Belarus is a landlocked country in eastern Europe which borders Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Latvia. Most of us in the group hadn't even heard of this country let alone ever expected to perform or visit there. Our expectations were very unknown as the US embassy recently closed down in Belarus due to political complications with our government. We were invited to perform at an annual Beatles festival in the capital city of Minsk by a gentleman named Victor who owns and runs a Beatles cafe in Minsk were Scott and Michael had performed one year ago acoustically. The journey was long and arduous and after about 30 hours of travel time getting to Belarus, we all were relieved to finally arrive and have our visas taken care of. The taxi ride to the festival location (a pristine ski resort getaway) was about an hour. The grounds were beautiful and our expectations were surpassed. Once again, Liquid Blue was treated exceptionally well by our Belarusian hosts. The first evening included a beautifully catered media event which was wrapped up by 10:00 in the evening.
The following day, we completed our sound check at the festival and began to watch the people of Belarus pile in to the venue by the thousands. The fans were not only Beatles fans, but were true music enthusiasts that were attending the special gathering to celebrate the coming together of people from various countries. Despite our government’s poor relations, everyone there was filled with love and respect for one another. As the Headlining band at the event, among 7 other bands and the only one from the United States, Liquid Blue was treated with over 16,000 fans of friendly faces and warm hearts who all came to rock and roll! And to say the rocked and rolled is an understatement. The crowd was insane. This was definitely one of the greatest shows Liquid Blue has ever performed. During the closing song, "All You Need Is Love", we were joined by both our host Victor (owner of the Belarus Beatles Cafe and Festival organizer) and all the members of the other performing acts. We all played and sang together for the finale (which was not at all planned) and the result was fabulous! A coming together of people fueled by the passionate fans which was for sure the highlight of the evening. Love was all we needed, and love was in the air!
The day after the festival all of the musicians were treated to a city tour of Minsk and then lunch and a party at the Beatles Cafe. We were moved to a hotel in downtown Minsk and when we arrived there was a party in the small restaurant with Russians doing folk dancing to accordion music. We joined in and danced with Rama on Sitar. The food was awesome. We then had to rush to a recording studio as we recorded with a well known singer, Gera, from Belarus, who sang in Russian on our new track, Dominate.
Liquid Blue had an awesome time and met some great people along their journey. Though none of the band members spoke any Russian at all, who says you need to speak the same language when you have music? Liquid Blue looks forward to perhaps returning to Belarus in the future and will hold dear the amazing memories of this Belarusian excursion.
Rama, Angelo, Gina, Michael, Scott
