Why concerts in the diaspora are not just music events

Concerts in our organisation are evenings when people sing together, when they remember. When, for a few hours, they forget where they are — and return to where they come from.

Sometimes the first song is enough for the whole hall to soften at once. People who may have never met before sing as if they have known each other their whole lives. In the hall there are different generations from different cities, different fates — but the emotion among them is the same.

I have seen many concerts over all these years. Big productions, huge stages, spectacular lights. But honestly, the best concerts are not necessarily the biggest ones.

The most beautiful ones are those where there is contact with the audience, where the performer does not sing "for the audience" but together with it, so that the audience becomes part of the show. These are the concerts where people laugh, hug, sing at the top of their lungs and, for at least one evening, feel again that energy of ours that is hard to explain to anyone who did not grow up with Balkan music.

That is why HELSE never just organises an event — we create experiences and moments, evenings that people remember. I love it when they message us the next day: "We had such a good time last night."

Children at concerts hold a special place in my heart. With us, children up to 18 accompanied by a parent are always welcome free of charge, because I honestly believe those memories are worth more than any ticket.

My heart is full when I see the little ones coming to a live concert for the first time, watching the stage wide-eyed, jumping, singing a chorus they may not even know all the way through yet, but feeling the atmosphere. Those are moments that stay forever.

Maybe that is exactly when their first real memory of music, togetherness and belonging is born. Maybe one day they too will say: "I remember my first concert…"

And you? Do you remember your first live concert?

— Evica