukrainian folk-rap group took to Shangri-La’s Truth Stage on Friday 24th June 2022 and wowed everyone in attendance, the group’s set not only marked their first at Worthy Farm but also their first in Britain. The group took to Instagram before their appearance, standing infront of Big Ben the band express their excitement within the post.
Ahead of the band’s inaugural Glastonbury performance, frontman Psiuk spoke to Sky News concerning their appearance, “We want to share our culture and our music. And Eurovision was one point where we showed our Ukrainian music and want to spread it all over the world. We’re super happy to be here and we really want to impress everybody here. Right now, I feel a great support of all over the world. It’s great that people from here also support Ukraine. And we are very thankful to everybody, to each person who supports Ukraine.”
The band was initially birthed as a side project by the rap group Kalush, the Kalush Orchestra was formed in 2021 and became known for their unique blend of hip hop and folk. The group consists of core members rapper Oleh Psiuk, Ihor Didenchuck, MC KylymMen and Orchestra members Tymofii Muzycuck, Vitalii Duzhyk and vocalist Sasha Tab. They rose to international fame after winning this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, the band clinched first place with their winning song “Stefania”, the collective’s recent win marks a Eurovision hat trick for Ukraine.
Due to the conflict and raging war in Ukraine, certain members of the band were part of Ukraine’s resistance against Russia. Just weeks before the collective were crowned Eurovision winners, those enlisted in the resistance were fighting against Russia’s violent invasion. Since the confirmation of their Eurovision win, the band have become beacons of hope amid the chaos and “Stefania” has turned into an anthem of empowerment and courage.
Due to the band’s triumphant win, “Stefania” has also become a worldwide hit but is currently the band’s only known hit within the UK. In preparation for their Glastonbury performance, the band had to work quickly to produce a full set list and in the span of 10 days, a dozen songs were written and produced. The rapid writing and composing sessions paid off, armed with a set list of 13 songs the band took to the stage to win over Worthy Farm.
The group performed largely in Ukrainian with some lines and raps spoken in English, with an electric stage presence they were still able to connect to the 3,000-strong crowd. Equipped with an onstage translator and enough catchy hooks to fill an album, any form of a language barrier was soon broken and the collective quickly became a festival highlight. As per the request of the roaring crowd, the band closed their set with a reprise of “Stefania”. Whilst on stage, Psiuk took some time in-between songs to give an emotive speech concerning the conflict in Ukraine and told the audience “Just imagine it’s the last party of your life“.
Psiuk has spoken on the group’s debut appearance, “We are so excited to be playing at Glastonbury Festival alongside some of the biggest names in music from around the world. This is the perfect place for our first ever British performance and we hope it will be the start of many in the UK. We are very grateful for all the support we receive from the people of Britain, both for us and our country, and we are preparing a very special Ukrainian surprise for the fans at Glastonbury. What is it? You’ll soon see. See you there.“
