I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: March 7, 2026] DakhaBrakha

Four years ago I saw DakhaBrakha and was blown away.  It was a very emotional time as Russia had just invaded Ukraine–support and anger were very high.  The music was beautiful and powerful and the messages of hope and resistance were very strong.  Their home base is in Kyiv and they have first hand experience with the tragedy.

It is simply unbelievable that four years later, the war is still going on.  And now with our new regime and Putin’s puppet in place, Ukraine is in even worse straights (although the EU does seem to be helping).

After seeing them, I wanted my wife to experience them as well.  I’m sad it took four years to see them again, but I’m glad they can still tour the U.S.  I asked the rest of my family if they wanted to experience this as well (and bravo to them all for saying yes with the very vague descriptions I gave).  My daughter couldn’t go because if a last minute commitment, but my wife and my son really enjoyed it.

The band is a quartet: Marko Halanevych.  He plays more than this but for tonight he did: vocals, goblet drum, harmonica, accordion guitar and certainly other things.

Then there was Olena Tsybulska, vocals and drums.  She had a small kit but a huge sound.  Next to her was Iryna Kovalenko who played everything.  She sang and played mostly keyboards, but also drums, djembe, flute, buhay, piano, ukulele, zgaleyka, and a tiny accordion.  And last but not least, Nina Garenetska sang and played cello.  The cello was the one major constant through the songs–she made bass lines, rhythms and even cool effects through pedals.

Each woman’s voice was amazing–powerful and resonant.  And when the women sang together, wow.  It was mesmerizing.  Marko sings lead on many songs.  He has a falsetto and also a deeper vocal style.  He played accordion for many of the songs.

They sing almost entirely in Ukrainian.  Marko speaks English between songs (and the women chimed in from time to time).  And there were two songs in English, the light-hearted “I’ve Boarded the Wrong Plane” [“Ye Siv Ne v Toy Litak”] and the kind of silly Baby.

I recognized some of the songs from the last time–they project videos behind them and some were familiar.  Although there were plenty of songs I hadn’t heard before.  I hadn’t listened to any of the new album, for instance.  I loved the video for Kosari Kosiat which was an animation of the women riding a birdlike creature through all manner of weather.  It was really beautiful and interesting to watch.

I particularly enjoyed the middle section which featured the Karpatskyi rap (with the jaw harp as a major instrument) and Trypilske Techno.  Olena said she liked techno, although at the end Marko admitted it wasn’t really techno.  The rap was a fun song about a woman who didn’t like any of her suitors (the video was great with the woman being a spider and her suitors all wound up in her web).

They played a Christmas song even though it was quite far past Christmas.  I enjoyed the way the video flashed onto angels every few beats.

The title track of the new album has lyrics which are poem by Сергій Жадан [Serhiy Zhadan]  The lyrics were printed in Ukranian and English on the screen and it was even more powerful when the words were understandable.

I was really happy that they played Vesna, which features all kinds of bird and animals sounds (made with their mouths and a few small devices).  It’s a favorite of mine.

They played some songs from the previous album which they hadn’t last time, like Vynnaya ya which features a very fun clap-along and Marko playing a horn solo with his mouth, and the wild Lado.

Unlike last time, this time, the band held an auction for two of Marko’s paintings and Olena’s drumsticks.  They made about $3,000 for Ukrainian relief, which I hope means they’ll come back to Princeton!

Then they played one more song–the same song the ended with last time, the kind of funny “Baby.”  A light, fun song with Marko’s most falsetto delivery.

The only bummer was that they didn’t have much merch left (good for them).  We were the final stop on the tour, and they only had a few CDs left.

They were also collecting money for Ukraine and has was happy to donate.  And you can donate here: https://www.comebackalive.in.ua/

I loved seeing them again and I’m glad my family enjoyed it too.

 

2026	2022
Kozak £	Tataryn-Bratko ⊕
Sho z-pod duba £	Sho z-pod duba £
Sonnet ∇	Sonnet ∇
Dytyatochko ¶	Dostochka ∇
Kosari Kosiat` ¶	9 nedelichok ¶
Karpatskyi rap ¥	Salgir Boyu ®
Trypilske Techno ¶	Monakh ®
unknown Christmas song	Rozhestov
I’ve Boarded the Wrong Plane (Rembetika) ∇	I’ve Boarded the Wrong Plane (Rembetika) ∇
Ptakh ¶	Torokh ∇
Plyve Choven ¶	Plyve Choven ¶
Vesna ℵ	Vesna ℵ
Vynnaya ya ∇	Divka-Marusechka ℵ
Lado ∇	encore
auction	Baby ¥
Baby ¥

¶ Ptakh
∇ Alambari (2020)
® The Road (2016)
¥ Light (2010)
ℵ Na Mehzi (2009)
£ Yahudky (2007)
⊕ Na Dobranich (2005)