All-Russian WINTERMOON SYMPHONY TOUR 2009
11th of April – Barnaul – Zebra Club
12th of April – Tomsk - Fakel Club
24th of April – Novosibirsk – Rock City Club
1st of May – Yekaterinburg – Aramil
3d of May – Izhevsk – Roxx Club
5th of May – Kazan – Habermaas Club
7th of May – Tolyatti- Generator Club
8th of May – Samara –Podval Rock Bar
10th of May – Penza – Zahvat Rock Bar
11th of May – Ulyanovsk -Arbat – Middle Volga Metal Fest 4
13th of May – Ryazan – Planetarium Club
14th of May – Moscow – Relax Club
16th of May – Voronezh - Angar
17th of May – Stariy Oskol – Moonlight Club
21st of May – Saratov – Canyon Club
24th of May – Magnitogorsk – Podval Club
11th of April – Barnaul – Zebra Club
Our tour’s Siberian part has begun in Barnaul. It’s a city of medium size in Altay Region. However, the promo agency “Arbor” has done everything on the highest level – we’re very grateful for such smooth organization. Zebra Club appeared to be quite ok, although sound check was a bit too long. 4 Barnaul bands took part in this fest – in my opinion, Theosophy was the best. The guys stay true to black metal style and Immortal-like compositions.
As headliners we’ve performed only our most known hits – I guess the audience didn’t expect this. At first they seemed a bit stunned, yet in the end such was the slam in the club, that we had to perform the same songs for second time. We’ve even had our new song performed – the Bloodflower, ‘cause I always feel encouraged when I see such fans’ enthusiasm.
Our after party we’ve spent in the house of…. the grandma of one of the promoters! Magical experience it was – afterwards, on our road to Tomsk we’d recollected the memories of these cuisine wonders, chewing gloomily the uneatable stuff in the train.
All in all, Barnaul was a great start of the tour. Loads of thanks to Alexander, Artiom, Ksenya and the others!
12th of April – Tomsk - Fakel Club
Fakel club is really great… It’s situated in the very center of the city, style and interior, large dressing rooms, stage, backline and sound – everything is rather good. Our gig was on the 3d day of 5 days metal Fest (it was melodic metal day mostly) – the fans have nearly smashed the stage. Our gig was a success.
Here are the concert review extracts and quotes from Tomsk fan sites:
“Although Welicoruss style didn’t blend with that “melodic metal” day I guess they’ve saved the whole evening. GODS! Fuckin’ true!!! I was surprised by the sound quality… Not a bit upset they’ve replaced Moscow band Butterfly Temple… That was a blast!”
“I’ve liked their Grig arrangement… Slavsya Rus with choir was amazing.”
“SUPER! Nothing more to say…”
“Welicoruss KILLS!!!”
24th of April – Novosibirsk – Rock City Club
This gig was of special importance for us. Novosibirsk is the capital of Siberia and our home city; besides we’ve had solo performance. The concert showed, that even without metal fest and with not very cheap tickets had we managed to gat her club full of fans. The sound was great due to MusicLand Company. Rarely did we have such friendly atmosphere as this time – we’d been chatting with fans and signing CDs nearly for an hour.
The show was filmed on 4 professional cameras – you can see it on our Tour DVD.
We’d like to express our greatest thanks to Yurii Kuznetsov, Sazonov Slava, Safenin Yuliy, Terapevt, Natalya, Nastya Kriger, Nastya Sed’ih, Cumoff and Christine.
1st of May – Yekaterinburg – Aramil
It was this gig which was a start to the main tour part which included 15 cities of Russia. Don’t forget this was our first large tour made without sponsors. Yet this experience was great – because our fans’ support was great in all the cities… It had helped us to overcome all the difficulties.
So, Aramil is situated in Ekaterinburg suburb. In spite of such location and bad weather, the club was nearly full. I’d like to mark the superb light quality. Our set was 11 compositions and 2 covers. In a nutshell, everything was ok – we’ve felt comfortable and very encouraged by the fans.
The next day we’ve had a bit of sightseeing with Evgeniy – rather impressing architecture of the empress Ekaterina’s time, indeed. However, the most unforgettable thing was a bus with 666 numbers – this number had been haunting us during the whole tour. Amazing, yeah.
Thanks to Max, Masha, Evgeniy.
3d of May – Izhevsk – Roxx Club
Our promoter, Andrew has met us on the railway station. Although Izhevsk is not a large city (500 000 inhabitants) and doesn’t have many places of interest, Andrew managed to show us his (and famous Kalashnikov’s, by the way) hometown from very advantageous position. It seemed very nice and cozy for us.
The club where we’ve had a gig is Izhevsk best one. Indeed, both acoustics and technical rider were quite good. We also liked the local bands playing that day – Tesk Explosion and Ved’mak. The time spent with fans after the gig was rather pleasant experience. I liked the fact that not only very young metal heads listen to our staff, but quite civilized and adult people were among the crowd.
Deepest thanks to Andrew Dzuin and Ved’mak band.
