OUR XMAS TREE - SDK MAI, 30.12.2006
New Year's Eve is approaching. Nobody wants to work anymore, everyone is exhausted and craving celebration. And only the metalhead's soul asks for more. More energy, more drive, more emotions, more favorite songs. And that "more" arrives.
For the third year running, SDK MAI hosts a pre-New Year celebration for "our people" — a Christmas party not exactly for the little ones. All responsibility for this wonderfully unusual affair is taken on by the well-known band ARIA.
The first thing you notice upon entering the hall is garlands, balloons, and other decorations, plus a big screen hanging off to the side with the band's emblem. At some point you tire of examining the decorations, and there's still a long wait until the start. That's when the Nashe Radio host comes to the rescue, filling a couple of minutes of waiting with a prize competition. Immediately after his departure, a powerful musical wave blasts from the speakers, and on the screen, to the sounds of "Posledniy Zakat" (The Last Sunset), video footage from the November 10th concert at Luzhniki starts rolling. The performance is drawing near, and the evening promises to be magnificent.
Photographs of the band begin cycling on the screen, while from the speakers a "voice" delivers a New Year-themed adaptation of the introduction heard at every concert on the "Armageddon" tour.
And then, to the unassuming strains of "Jingle Bells," the ARIA guys walk onstage, only to launch — just as casually and unhurriedly — into the Soviet song "If I Were a Sultan." And you know what? Unexpected and interesting. Right after this number, Artur greeted everyone in attendance and promised that plenty more surprises of this kind were in store. He didn't lie. How about "Coliseum," slightly reworked and beautifully blended into the near-classical "Venus"?! Or "Toreador" performed in a style utterly exotic for russia — reggae? People who'd grown accustomed to the idea that "Tam Vysoko" (Up There) is now exclusively a "keyboard" piece will be glad to learn that guitars have returned to it. The song is pleasantly different from its album original. (Personally, I'm overcome by a kind of childlike delight whenever Berkut picks up an instrument.) But those expecting to see Artur behind the synthesizer shouldn't despair either. "Bez Tebya" (Without You) suits that instrument perfectly. The traditional ARIA Christmas party staple "Pesnya Pro Zaytsev" (Song About Hares) from the film "The Diamond Arm" was also present and accounted for. Drinking beer onstage (as a surprise pick-me-up, don't get the wrong idea) and passing alcoholic supplies to lucky folks in the crowd were likewise part of the festivities.
The celebration of the soul concludes with the most quintessentially New Year's song, "V Lesu Rodilas Yolochka" (Oh Christmas Tree) in a metal arrangement. Beautiful, not entirely original, but damn, it's a pleasure.
Apart from the aforementioned surprises, the concert itself was nothing out of the ordinary. The setlist was practically identical to the rest of the "Armageddon" tour dates. But isn't that exactly what true ARIA fans need?
The lights came on. The musicians left the stage. The dancefloor was littered with garbage. No delusions of grandeur in the epilogue. No encore. And that's fine. We've got enough memories to last us several more years.
P.S. Just days ago, on ARIA's official website information appeared about the release of the "Posledniy Zakat" (The Last Sunset) music video on the A-One TV channel. And you know what? I'd bet my head it's that very same footage they showed before the concert at SDK MAI on that pre-New Year's Eve night.
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Written by Van Cyric
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Special thanks for the provided accreditation.
Setlist: If I Were a Sultan / Messiah / Coliseum / Baptism by Fire / Blood of Kings / Up There / The Last Sunset / Wait, Train / Carefree Angel / Temptation / Viking / Toreador / Light of Former Love / Shtil (Calm) / Drum Solo / Patriot / Without You (Piano) / Ballad of the Ancient russian Warrior / Song About Hares / Stranger / Street of Roses / Oh Christmas Tree