Bambir, Rock the Referendum, Puppet Theatre, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online

RFE/RL has a news item on the Rock the Referendum festival that I’ve literally just returned from. At least 300 rock fans packed the tiny puppet theatre and were treated to a rare event in Armenia — a rock concert with professional lighting and sound paid for with British taxpayer’s money. The festival was apparently recorded as well.

The British embassy in Yerevan sponsored on Monday a rock concert which it said is aimed at encouraging young Armenians to take part in this week’s constitutional referendum.

An Armenian opposition leader condemned the initiative as an interference in the country’s internal political affairs. But a senior embassy official defended it, saying that local rock bands chosen by the organizers were asked not to endorse or reject constitutional amendments put to the referendum.

According to Richard Hyde, deputy head of the British mission, the idea of holding the concert was floated by an unspecified “group of young Armenians who expressed a concern that there is not enough political activism and participation by the young people in the constitutional amendment process.”

“We thought this was a great idea and we offered our support for the concert on the basis of supporting and facilitating young people’s involvement in the political process,” Hyde said in written answers to RFE/RL questions. “We specifically asked the organizers to encourage young people to vote, but not how to vote.”

One of the musicians who performed at the concert, titled “Rock the Referendum,” confirmed this. But a source close to another band said the organizers warned its members not to wear anything orange lest it could be interpreted by the audience as a call to replicate Ukraine’s “orange revolution” in Armenia.

Asked to comment on this, Hyde said: “The bands said they would try to avoid colors that could be considered partisan, and that was their initiative, not ours.”

Incidently, Hyde’s response is highly suspect given that I also heard about the warning and saw two musicians wearing orange t-shirts. One musician even took an orange handkerchief on stage to wipe his brow — a conscious decision, I was told, to break the restriction on color. Ironically, however, the same musician told a friend earlier in the day that he will probably vote for the amendments. Anyway, whatever…

According to one spectator who asked not to be identified, several officers of Armenia’s National Security Service were present at the live performance. He said one of them told him that they were sent there after being warned that opposition activists might disrupt the event. It proceeded without any incidents though.

Suren Sureniants, a leader of the opposition Hanrapetutyun party, said by promoting a high voter turnout the British government is effectively taking sides in the ongoing battle between Armenia’s leadership and its political opponents who have called for a popular boycott of the referendum. “We deplore any interference in Armenia’s domestic affairs,” he told RFE/RL. “Armenians themselves should decide whether or not to participate in the referendum without any external interference.”

Well, regardless of the rights or wrongs of the concert, I was at least pleased to see someone finally try to use rock music to get a message across in terms of participating in the socio-political process, although I should stress that not once during the event did I hear anyone urge people to vote for or against the amendments. This is in contrast with how Armenia’s pop singers are being used to urge young people to say “yes” in Sunday’s referendum.

More pics of the festival which included my two favorite Armenian rock bands, Bambir and MDP, will be online later on Hetq’s Flickr page.