FolkDay
Sept. 10, 5 pm, Zelyony Teatr (Green Theater, at the back of Gorky Park), 9 Krymsky Val, bldg. 33, m. Park Kultury/Shabolovskaya
This season’s last major outdoor music festival features just about all of the country’s best known folk rock artists.
© RIA Novosti. / Alexey Kudenko
Natalia O’Shea and Melnitsa
FolkDay’s main highlight is expected to be a performance by Novosibirsk-based Kalinov Most. These pioneers on the domestic folk rock scene are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. They have prepared a program in which the band’s older hits are mixed with tracks from its most recent release – last year’s album “Eskhato.” Throughout its career, Kalinov Most, fronted by Dmitry Revyakin, has put out a dozen studio albums, plus several live albums and compilations.
While the audience of Kalinov Most includes people from several generations, the festival’s other headliner, Melnitsa, is primarily known by younger fans. Fronted by Natalia O’Shea (born Nikolayeva), Melnitsa was formed in 1999 and has four studio albums to its name. Melnitsa’s most recent full-fledged album, “Dikiye Travy” (“Wild Grasses”), was released in 2009. Earlier this year, the band released a limitededition compilation, “Rozhdestvenskiye Pesni” (“Christmas Songs”).
The band’s performance at Folk- Day is to mark Melnitsa’s comeback from a hiatus. “This year, Melnitsa will be well rested and ready to take the stage like a battlefield,” O’Shea was quoted as saying in the festival’s press releases.
Incidentally, O’Shea recently recorded a track, “Ryadom Byt” (“Next To Each Other”), with another participant of FolkDay, the band Posle 11. They are expected to perform the song live at the festival.
Other artists taking the stage at FolkDay represent different areas within a broad field of folk rock. For instance, Anna Pingina (aka Pingy) is known for her more experimental approach to folk music, which she tries to translate into contemporary language. In addition to traditional rock instruments, Pingina heavily uses electronic samples and is one of the most prominent figures on the Russian ethno-electronic scene.
© Photo / Courtesy of Otava Yo
Otava Yo
The band Ivan Kupala also mixes folk tunes with electronic samples. Last summer the band returned to recording and performing after a long break. Formed in 1998, Ivan Kupala achieved renown with its hit “Kostroma.” Earlier this year, the band released a new single, “Stary,” and new material is expected soon.
Also on the bill are Otava Yo, who interpret well-known tunes on ethnic instruments; the Russian-Georgian band Soulmama, mixing Georgian folk with blues, hip hop and soul; and the acoustic duo of Belarus-born Alesya Alisiyevich and Andrei Kutuzov, a singer/songwriter from Nizhny Novgorod.
Read other articles of the print issue “The Moscow News #69”