Kyiv Bomb Shelter Gets a Surprise Concert

Bono, the Edge put on 40-minute show with Ukrainian band Antytila
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted May 9, 2022 6:30 AM CDT

On Sunday morning, two stars from U2 made an unexpected announcement. "President @ZelenskyyUa invited us to perform in Kyiv as a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and so that's what we've come to do," tweeted Bono and the Edge, but they didn't play a concert hall or stadium. Instead, the duo crashed one of the city's subway stations that's been converted to a bomb shelter, putting on a 40-minute show for those in attendance, reports the Irish Times. "The people in Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you are fighting for all of us who love freedom," Bono told the crowd of about 100 or so, some of whom were soldiers, gathered in the Khreshchatyk station.

Per Pitchfork, the set list included such hits as "One," "Angel of Harlem," "Desire," "Vertigo," "With or Without You," and "Sunday Bloody Sunday," but one of the highlights of the show was a rendition of Ben E. King's "Stand by Me," with some special guest performers: Ukrainian band Antytila, whose frontman, Taras Topolia, and other members are serving as soldiers during the war. The group replaced the word "me" with "Ukraine" (watch some of that performance here), and Bono also paraphrased another of U2's most famous songs, "Pride (In the Name of Love)": "This evening, 8th of May, shots will ring out in the Ukraine sky, but you'll be free at last. They can take your lives, but they can never take your pride." (More Bono stories.)

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