In the center of the typhoon

Three and a half hours of flight London - Moscow. Eight hours to overcome the air route Moscow - Vladivostok. Through all the time zones, through the huge, by their standards, Russia. On their first day in Vladivostok, the British Echotape fell asleep at dinner with forks in their hands. A full -fledged evening and an entire night did not have enough musicians to properly restore strength. And at 9 am the next day, a huge, almost school, the bus was waiting for them and other artists to bring them to the neighboring port town - find - for the first performance at the festival V - Rox 2015 .

The famous Vladivostok cable bridges, a long highway, which literally creeps along the sea, the ships of all colors and sizes standing on the horizon ... All these sleepy British are not yet ready to appreciate. This is the very next day they vying will shout: “Bridges! Bridges! They are just amazing! So huge! " And make numerous selfies against their background. "All these bridges and hills remind me of San Francisco!" - summarizes the vocalist of the group Mark as a result. But while the road through Primorye for them is another chance to sleep.

Just an hour later, the bus traveling to the find makes the first stop. “Varenets! They also sell the most delicious Varens! ” - screams a member of the Vladivostok group "Freedom!" And the first runs out towards the local market. The British to try a gelatinous drink with the strange name "Varenets" completely refuse. They are solved only for Coca-Cola familiar to them.

The find meets Echotape with a modest scene located on the embankment of the city. What kind of public will be at their concert today, the guys are not yet guessed. They only know that the entire local population will most likely come to the open festival, because after them the popular Russian rock band Mumiy Tall will rise on stage.

“Before the concert, I was very worried: how people will understand our music who do not even know English. But if you completely give all your energy to the hall, it works. And it worked in the find! " - says the vocalist Mark. A tall, thin, long -haired handsome man from the first song began to jump onto the speakers, wave his feet and sway his hips, turning his back to the hall. Local girls instantly were delighted. "He is so similar to Jared Summer!" - Every now and then sounded in the crowd. “I have heard such a comparison more than once! Maybe it's all about long hair and sunglasses? Well then! 30 Seconds to Mars is a great group. And Jared Summer is also a wonderful actor. So I have nothing against it, ”Mark modestly comments on his success.

By the middle of the concert, the new fans were already screeching, not sparing the ligaments. And when Mark, leaving the microphone on the stage, jumped into the photopitus, went to the iron fence and pulled one of the beauties from the crowd, the girls already roared with the real, unprofitable tears: “And I? But what about me? Take me with you and me! "

Echotape - A young group by British standards. A few years ago, village friends made a small studio on a farm at two brothers Mike and Mark. Mark was responsible for the vocals, Mike - for the drums. And their friends Dan and ... Dan-for the guitar and bass gitar, respectively. In general, the story like Kasabian and many other English rock teams. “A very typical story, I agree! We all know each other from school. But we really feel each other, as if we are all - members of the same family. And it's great! There is an incentive to gradually go forward, forward and only forward! ” - says the bassist of the group Dan.

In the distant Vladivostok, the existence of which they did not even know, Echotape brought friendship with the Mumiy Troll group. At first they met the son of Ilya Lagutenko-Igor Lagutenko-at a music conference in Los Angeles. And after some time, the group accidentally ended up on the warm-up of Mumiy Troll in their British tour. The musicians realized that they could not get away from fate. Soon Igor Lagutenko became the manager of Echotape and already with them came to the V - Rox festival.

We have too many British groups in our homeland. But the English guys in Russia or in China are much more interesting.

