anniversary festival of heavy music. Aria-fest v
#ARIA #UdoDirkschneider (#ACCEPT songs) #ALMANAC +guest!
Date of: NOVEMBER 26
Location: #SokoLMusicHall
ARIA-FEST- V!
A thunderous eruption from the very depths of heavy metal!
The history of ARIA FEST began with concerts in which the groups, the so-called "Aria's families", created by former members team.
In 2013, ARIA FEST underwent changes, turning from a friendly cabal of old friends into a full-fledged music Festival international level. Then the guests of ARIA FEST were Rage, Sirenia, Catharsis, Black Obelisk, Symfomania.
In 2014, heavyweights of the metal scene such as Edguy, Stratovarius, Hammerfall, Accept came to the festival. In addition, the organizers of the festival for the first time brought to Russia the increasingly popular Finnish group Lost Society and the legendary Spanish folk metallers Mago de Oz.
In 2015, ARIA FEST slightly changed the usual format, becoming a platform for a large-scale celebration of the 30th anniversary of the ARIA group. However, the festival has not changed its traditions, opening to the Russian public a popular in Europe and the States Swedish group Avatar. ARIA herself performed for the first time on both festival days: on the first day, inviting the old members of the group to the stage, and on the second, resurrecting her program with symphony orchestra"Classic Aria". Despite the fact that the festival was held in this format for the first time, both days the 9,000-strong Stadium Live club was filled to capacity.
ARIA's performance with a symphony orchestra as part of ARIA FEST 2015 was later released on DVD.
In 2016, ARIA FEST was held for the first time in the open-air format. Arktida, SLOT, Hippy Chaos, German heavy metal queen Doro Pesh, as well as the legendary KRUIZ trio, whose musicians came together again after more than 20 years, especially for this performance, performed on the stage of the Green Theater in Gorky Park.
The story continues... Today we are pleased to present the participants of the FIFTH anniversary festival "ARIA FEST-2016"! So, on November 26, the stage will be:
- ARIA with the updated program "Blood for Blood-25 years",
- UDO DIRKSHNEIDER with the special set "Songs of ACCEPT in last time"- the artist will perform for the last time the famous hits of the past, and after that he will forever turn this page of his work,
- ALMANAC - a new group Victor Smolsky (ex-RAGE) will perform in Russia for the first time,
+ special guest to be announced in the fall.
It's no secret that the success of any music festival, large or local, largely depends on the composition of its participants. The more interesting the visiting artists are, and the more significant the events (like epoch-making reunions or high-profile premieres), the more people will attend this event; in the case of particularly high-profile names and performances, people are proven to be ready to turn a blind eye to many, minor, but no less important aspects of the organization of the festival. Ariafest in this regard is held with varying success: sometimes in its format there are unambiguous successes, for example, the first, and very long-awaited in the ranks of the fans, the arrival of Mägo de Oz. And sometimes, the posters frankly lack some bright clue. However, this year the organizers were definitely lucky, because the autumn festival, which for various reasons dwindled to one evening, included two significant events: one smaller, the other larger. The first is, of course, the debut of Viktor Smolsky's ambitious project, Almanac, on Russian stage, and the second, "the very last" chance to hear the songs of Accept performed by the original vocalist in Moscow. Leaving aside the obsessive skepticism around the word "last", the event certainly looks quite epochal. Well, of course, Aria also went well anniversary date- 25 years of one of the most powerful (no jokes) albums of the domestic metal dinosaur "Blood for Blood". And since, again, it is a well-known fact, at any such festivals there will always be a considerable number of people who are interested in Aria or Kipelov from the entire program, this moment is also worth a lot.
But let's start from the beginning. The performance was opened by the Moscow team Korsik, which is a "young" generation of domestic heavy. Somehow they started very early, in an almost empty hall filled with a few, but quite active fans of this band and people who hurried to be the first to queue for the entrance to the Stadium in order to monolithically stake out seats by the stage and heroically not leave them all this long evening. The small number of the audience did not dampen Korsika's morale, and the musicians were very active, turning on the growing crowd, which, in turn, received the group very cordially. It is a pity that due to a number organizational moments, it was not possible to consider and listen to them in more detail.
Behind the "Corsicans" were veterans of domestic thrash Cherny Obelisk. Eh, these dear to my heart names from the times of ambitious "red metal". Meanwhile, times are passing, someone has disappeared in their abyss, someone continues to occasionally flounder on the waves, and someone still follows a confident course within their own niche, almost without looking back. The fans are here old school one of the most extraordinary vocalists and authors of Soviet metal, Anatoly Krupnov, must invariably wave the pile to the dead. How would the history of the group have developed if he had not left this world in the prime of life? After all, now on the wave of interest in the history of Soviet heavy music, when young people are in awe of the legacy of bands like Shah, such an original and, perhaps, one of the most powerful bands from a literary point of view, like "Krupnovsky" Black Obelisk, is definitely worthy of a closer look. However, this is already a long-standing affair, and "Obelisk" with Dmitry Borisenkov remains loved by the public to this day. During the performance of the veterans, the audience increased noticeably, and what was happening in the hall began to look like a full-fledged festival. Shaking the hall with a powerful sound, the musicians performed "The Stolen Sun", "Freedom", the ironic "Rock Star", and completed the performance of the well-known, including thanks to the show "Voice" (and what to do? Costs folk love) with the song "I stay".
