Why a British band toured war-torn Ukraine, twice

It’s a hard sell, playing in a war zone for no money, but Jonny Foster felt people in Ukraine needed a night out more than most.

He is the lead singer of Hardwicke Circus, an indie rock band from Carlisle in the north of England, who toured Ukraine twice last year.

The band believes everyone has a right to enjoy live music and they are comfortable playing in any venue; during lockdown, when all their gigs were cancelled, they toured 15 prisons across the UK.

Their fearless 81-year-old manager, Dave Robinson, always goes on the road with them. He has decades of experience, having toured with Jimi Hendrix and co-founded Stiff Records, a punk-era record label that signed acts such as Elvis Costello, The Pogues, Madness, Motörhead, The Damned, and Kirsty MacColl.

The UK government advises against all but essential travel to Ukraine and half the members of Hardwicke Circus decided not to take the risk, but Jonny, his brother Tom, and Dave found a willing bass player, keyboardist, guitar player, and saxophonist and reformed Hardwicke Circus in time for their charity tour in June. A group of people from around the world who had never played together as a group, they met the night before the first gig in the hotel room and stayed up all night, rehearsing.

They teamed up with a Ukrainian band from Kharkiv, called Okazia. It was Okazia's first tour and their lead singer, Snishka, didn't quite believe it would happen. But the tour went well and they raised money for emergency vehicles which Hardwicke Circus intended to deliver to the front line.

But during the second tour, in winter weather, things started to go wrong…

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar

Producer: Vibeke Venema

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(Photo: Hardwicke Circus and Okazia performing in Ukraine Credit: Yuri Gryaznov)