Medvedev and rockers

Regarding President Dmitry Medvedev drinking beer with Russian rock musicians, opinions were heard on the Internet that the latter had again caved in to power. That they licked Dmitry Anatolyevich from head to toe and that now, they say, none of them will be able to shout curses at the authorities from the stage.

For goodness sake, what should rock musicians do during a meeting with the head of state? Should I say “Hello, Dmitry Anatolyevich, please resign”? Our rock team raised both the topic of the Khimki Forest (Makarevich) and the topic of the Okhta Center (Grebenshchikov). And it turned out, I must admit, much better than Putin and Shevchuk. And probably not so much because of the lack of the second, but because of the lack of the first. The invisible wall that was felt with a sixth sense between the authorities and the “cultural figures” then, in St. Petersburg, during the scandal with Shevchuk, was not there this time in the capital’s music club.

Medvedev has long been presented to the creative intelligentsia as a person advanced in all respects, but at the same time simple and understandable, not “confused.” No wonder Andrei Makarevich especially noted its adequacy. The leader of the Time Machine, of course, can be reproached for the fact that he (according to agency reports) negotiated money from the president for his Creation of the World festival in Kazan, but, excuse me, this rock festival is the best in Russia. And in spirit it is and will be “near-political”. It is unlikely that he will bend to the authorities, but he will not organize a protest rally on his stage. They wanted to invite Paul McCartney there this year. It is clear that it is difficult for the Kazan City Hall to pull all this on its own backbone, especially, I repeat, a festival of all-Russian, if not world level. There’s no shame in asking for something like this.

Demanding that musicians tell the truth before a senior official, we must understand that there are elementary standards of etiquette. The only thing we can blame our rockers for is that they were afraid to raise the issue of freedom of speech after the story with Shevchuk. The same Alexey Kortnev, who recently released a new album with the characteristic title “Tunnel at the End of the World” and took part in the play and film “Election Day,” could have “loaded” the top official with a couple of problems instead of learning a Deep Purple song specifically for this meeting (this was really too much on his part). However, what Dmitry Medvedev will say about freedom is known in advance: he will avoid answering, as he did in his memorable interview with Novaya Gazeta. And at the last meeting, the head of state showed how cleverly he can avoid, for example, answering the Okhta Center issue.

Of course, Dmitry Medvedev promoted himself with the rockers. Perhaps it was even a “symmetrical response” to Vladimir Putin. It’s hard to argue with the fact that they are timid and “correct”, our rockers. And after this meeting I somehow felt sorry for them.

In short, citizens! Don't throw stones at musicians or presidents. They play as best they can.