immortal aquarium"
One of the biggest Russian rock groups of all time is still together and singing and will play two shows this week, debuting a new album at the Gorky MKhAT.
TEXT KIERAN LEAHY feedback
Aquarium (Akvarium), one the country’s longest-running and most respected bands, returns to the capital this week to play two concerts promoting their latest album, “Zoom Zoom Zoom.” The legendary figure of Boris Grebenshchikov, often known simply by his initials, BG, has headed the band and its changing makeup since their formation in Leningrad in 1972, when rock and roll was an illegal underground activity. Since those dark times they have gone on to make over 30 albums, becoming hugely successful in Russia and even touring the West back in 1989. Although Grebenshchikov is now 51, the group continues to enjoy deep respect and support in Russia, thanks to the frontman’s profound lyrical touch combined with a sound that ranges from rock and reggae to blues and Indian folk, to name but few. Grebenshchikov described the making of this latest album as “the most unusual of all the years I’ve been making music.” The frontman wrote 16 entirely new songs in the space of a month while vacationing in the Mediterranean — after having planned for more than a year to create a completely different album. He declared it “a miracle that happens once in a blue moon and only in special places.” Following this inspiration, the band headed to London to mix the album but ended up re-recording a great deal of it on their return to Russia, as Grebenshchikov decided that “it needed a different touch here that we somehow can’t get anymore in Europe.” The end product of this story is “Zoom Zoom Zoom,” which features guest musicians from London and singers from Africa, and sees the band experiment further with African folk rhythms and reggae sounds. With a single by the same name already warmly received, the band’s countless fans wait impatiently for more show-stopping hits this Friday and Saturday at the Gorky MKhAT. Tickets range from 1,000 to 3,000 rubles and are available from concert.ru. |
