KZBlog

We were lucky enough to score tickets to the Mashina Vremeni concert in Astana on Thursday. Mashina Vremeni is one of the classic Russian rock bands. The concert tour was titled “We are 40 Years Old” but they pointed out that the tour started last year so actually they are 41 years old. I don’t know how they got ahold of Western rock in the Soviet Union in 1969 but the influences of the Beatles, the Stones, the Who, and Pink Floyd are clear. Now they ARE the Stones, Pink Floyd, and Grateful Dead of the former Soviet Union. Along with CHAIF, DDT and a handful of other bands, they are really the only rock and roll you can find in these parts. Especially in the modern era, where most bands are referred to as projects i.e. investments, it’s refreshing to know that talented bands who actually create music and play it for fun still exist.

And Mashina Vremeni is a fun band to see live. They play around on stage. The guitarist, Margulis, often looked up at the video screen and mugged at the audience when he saw himself. Kutikov had fun encouraging the audience to clap, snap and sing along and I think Makarevich smiled 60% of the time. They were playing with a trumpet player/percussionist/back-up singer who did a fair amount of playing around with Margulis and the other band members. Overall it looked like they were having a great time which was contagious. I’m not overly familiar with their songs–the language barrier and the fact that radio time usually goes to pop projects make it a bit difficult–but I’ve tried to put together a partial set list, and if anyone else was there, please feel free to comment and add songs:

Кастёр
Улетай
Мой друг
Марионетки
За тех, кто в море
Шанхай блюз
Эти веки нечиво не хлынуть (I think that’s what it was called; it was a new song and really, really good!)

Encore:
Однажды мир прогнётся под нас
Поворот