The annual music festival Tbilisi Open Air 2017 officially opened at Lisi Wonderland on June 16, and it has been warming the hearts of festival-goers for three days. Every year Tbilisi Open Air is the festival that majority of young people are waiting for because of the high quality music and great atmosphere. This year was definitely not an exception.
The main headliners this year were British rock band Anathema, Russian band Leningrad, known for their uncensored lyrics, and British Trip Hop band Archive, which played at Tbilisi Open Air for the second time and wrapped up the festival on the third day.
In addition to the headliners, one significant performer at the festival was Sevdaliza, who managed to quickly win over the hearts of the audience. The Dutch singer of Iranian descent was thanking the audience after each song and said she was especially happy to have Iranian fans in the audience.
June 17 marked one year since the passing of one of the members and founders of Kung Fu Junkie, Tazo Liparteliani. Things got emotional when the band performed their famous song “Flowers in my Brain” with a photo of Liparteliani in the background.
After the Georgian bands, Archive came to the stage, their second time at the festival. As the band has not changed their playlist over previous live performances, there was expectation that songs only from their new album would be performed. However, Archive pampered the audience with their famous songs such “Controlling Crowds”, “You Make Me Feel.” When the audience gave a final ovation for Archive, members of the band returned to the stage and called out to the audience:
“It’s been a long time since we’ve played this song. But we’ll perform it for you,” and with no one expecting it, an acoustic version of their song “Again” began. So graciously the second visit of the band was concluded.
After attending this festival for three straight days it was very easy to notice the hard work that the organisers have put in making this event come true. Great variety of bars or cafes on the area offered a diverse choice of food and drinks, several entrance doors ensured quick lines and most importantly all the technicalities, including the sound was managed on a very high quality level.
Summer season of 2017 started really amiably for Georgians, because of the incredibly relaxing mood that was created at Lisi Wonderland [the name of the area does perfectly describe the atmosphere]. We can openly say that Tbilisi Open Air 2017 was a great success, despite the lack of support from the government.