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On September 4th, 1997,
bands from all over Bulgaria got together in Sofia for the first festival of its
kind, called "New Generation". Dancers, musicians, actors and
young backpackers filled the festival hall.
The festival was a platform for all these, who dared to believe in their God given dreams. The ones who would resist the cold wind and would not accept the compromise with the world. The stage was open for the contemporary Christian music culture. Many young talents stepped out there for the first time.
The opening was Milko
Tsonov and his band. He played a couple of funk-rap pieces from his
to-be-released album, as well as the hits "Arise and Shine" and
"Ieshua" from the album "Saved". At the
interview with the audience, Milko shared, that he expects God's promises for
his life to come true. He added: "I am very careful with what I do, because
I want God to be glorified. What I expect, and what I believe is my basic vision
is see people edified and exhorted in the Christian faith. To be encouraged to
live radically and for their boldness to be revived."
"After this incredible
show, the stage was occupied by two duets: Tsvetan and Amy Ilchovsky
and Krassy and Elly Ljubenovi. Their soul ballads carried the
warmth and freshness of the classic black gospel. After the concert Krassy
shared: "The atmosphere is amazing. It makes my wife and I feel very
humbled. God helps everyone who seeks Him, and being and ordinary man, I can
glorify Him. I know where He saved me from and I am happy that His light shines
in my life! Amy added: "Recently I figured out that, the more I walk with
God and seek His presence, the less problems I have to solve. Isn't it
wonderful!
The first night of the
festival was closed by Valery Slavchev and "Horizon".
After numerous tours and concerts all over Bulgaria, the boys from
"Horizon" hit the stage with their big hits. The powerful rock sound
was at its peak when the audience exploded, singing along songs like "My
Father", "Against the Cold Wind" and "Who is
Our God?"
This powerful start was an exciting promise for the following 2 days of the festival, as well as a reason for sharp criticism in some National Newspapers and TV stations.
Regarding some critical comments from journalists, addressing the controversy between Traditional Christianity and contemporary music styles, Valery shared: "Things have changed. The variety is great and it is not wise to go on thinking like they did 150 years ago. I live in the end of 20 century and I will use all possible technical means to serve God. As far as the styles of music are concerned, it doesn't matter whether you play Heavy metal, alternative rock, jazz or gospel music. If these styles serve for the gospel to be communicated, they are necessary."
In the second night of the festival, was the opening
night for the Musical "Dancing with Angels" written and
directed by Tony Radoslavov. This is a story about the reality of the
spiritual world. For the pain from the conflict between a cold and confused
world and the faith in a loving and perfect Creator. Tony answered some
questions concerning his work on the musical. He said: "For a long time I
used to look for somebody that can write and produce such a performance, so that
I could help him and be part of it. In the meantime the songs started coming to
my heart one by one, and before I knew it I had the whole picture in my mind.
So, I went for it and put it together."
While the stage was being
set up for the next participants, many teenagers had the opportunity to meet the
boys from "Crossroad", whose popularity greatly
increased in the recent months when their hit "I see" was on all the
radio stations. They shared that "this song has helped a lot of people
reconsider their life and attitude for the homeless, whose need for Jesus is as
urgent as anybody else's.
"Their concert gathered
a lot of young people from the whole nation, who liked the melody rock sound and
the contents of the lyrics. The last concert on the second night was the "Chainless"
from Gabrovo, whose show in funk-rock style continued till late at night.. Their
hit "Come to Me" was the subject of the later discussion. They
shared: "We used to be a night club band. We used to make living with this.
God found us 5000 km from here, in Norway. So, we decided to serve Him with our
talents. This was the inspiration for the song "Come to me".
The last, third day of the festival was the time for the musical seminar led by Dilian Davidkov "Atmosphere filled with the presence of God". These was also the day for the heavy metal bands from Macedonia: Crusade and Savaot as well as the Bulgarian metal groups Garden Tomb and Revelation. This was the time for witnessing to many heavy metal fans, who came specially for this concert.
The night was closed with a jam-session with most of the participants from the three days. This musical forum, first of its kind, crated an atmosphere, where different creative circles were formed.
The goal of the festival was to reach the dying world through the means of art and it should remain the same in the future.
back to Art innovation activities 1997 - 2000