Then the international part of the festival began. Technicians began to fuss, scenery began to appear: for the crowd, for the first time in Moscow, a new group of Viktor Smolsky Almanac came out. In general, as practice shows, the breakups of well-known teams often benefit the music. One old element is falling apart, somewhat already suede from stagnation, and instead of it a couple of good new ones are obtained. That's what happened with Rage. Smolsky was able to create a team for the successful implementation of his creative ideas and ambitions, and Rage, led by Peavy, noticeably rejuvenated, no matter how paradoxical it may sound, returning to old school roots. And, as it can be seen from the outside, both talented artists are quite satisfied with the situation.
Solemn, generously spiced with symphonism, the music of Almanac has one remarkable property, it, with all its diversity, is very intelligible. People who heard the band for the first time (on the stage, for sure) perceived it, moved and sang along so actively that it seemed that Almanac had been touring with us for more than a year. For contemporary music such "hitness" of the material is an important component of success. A similar quality is possessed, for example, by the beloved people of Powerwolf and Sabaton. Among other features of the "Almanac", in addition to the hit and virtuoso playing of Smolsky, one can single out an excellent choice of vocalists. The place at the microphone is shared by the beauty Jeannette Marchewka and Andy Frank, the vocalist is very efficient, but, unfortunately, we have little known group Brainstorm. Having performed a small set of their own epic compositions, Almanac, to the delight of the audience, played several songs from Rage's baggage, which, after their own material, sounded very organic and, let's say, "smolish". But, of course, this performance was only a sighting: this team definitely deserves a full-fledged tour of Europe and Russia. Following the embroidered uniforms of the Almanac team, foreign headliners U.D.O. entered the converted stage to the sound of a stylish opening, and the audience began to seethe in impatience. Grandfather Udo visits our country so often that we would rather be surprised if he does not come to us some year, but this does not negate the life-giving rays of people's love directed at this artist. Especially this year, when the master announced that he would perform songs of his legendary band last time. Whether this is true or not (and we have already seen so many of these "last times" in history), only time will tell, but music lovers are epochal this event appreciated. And not only here, I must say, "Back to Roots tour" was very successful all over the world. In any case, hearing a complete "Accept" set (with Udo usually performing three or four old songs) with the original vocalist was an extremely tempting affair for any music lover.
Since even the composition of the musicians has not changed since the last concert (except that the keyboardist was lost as unnecessary), we will not describe all the delights in detail, we will only say that the guitar duet represented by Andrei Smirnov, who came to the concert with his beautiful wife and daughter, and Kasperi Heikkinen "a significantly added harshness and drive to the riffs of more than thirty years ago. The already established rhythm section under the direction of Fitty Wienhold" a and Sven "a Dirkschneider" is still good. It wasn't even worth worrying about. The main questions and fears of the fans were directed at Udo himself: will he be able to pull out past hits, will he have enough spirit and strength at a respectable age? Smog. Pulled out. And he had more than enough strength for this. There is evidence that in other cities of the Russian tour, where the set was full, two hours long, Udo got noticeably tired closer to the finale, but this was not noticeable in Moscow. The veteran ignited the crowd, masterfully, without a shadow of tension, wielding his circular voice, while the listeners, as one, went into fan delight, listening and singing along to songs that more than one generation had grown up on. Even the VIPs, having abandoned their half-eaten club sandwiches, willingly started dancing on the celestial balconies. Needless to say, Accept have always been masters of pumping riffs and exemplary choruses. If this really was the last time, then this is a very big loss.
But here's the U.D.O. and shot back, playing a selection of 100% hits and the invariable Beethoven. And, believe me, people did not want to let them go! But it was necessary to give way on stage and in the hall. It has already been said above that there are fans who visit Ariafest solely for the sake of the main team, and there are many of them. Especially for them there is a category of tickets "Only for Aria". And, if it occurred to someone to compare the number of guests before and immediately before the performance of the "Aryans", then the observer would note a significant replenishment of the personnel on the dance floor. And there is nothing wrong with that. One can only admire the band's devotion when fans are ready to skip all the previous speakers, so as not to obscure the impression of the concert of their favorite team.
