Dimash's concert in Prague - a report

Czech Republic, Prague, TIP Sport Arena, 16.04.2022 Dimash Qudaibergen's concert in Prague, postponed for two years due to the covid.

The atmosphere is huge, thousands of people are waiting for the "Kazakh guy" . The clock is shown on the screen, the audience counts down, the instruments are finally played and Dimash comes in. In his snow-white dress, richly beaded, he enters while he is already singing. (Golden, Fly away,). It's a huge stage for one man, but not for him, in fact he lights up the whole arena and during the 2.5 hour concert he wanders around, runs in, jumps, climbs on columns and fills the space. Her voice penetrates us all, lulling us in a soft cradle of sound with wonderful subtlety (If I never breathe again, Know), then shaking us up (Ogni Pietra, Stranger, Durdaraz), even with a passionate dance (Give me your love, Be with me), then bringing us all together in a unified sing-along (Daididau, Mahhabat, Unforgettable day). When he reaches the end of Screaming, already in torn leather trousers, with bleeding knees, free of his embarrassing boots, sliding in his socks , avoiding the many bouquets of flowers and gifts on the edge of the stage, he declares that we are his family and "love you more".

At this concert, he tried for the first time to get the audience to sing in three voices, like a huge choir. Not being used to it, not everyone knew what they wanted, but he taught them. His endlessly suggestive personality made the sound come together in no time. The audience was so in awe that when Dimash started singing on the sustained chord, the vast majority fell silent....but he held the last note and finally the audience's voices were amplified again, merging in a wonderful, unified harmony with the genius of the artist.   The orchestra also applauded along with the audience. "Just wow!"  

There is something inexplicable and indescribable about his presence, his radiant smile and his clear gaze.  She draws people closer and closer like a magnet. The feeling of flow is constant, sometimes a little subdued, but after a stand-out crowd favourite number, the positive feelings rise even higher again and again. The arena goes wild, standing ovations after every song, screaming, shouting - yes, even after the sublime Ave Maria prayer. This song is slowly reaching the popularity of SOS, perhaps even surpassing it.

There are moments when the crowd is able to remain silent, when Dimash sings so inspiringly, giving us such ethereal sounds that we can only listen in awe, concentrating hard so that not a single note is lost, as if we do not want to lose a single drop of the invigorating nectar of the noble drink of the Greek gods. 

And everyone remained silent when, towards the end of the concert,  War&Peace began to speak. He had written the song a long time ago, because even then he was concerned about the senseless death of children because of wars. He only briefly expressed his own views now, but hinted that anyone who had followed his previous two concerts online would know what he was talking about, and would not repeat the whole thing. 

The whole thing is like a big family playing in a real, big, festive, loving get-together.  Lots of funny things happen, for example someone shouts into the silence and Dimash laughs so hard he can't continue, but after 5 seconds he takes control of the situation and at the end of the song he improvises a line that is hard to interpret without the love and acceptance Dimash radiates, "I love you, my dears, I love you". How can you not celebrate him after all this? A father's love for his disobedient, naughty children becomes palpable. Because Dimas only loves, loves and accepts. He fills a huge emotional void for the whole world. He teaches everyone by his example.

he Dear Ones (as he calls his fans) do their best to get close to the stage with bouquets and gifts, despite the many security guards. One of them, holding a banner, lets Dimash know that today is his birthday and that he is from Chile.    Dimash sings Happy Birthday to him, in his own majestic improvisational style of course. Sveta Aitbaeva, Dimash's mother, who is sitting in the front row, pulls off her ring and gives it to Dear. Ovation. 

Small, sweet moments from the concert that express togetherness and joy for each other, sometimes relieving the tension of the more serious songs and even giving the artist a few seconds to relax. It should be noted that his stamina and physical endurance are amazing, not to mention his vocal abilities. You can hear that he has worked hard to have such a rich technical repertoire. Whatever and however she can sing (jokingly, the Queen of the Night aria from Mozart's opera The Magic Flute), she puts it all to the service of emotional expression, with a vocal range of around 7 octaves, and.... she delivers it richly, seasoned with her resulting talent, the miracle of grace lived. The videos don't fully convey his knowledge, the mission entrusted to him, but when he sings live, when he stands still, just emanating his voice, embracing everyone, I felt very strongly, many of us felt very strongly, that this "simple Kazakh boy" (?) who can convey ethereal, angelic sounds, has the greatest artistic qualities in the world, in every sense.  He is a genius.   A star that shines high and ever brighter.

The concert itself was very carefully structured: the order and mood of the songs were all performed in a carefully thought-out order, maintaining the audience's tense attention with its variety. It is worth mentioning that the concert programme also includes Kazakh folk instruments. Dimash on the dombra, Olzhas Qurmanbek on the kobyz in the Stranger and Qairan Elim. The latter is sung by Dimash in a very different way from the summer 2020 performance. His phrasing now is more powerful, more desperate.

 Dimash's costumes were splendid, elegantly, nobly restrained. And he wears them with dignity, expressing his Kazakhness, the traditions of his homeland. Because this is very important to him, to uplift his people and to raise the spirits of people in general to a higher vibration. It's no coincidence that she was also awarded the prestigious EMIGALA Fashion Awards in Dubai in March.   

(https://zene.hu/20220405_dimash_qudalbergen_koncertek_tavasszal

The stage sets, the lighting, all emphasise the message of the songs and enhance the effect. That the band and the singers are professionals is beyond doubt. You can hardly notice them, but that's the good thing, they serve Dimash with humility, on every level. But Dimash knows that they go to great lengths to give the audience a quality experience, so he introduces the musicians one by one at the end of the concert, accompanied by a long jam session. He also does a little duo improvisation with everyone, singing and playing drums, which he clearly enjoys. 

The sound quality is excellent, the sound engineer Erlan Bekchurin's work is superb, there are no distracting sounds. There are some problems, but they are solved in no time, almost imperceptibly. There's a sense of professionalism in that too.

The songs played at the concert were all elemental. By the fourth song, Ogni Pietra, I had surrendered to the feeling of flow and released my tears. I felt infinite gratitude to have been there, to have heard this brilliant artist sing live, to have had a true artistic experience. The beauty and monumentality of the spectacle, the power of the music, the indescribable beauty of Dimash's laser-precise voices, led to catharsis.

He has many famous concerts, many songs that he has performed in a way that has written himself into Dimash history and even into the history of world music, e.g. The Chinese Rain Concert and Jasmine, Know and Late Autumn in Kiev, the entire New York concert, Daybreak and Daididau from the Bastau concert, Ikanaide from Japan, Ogni Pietra, Passione or Sinful Passion, 2021 Vitebsk and Sochi, all the songs from the Youku show, or SOS from the I am Singer competition. But the elemental power of Qaraqym Ai and Qairan Elim , Kieli Meken and Amanat, not yet heard in concert, and the online concert performance of Omer Oter are all memorable for something, mostly for their catharsis. Now the whole Prague concert joins this incomplete list, with all its brilliance, Dimash's fantastic voice, his joyfulness, his overflowing love. 

He is a great gift to the world. 

Let's hear more of him.  His songs tell us everything we need to know. 

More info

Gabriella Nagy

https://www.facebook.com/Dimash.Dears.Hungary

[2022.04.20.]