Queen

Queen came to play in Kharkov the 12th of septemeber for free. It was paid for by the former president's, Mr. Kuchma, daughter. Apparently all the train tickets to come into kharkov that day were sold out as the whole country tried to come and see it. It was simply the largest concert i have ever seen, with over 300,000 people who attended. The show was in the 3rd largest square in europe which is approximately 690-750 meters long and 96-125 meters wide. They shut down almost the entire downtown to allow for pedestrian traffic and closed the nearest metro station to avoid people rushing to get on after the show. Although i am not a huge fan of queen's music it was impressive to see one of the worlds largest rock n roll acts. They have played some of the largest crowds in history and i feel lucky to have seen them. When they finally give up and go it will be the end of a Rock era. Queen chose to play in Kharkov first because Ukraine is currently the site of the worst AIDS epidemic in Europe. 400, 000 people were said to be suffering form the disease in 2006. Apparently, in Ukraine only 700 people were officially reciveing medical treatement for living with AIDS in 2004/5. Today that number is over 7000, still short of the amount infected. Seeing the one of the biggest rock bands in the world play in one of the biggest public squares in the world in a countury with the biggest ADIS epidemic in europe is one concert i will never forget, even if i was standing so far away from the band that they were no bigger than a fingernail.