scaffolding in Once again re-equipped. This time, the scenery was completely devoted to the anniversary album: the stage and multi-level platforms were decorated with a panel depicting Golgotha and fanged Satan. Stylish, luxurious and on topic. But, unfortunately, the visual feast of the anniversary was limited to this. The pyrotechnics were left behind, which were not allowed to use the harsh laws of fire safety, there were no accompanying musicians, no invited guests. This was a little disappointing, since the anniversary of a cult album is still a significant event, and a group that claims to be "our Maiden" in the eyes of the people should have come up with something other than a cloth. We will not start a debate about the vocalists here, this is a matter of taste, but in fairness we note that the Aryans, in contrast, lacked some activity on stage. At the summer fest, the musicians were still more active. Here, perhaps, the autumn spleen influenced... They played well, as it should be for talented performers, but without a twinkle, everyday. On the other hand, the setlist was sweet - almost the entire anniversary album was played in its entirety, although, if we throw out some songs, then, perhaps, many will agree that it would be better to throw out "Demons", but play "Follow Me".
We will leave the performance of the old songs without comment, but the new songs, originally written under Zhitnikov, sounded very advantageous and interesting, which suggests that the current Aria has something to please the listener, in addition to the legends of ancient times. One "Attack of the Dead" is worth something. But again, the question returns, why is everything so simple, without a twist? Okay, pyrotechnics are not allowed, but why not beat the scenery, use costumes? It is clear that Aria is not an Epidemic, but could some elements be adopted from the youth? For example, when during the song "Zombie" the vocalist, together with the crowd, summoned a vengeful undead into the hall, why couldn't they bring an actor in a suit to the stage? It would definitely revive the show, add color to it. And most importantly, it would cost a penny, tea is not five-meter Iron Maiden dolls. So it turns out that the album is gorgeous, and the setlist is delicious, the musicians are experienced and well-deserved, the vocalist is strong, and emotions against the background of the same U.D.O. it was embarrassingly small. They can do much better.
As for the technical aspects, here you need to take into account that the Stadium is a huge concert hall, and, watching the show from the dance floor abundantly fertilized with beer and from the heavenly VIP balconies, you will see and, possibly, hear two different concerts. Therefore, it is not easy to be objective here. Everywhere there are subtleties, except that the "middle" VIP places are quite far from the stage, and no monitors were delivered that evening. But there were no complaints about the sound and lighting at any of the performances: the stage was either doused with metallic cold, or flooded with boiling blood from the spotlights. With this, the Stadium has always been in order. What else I liked was that, despite the crowds, crush, crush and other nightmarish squeezing of people one by one from the building before and after the event was not observed, for which we thank the organizers.
Summing up: the autumn Ariafest was successful, largely due to the successful selection of participants, which, as mentioned above, is the main factor in the success of the music festival. All performing artists played with dignity, although not everything was as sincere as we would like. The audience was able to witness the couple historical events in the form of one successful debut and no less brilliant finale. There were no unpleasant moments in the organization, and the audience, judging by the reviews, was satisfied. The end of the festival season can be considered a success. Meet me at next year.
We express our gratitude to The Motley Concerts for the provided accreditations.
The history of ARIA FEST began with concerts in which groups, the so-called "Aria's families", created by former members of the group, took part.
In 2013, ARIA FEST has undergone changes, turning from a friendly cabal of old friends into a full-fledged international music festival. Then the guests of ARIA FEST were Rage, Sirenia, Catharsis, Black Obelisk, Symfomania.
In 2014, heavyweights of the metal scene such as Edguy, Stratovarius, Hammerfall, Accept came to the festival. In addition, the organizers of the festival for the first time brought to Russia the increasingly popular Finnish band Lost Society and the legendary Spanish folk metallers Mago de Oz.
In 2015, ARIA FEST slightly changed the usual format, becoming a platform for a large-scale celebration of the 30th anniversary of the ARIA group. However, the festival has not changed its traditions, opening the Swedish band Avatar, which is popular in Europe and the States, to the Russian public. ARIA herself performed for the first time on both festival days: on the first day, inviting the old members of the group to the stage, and on the second, resurrecting her program with the Classical Aria symphony orchestra. Despite the fact that the festival was held in this format for the first time, both days the 9,000-strong Stadium Live club was filled to capacity.
ARIA's performance with a symphony orchestra as part of ARIA FEST 2015 was later released on DVD.
In 2016, ARIA FEST was held for the first time in the open-air format. Arktida, SLOT, Hippy Chaos, German heavy metal queen Doro Pesh, as well as the legendary KRUIZ trio, whose musicians came together again after more than 20 years, especially for this performance, performed on the stage of the Green Theater in Gorky Park.
The story continues... Today we are pleased to present the participants of the anniversary festival 2016! So, on November 26, the stage will be:
ARIA with the updated program "Blood for Blood-25 years",
DIRKSCHNEIDER with a special set "Songs of ACCEPT for the last time" - the artist will perform the famous hits of the past for the last time, and after that he will turn this page of his work forever,
ALMANAC - a new group of Viktor Smolsky (ex-RAGE) will perform in Russia for the first time,
Special guest to be announced in the fall.
