Posts Tagged ‘Music’

Mumiy Troll

By Karyn Dubravetz

Last week was an eventful one: Tuesday - Russian embassy, Wednesday - Mumiy Troll concert. I didn’t even have the energy to go to my regular Russian conversation group on Thursday!! It was well worth it, though. The embassy was a rare opportunity, and I had a blast at the concert.

Mumiy Troll was great – I’m glad they decided to add some US locations to their concert tour. Unfortunately, if you’re in the U.S. and you haven’t seen them by now, you’ll have to wait till their next tour. They’re in Seattle tonight, then back to Russia for a few more shows. (See their site for the schedule.)

Lead singer, Ilya Lagutenko, was quite the entertainer. This was the best picture I could get of him because he was all over the place! The pic doesn’t really show it, but he was making weird bug-eyed faces the whole time, too.

Ilya Lagutenko, Mumiy Troll

As you might be able to make out here, the band came out in Russian sailor costumes. The drummer, Oleg Pungin, just wore the black and white striped shirt that they wear underneath – anyone know what those are called? Reminds me of one of my favorite Russian experiences – train rides. (Just because young men on the train would often wear those navy undershirts.) Also, check out the number of heads in front of me! This was a small venue and I was able to weasel my way up pretty close to the stage!

Mumiy Troll

The opening band was local Russian band, Ru Pasaran. They were a nice warm-up to Mumiy Troll.

Ru Pasaran

The lead singer kinda reminded me of a young Vince Vaughn.

Felix, Ru Pasaran

Were any of you lucky/smart enough to make it to one of their shows? What did you think?

  • Share/Bookmark

The Red Elvises and Igor

By Karyn Dubravetz

…and speaking of Russian immersion by way of music, another fun Russian band is “Igor and Red Elvises” (www.redelvises.com). Russian-American band, I should say – only one of their songs at this weekend’s show was in Russian, and that was at the prodding of the crowd. 

I’ve seen them a couple times in the past and was surprised to see that they had changed their name from “Red Elivses” to “Igor and Red Elvises” (no, no “the”). My first thought was that lead singer, Igor Yuzov, was getting a bit greedy and wanted to take the band in his own direction. So I was skeptical, but happy to see that the band still included gifted drummer, Adam Gust, plus two new members, Kefir Melamed and Milka Ramos. 

There was no sign of the trademark giant balalaika, but, as usual, most of the band wore animal print pajamas. I looked them up after the show to find that the name change was not a result of any prima donna issues (from what I could tell), but rather of former band mate, Oleg Bernov, running off to join the circus! www.slavasnowshow.com

Igor and Red Elvises

As usual, it was a fun show. I must say that the addition of Milka Ramos was a great choice. Her gravelly voice and punk-rock style add a lot of charisma.

Milka Ramos

  • Share/Bookmark

What’s better than vampires? The Mummies’ Troll

By Karyn Dubravetz

One thing that helps me stay immersed in Russian culture – well, as immersed as possible without moving to Russia – is going to Russian cultural events. Now I have to admit, I had never heard of Мумий Тролль (Mumiy Troll or The Mummies’ Troll) before finding out about this concert, but I think it is going to be a lot of fun. Мумий Тролль is supposedly one of the most popular rock bands in Russia – well, let’s see how they do in the US! Check out their site to see if they’re playing near you. http://www.mumiytroll.com/en 

Mumiy Troll

“You don’t need to be able to read Cyrillic to understand this Russian band—a fluency in groovy post-punk and edgy guitar rock is all that’s required. The foursome, based in Vladivostok and Moscow, fires off sparkling pop songs that keep its young chainsmoking fans dancing.” – The New Yorker, January 26, 2009

  • Share/Bookmark
Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes