The ‘Vdoma’ live show — an event for tens of thousands of people in Kyiv, marking a special chapter in the history of the pop-rock band ANTYTILA.
The band spent almost a year working on it, and it served as the grand finale to a successful nationwide tour that took in nearly 40 cities. The concept centres on where and when a person feels at home, particularly at a time when millions of Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes.
The show was directed by Pavlo Zakrevskyi and Mariami Pohrebynska.
“For some, home has been lost; for others, it has been rebuilt; some are searching for it abroad; others are looking for a home in new cities, in new places, in villages. And we want every member of the audience to find something of their own. To realise that home isn’t about a physical location — it’s about a feeling inside”, says Pavlo Zakrevskyi.
The three evenings at the Palace of Sport went beyond the usual concert format — the large-scale show combined a well-thought-out narrative, contemporary stage design and visual elements, along with high-quality sound and lighting. And most importantly — the performers and thousands of people singing together, in unison.
Working with the sound presented a particular challenge. The team opted for a solution that was unusual for a concert of this scale.
“We take analogue equipment from the recording studio and transport it to the Palace of Sport to achieve the sound we produced in the studio — the sound you hear through your headphones — but with the energy of a live concert”, explains Maksym Syvolap, composer and arranger for the band ANTYTILA.
The visual aspect of the show is enhanced by lighting equipment specially imported from abroad. It is used at large-scale, world-class concerts. The lighting, sound, stage design, movement and music in the show work together as a single, cohesive whole.
The concert programme features hits created by the band over the past 18 years, which have long since become the soundtrack to the lives of millions of people, not only in Ukraine but around the world. Among them are ‘Viryla’, ‘Vdoma’, ‘Fortress Bakhmut’, ‘TDME’ and other tracks. The musicians also performed songs that hadn’t been played live for a long time, but which remain favourites amongst the band’s true fans.
During a major war, concerts become important not only for the artists but also for society as a whole — they provide a space where people can come together, feel the support of those around them, be amongst their own kind and remind themselves that we are in this together. At the same time, it is an opportunity to raise funds to support those who are defending and holding the country together. The concerts at the Palace of Sport, like all the performances on the ‘Vdoma’ tour, had a charitable element: funds were raised to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Main Intelligence Directorate.
The television version of the concert, produced by Suspilne in collaboration with the band ANTYTILA’s production team, brings this large-scale show to audiences across the country. In this way, Suspilne preserves important events in contemporary Ukrainian culture and makes them part of a shared cultural experience.
“Suspilne was delighted to be part of this event, as we believe it is important not only to preserve for posterity the performance of one of Ukraine’s most famous bands, but also to capture the mood and experiences of society during the war. This concert was a special moment of unity centred on Ukrainian music and shared values”, says Iryna Bubnova, executive producer at Suspilne.