and made Alexander Uss happy

The Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theater hosted a concert by the legend of the national rock scene Boris Grebenshchikov and the Aquarium group. Despite the fact that BG had an anniversary last year, he did not delight fans with a hodgepodge of old hits, but brought a completely new album, which will be released in the near future. However, this did not disappoint those who came: they did not attend an ordinary concert, but a performance by a musical wizard. The session of magic followed by the revelation was watched by MARIA VLASOVA. BG came out of the darkness very slowly, in a long red jacket, and said his sacramental utterance, uttered before every concert: “Hello, thank you for coming.” Then he waved his hand and the magic began. More precisely, the song “Mom, I can’t drink anymore” began. The audience didn't even have time to applaud. There was not a single shout, no one sang along: everyone listened as if hypnotized. The song ended and applause rang out. BG begins to sing his new hit “The Glory of the Rastaman” without interruption - there is silence in the hall again. Then another ovation. It didn't sound like rock at all. More like an evening of classical music. Moreover, there were no “classics” itself, even in the sense of “Aquarium”. All items are new, from an unreleased album. Judging by them, Mr. Grebenshchikov is clearly into reggae. Light, a little sad, but at the same time very joyful music. As he later admitted to journalists, this album was inspired by Indian reggae. The fact that the music was clearly not from the North Pole was made clear by eight musicians (this was the lineup that “Aquarium” came to), each of whom had some exotic instrument in their hands at least once during the concert. By the middle of the concert, it was with their sounds that the audience was completely hypnotized. Even such a hit as “The Man from Kemerovo” did not save the situation. Everyone sat quietly and calmly, happy and peaceful. There was a feeling that it was not BG who went to India every year, but everyone sitting in the hall.

After playing the new album, Mr. Grebenshchikov said “thank you” and left. An ovation began in the hall. This term is best suited: almost no one shouted “encore”, everyone just applauded. Some began to gather, but most still sat. The lights were still on above the stage. Another ten minutes passed, the lights were still on, the hall was still clapping... And the magician in red came out. After playing two more hits, he called all the musicians to the middle of the stage. General bow, “thank you”, “goodbye”. Applause. People began to slowly leave with the same happy expression on their faces. The happiest face was that of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Alexander Uss. It became especially happy when TV crews approached the speaker. It turns out that Mr. Uss (and his wife) have been fans of Aquarium since childhood. He loves BG so much that he doesn’t even dare to perform his songs on the guitar. And in general he really liked the concert. And at that moment the Kommersant correspondent realized how much of a musical speaker there is in the region. After all, he was just as happy at the concert of “Lube” and Natalia Gulkina (ex-“Mirage”).

BG came to the press conference without his magical attire, but in a simple sweater and red glasses. He immediately said that he was dissatisfied with the audience, because “he doesn’t like it when there is no reaction from the audience.” Then he lit a cigarette (this was the first of four cigarettes smoked in 20 minutes) and began answering questions. BG said that he is not interested in politics, but knows that “President Putin is in Russia.” In general, he considers Russia a “police state,” but he feels free to be creative. He also stated that he “quit smoking weed” because “my head works well without it.” In the end, he told me (obviously as a joke) his daily routine: “I get up at seven o’clock, receive instructions from the Kremlin via the Internet, then Putin calls me, and then Yeltsin and Bin Laden. Then I work, eat LSD, and at the end of the day I go to an orgy.”

Kommersant (Krasnoyarsk) No. 218 dated November 20, 2004, p. 12

BG hypnotized the Krasnoyarsk opera house