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Russian rock legend Konstantin Kinchev visited Pskov

A few weeks ago, as part of the Big Concert for a Small Town project, a rock festival with the participation of the Time Machine was supposed to take place, but for known reasons it was canceled. Therefore, the invitation to our city (by the same organizers) of the legendary group "Alisa" was like a kind of apology for the failed performance of the "Machine". I think the "apology" succeeded.

On the evening of August 1, two hours before the concert, on the way to the stadium, at the fountain in the summer garden, young alice lovers were already scurrying back and forth, hung with all kinds of flags, scarves, bags with the inscription "Alice". Many of them came from other cities, which could be easily guessed from the inscriptions on the flags (“Peter”, “Moscow”, “Kyiv”).

At the entrance there were big formidable guys and, checking entrance tickets, for some reason tore them to shreds. When I asked not to tear mine (I wanted to keep it as a keepsake), they looked at me somehow strangely, but the request was fulfilled.

And here I am at the stadium. There's still at least an hour before the start. From the speakers comes light, relaxing music in the spirit of lange. The air is heated with an atmosphere of anticipation. The most impatient, having already lined up near the stage, are calling: “Kostya! Kostya!

The protracted calm was broken by the voice of the presenter Dima Osherov, who, apologizing for the failed "Region" and reassuring the fans at the stage, assured: "Kostya will be. He's already here. But a little later." In the meantime, with the words: “Just as a good theater begins with a hanger, so a good concert begins with people designed to cheer,” a group from St. Petersburg “Mama and Fainting” was offered to the attention of the public (if I'm not mistaken). These amused, but did not please: three people in national costumes on national instruments sang other people's hits ("WWW", "Ellis", "I'm free", "Lady Luck") in a heavy oriental way. Against this background, I wanted to hear “Alice” even more five times. If that's the purpose of the warm-up, then it was the most "successful" warm-up imaginable.

Who said rock 'n' roll is dead? Rock roll is alive! Meet! Konstantin Kinchev and the Alisa group! Without any greetings and introductory speeches, the "Doctor" went to the very edge of the stage and began to sing. Everyone hurried to the stage, where a forest of "goats" immediately grew up. With facial expressions, gestures, plasticity, Kinchev simply radiated vital energy. The front ranks swayed. One girl standing nearby was twisting her scarf around her head so diligently that I wanted to thank her for not letting me die from the heat.

Somewhere on the third song, "Alice" suddenly fell silent. As it turned out, the raging fans "collided" with the paratroopers, who never wanted to understand that while dancing, you can push, calling it all a buzzword slam. Konstantin immediately intervened: “Do not be spiteful ... You are Russians ... Your own ... You listened to some chocks, but you can’t listen to normal music ...” Threatening to leave the stage next time, Kinchev continued the concert. Either they were really afraid that everything would end, or the charisma of this person is so great (which is more likely), but the words worked.

It seemed that if Kinchev shouted: “Guys, let's go drowning!”, A good half of the audience would immediately rush to leave the stadium in search of a suitable swamp. But what can we say about the fans, even if I, who is not particularly fond of "Alice", in the very first minutes of the performance was covered with goose bumps. Whatever one may say, Kinchev is energetically a very strong person.

The age of the audience ranged from very young children (I especially remember a certain boy of about 5 years old, who sang after the maestro, actively throwing a “goat”) to already respectable uncles and aunts. It is understandable. Still, for 20 years, more than one generation has grown up on the songs of this group. Of course, someone came to the concert out of curiosity - to look at the living legend of the domestic rock and roll, hardly knowing anything else but the E-95 Highway. But the majority knew and sang almost all the songs by heart. Almost all the hits were played, with the exception of “We are together!”. In addition, according to a long-established tradition, Viktor Tsoi's song "Quiet Night" was performed. "Thank you. Thanks to Tsoi, ”Kinchev said goodbye to the Pskov audience with these words. At the concert, outside of the songs, he was laconic, speaking almost exclusively in the language of creativity. "Alisa" and Kinchev just played - from the heart, sincerely, charging with a stream of positive energy and irrepressible thirst for life.

Sergey SIDOROV.

PS In the evening of the same day, a recording of the Wings rock festival was shown on TV. Alice participated. In the first minute I thought: “As if I never left the concert.” Indeed, the same plasticity, facial expressions, gestures, the same denim shorts with a naked torso, the same song ... Only something was missing. Lack of direct communication. Still, virtuality does not convey even a part of what can be experienced “live”.