Tilegen Yerkinbek does not promise easy answers and does not comfort with sweet stories. His concert "Life is not sugar" is an ironic analysis of realities, where conscription seems to be a meaningless rite of passage and workaholism is a chronic diagnosis for everyone who grew up outside the metropolis.
His nostalgia is unadulterated: memories of childhood in the aul are juxtaposed with fatigue from the constant chasing of other people's expectations. Tilegen is restrained but caring - and makes his main observation strong: one has to grow up in a place where even sugar gives off bitterness.
