On July 11-15 Ukraine is hosting the popular Moldovan band Zdob Si Zdub (“Hit the Drum”), who will make five concert stops along their itinerary: Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kremenchuk, Cherkasy, and Kyiv.
The Eurovision 2005 song contest has won the Moldovan band a whole army of fans in Ukraine. Their song “Boonika Bate Boba” (“Grandma Is Hitting the Drum”) has become a smash hit, while the lead singer, Roman Yahupov, and drum-wielding Grandma Lida have become the favorites of an audience of several millions. Even though Zdob Si Zdub did not win first prize (the Eurovision 2005 Grand Prix went to Helena Paparizou of Greece along with the right to host the next Eurovision context), their sixth place became a real breakthrough for the fiery Moldovan musicians, whose songs are an exhilarating cocktail of folk rock and ethnic elements.
Spurred by their success, Zdob Si Zdub have a busy tour schedule. Ukrainian audiences will get a real boost of energy from the performances: over the ten years since it was established the band has accumulated quite a few fiery compositions. Roman Yahupov says that the concert program will include the biggest hits and new songs, which will appear on their new record tentatively titled “The Best of Zdob Si Zdub”.
Before their foreign tour the Moldovan band recorded a video for their smash hit “Boonika Bate Boba.” The shooting took place in Bucharest. Aside from Grandma Lida, the video features five more drum virtuoso grandmas from various countries. The power of music works miracles, turning the grandmas into young beauties toward the end of the video. It was filmed by the Romanian producer Marin Dinescu, a long-time friend of Zdob Si Zdub. It was Marin Dinescu who produced their first video for their ethnic hard-rock composition “Zduby Bratets Tare.” According to the Moldovan musicians, this video became the band’s lucky star, and the band became one of the Faces of the Year on MTV-Russia.
The video “Boonika Bate Boba” will premiere on musical channels across Europe a month from now. After their Ukrainian tour, Zdub Si Zdob will begin a concert tour of Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
