US Secretary Of State covers ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ in Kyiv – to mixed reactions from Ukraine

nme.com:

Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’. Find footage of the moment below.The unexpected performance took place on Tuesday night (May 14), following the Secretary Of State being in the city for a number of high-level meetings and pronouncements promising US military aid for Ukraine.Taking place at Barman Dictat – a well-known bar in central Kyiv – Blinken drew the night to an end by picking up a guitar and joining the Ukrainian band 19.99 on stage for a rendition of ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’.“Your soldiers, your citizens – particularly in the north-east, in Kharkiv – are suffering tremendously,” Blinken said before playing (as per The Guardian). “But they need to know, you need to know, the United States is with you, so much of the world is with you and they’re fighting not just for a free Ukraine, but for the free world.

And the free world is with you, too.”According to various reports, the band 19.99 were told that they would be performing on the night with Neil Young himself as a special guest, and only found out it was actually the US Secretary Of State at the last minute.U.S.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken performs“Rocking to the Free World” in a bar in Kyiv. // video by @cspan pic.twitter.com/EgSrl3UKWh— Ostap Yarysh (@OstapYarysh) May 14, 2024“He was connecting with eyes, with our band leader, with me … It was our first performance on stage but it feels like we were a band for two years,” the guitarist Arsen Gorbach told BBC Radio 4.