As typical British, Echotape move around Vladivostok exclusively from pub to pub. Therefore, it was they who became the main guidelines for the musicians in coastal navigation. “It is difficult, of course, when we cannot read the names of the streets. But we already began to navigate the bars: oh, now we are somewhere next to the “Mummy Troll Bar”. But now there will be that cool wine bar ahead, ”says guitarist Dan. Therefore, all their impressions during the week of stay came to a short list. “A huge submarine that stuck out of the water. A lot of buses, many girls, ”Mark summarizes. Girls in Vladivostok react to the British with special admiration. Thanks to which the musicians have already thought about a tour in Russia. “Oh, they all told us in England:“ Correctly! There are tanks walk the streets! ” It is always so funny. Even all the gangsters in the cinema for some reason speak with a Russian accent. And everyone here reacts so nicely to us: “Oh, you are from England! How great!” Well, they are still interested in how long we grew up such long hair, ”Mark laughs.

In England, Echotape is now gathering 500-700 people at their concerts. But in the same Netherlands - more than a thousand. “We have too many British groups in our homeland. But the English guys in Europe or in Russia, and even more so in China, playing classic British rock - this is much more interesting. You invite someone to your concert in England. And they are too busy to listen to something new. But in other countries they go to British music with joy, ”says Mark. That is why Echotape decided to look better at Europe and Asia. “Soon we will finish working on a new album. And, I think, we will seriously concentrate on the eastern part of our tour! We already had excellent friends from Korea. In general, this part of the world seems very interesting to us! " - The frontman shares his plans.

It is new Korean friends from Rock - And - Roll Radio was the first to accustom the British to new food. Having tested all the restaurants of Vladivostok with their native food, the artists chose the most, in their opinion, the right - “Hanuri” and called for the Echotape feast. As a result, on the table, Kuksa, Hamul Padjon, Tolso Pibimpap, so canpungs and other Korean dishes with difficult -pronounced names appeared on the table. “This is the most delicious food that we have tried lately. Very cool! Not like beer with chips, ”the guitarist Dan finally appreciated the eastern cuisine.

End the evening artists moved to Whisky Bar . “You know, but we even have a song with that name - “ Whisky Bar ” !” - reveals all the cards in front of the waitress Mark. "Is it true?! And let's put it now! " - the girl instantly reacts. And after five minutes “ Whisky Bar ” from Echotape is distributed to the entire institution.

But for their own solo performance in Vladivostok, the British risked being one on one with an empty Mumiy Troll Bar. It was on this day that the arrival of the Typhoon “perspectives” was predicted, which inflicted significant destruction in the Philippines and Japan. Already in the middle of the day, sharp gusts of wind and pouring rain dispelled all passers -by from the streets. Storm warning around the city. Floating in the puddles of the car. Sparkling in the sleeping areas of the wiring. Weather forecasters also promised waves of four to five meters high. To expect at such a bad weather at a concert on Wednesday at night, given that the start time of the show was scheduled for 00:00, only desperate optimists could.

“We did not have time to swim in the sea ... But now we have the opportunity to swim right on the street! Water slides are straight. We can already start the fun, ”Mark joked, glancing from the bar of the bar at the water apocalypse occurring outside.

However, to universal surprise, by 23:30 Vladivostoktsy began to go to the bar. And the concert passed with a full house. When Echotape left the stage, the element completely raged. Both bridges were temporarily blocked. And the British until 7 in the morning had to wait for a bar in the already becoming house. And after that - to swim to the island of Russian on a bus almost drowning on glass.

But by dinner the next day, when it was time to move out of the hotel to the next sound, the sky became blue again, the roads dried up, harmless lambs crawled along the sea. In a taxi toppled to the top, in which five British were traveling from Russian to a concert platform, the driver stopped fighting bad music at local radio stations and turned on Wind of C HANGE » Scorpions . Drummer Mike joyfully sang the first lines “ I Follow The Moskva ... ” And packed in the beat of Claus Mine. British fly to Moscow only a few days later. There they planned two concerts in Moscow "Mumiy Troll Bar" (September 1-2) . In the meantime, one of the festival scenes V - Rox is still waiting for them In Vladivostok. But the main thing is that the typhoon is surviving, and they will already have enough impressions of a trip to Russia on a decent head of future memoirs.