5th of May – Kazan – Habermaas Club
Kazan – the capital of Tatarstan - is a large and beautiful city, with its peculiar national style. The majority of people are Muslim there, that’s why one can see a lot of spectacular mosques (one of them is Russia’s largest) there. The ancient Kazan Kremlin impressed us greatly, along with other numerous places of interest, which our Kazan promoters Misanthrope and Slava Medved had shown us with great enthusiasm.
The promoters have done a great organizing and advertising job. To say we’ve had a good reception is to say nothing, such enthusiasm had the fans shown. Scanning roars “WELICORUSS”, slam, stage diving, barriers crushing –argh! We’ve had to perform much longer than it was planned. The signing session and photo session have come to the end late at night. Kazan was fantastic, really!
Greatest thanks to Boris, Misanthrope, Slava and his wife and all the others! Cheers!
7th of May – Tolyatti- Generator Club
Tolyatti is an industrial town, the place for AutoVaz (Russian car maker) factories. The buildings and architecture are that of Soviet period. To tell the truth, we were a bit confused and wondered whether there are metalheads in this, I’d say, over industrial town, or not.
Yet, the Generator club (which appeared to me more of a rock bar) was full. Although the previous bands played brutal death (I guess, locals’ favourite metal style), our gig wasn’t without success.
Thanks to Valeriy, Rimma, Yaroslav and the band Moan of Hell.
8th of May – Samara –Podval Rock Bar
Podval Rock Bar appeared to be a stylish and cozy place. We’ve had a gig after the doom metal band Autumn Lethargy. I was a bit afraid the people would become depressive after such skillfully performed doom – yet we’ve managed to raise their spirits. Cheers and Beers to Samara crowd – these metal warriors encouraged us greatly. The signing session, which had become a tradition by that time, was also very friendly.
The day after we’ve gone a bit sightseeing – the most striking thing in Samara is the railway station in high-tech style, one of the best and largest in Russia. The beer factory surrounded by local metalheads was an interesting experience, too.
From reviews:
Michail Barabanov: “Welicoruss are able to create certain atmosphere, indeed… One can listen to their music for many times without getting tired…”
Greatest Grendaizer : “The gig in Samara was f*ckin’ great”!
Thanks to Guillan Polyansky, Drevleslav,Lada, Maria and Necrofil.
11th of May – Ulyanovsk -Arbat – Middle Volga Metal Fest 4
The road to Ulyanovsk has run through all the god-forgotten places of Russia – dilapidated villages and churches and deserted houses along with spectacular landscapes and sacred founts. Ulyanovsk is the hometown of V. Lenin - that’s why it’s overloaded with his monuments. The most interesting places of the city are its central square, quay and monument to the Russian letter ¨ (Yo!) – God knows why it’s there…
Our gig took place in Arbat center (600 people capacity) as a headlining one during the annual Middle Volga Metal Fest. In spite of some sound-check technical problems, the reception was enthusiastic, our gig – super according to the fans, and the signing session rather long.
Hearty thanks to Rock Zveno, Dmitry, Warrior.
13th of May – Ryazan – Planetarium Club
Although we’ve found Ryazan a bit gloomy and bleak and had not quite a gorgeous accommodation, the club itself appeared to be big and technically equipped very well. We were headliners among local bands (Diadema has impressed us most). Those enthusiastic fans have changed our first impression of the city to the better. After the gig we’ve celebrated Elias’ birthday and forgot about all accommodation inconveniences.
14th of May – Moscow – Relax Club
Our Moscow promoter was Sergey Lazar (yeah, Arkona’s and Rossomahaar’s guitar). He took the responsibility of technical and organizational concert part – the accommodation was granted by Demetr (Arcane Grail, vocals). Our deepest gratitude to both of them – the gig was a blast indeed.
The club is situated in the basement of the NordOst theatre – cozy red-bricked lodgment disposes to metal and beer. The sound and light were superb, the bands playing – higly professional and rather popular (BlackThorns and Zymothic Symphony seemed to be especially interesting).
We’ve understood that the fans had been really waiting for Welicoruss, as many of them had sang our lyrics out loud, not mentioning stage diving as usual. After the gig we’ve had no less pleasant time walking in the obscurity of night down Moscow streets and socializing with our most persistent fans (there were guys even from France). The next day we’ve relaxed, visited Moscow’s places of interest and departed in the evening to Voronezh.
From Arcane Grail (Demetr’s) concert review:
“I was really pleased to host Welicoruss at my home – they’ve appeared to be not only highly professional musicians, but also very intelligent, well-bred, and hearty people! They’ve performed with might and main – and the fans admired them. Their music, their image, style of performance – everything was of the highest quality. They a second to none, even among European bands of the same style! Very impressive and unforgettable music”.
16th of May – Voronezh - Angar
The first and most striking thing was the club itself. Its name – meaning ‘the hangar’ – reflects its industrial minimalistic style and location, indeed! The huge hall with industrial apparatus, beams, girders and the square stage in the middle have stunned us.
To our greatest surprise, the promoter has done everything as good as possible, from advertisement to accommodation. The best thing was that the audience has recognized us, they’ve been rather active. Rarely do we see such head banging! All in all, we were impressed greatly – the gig appeared to be one of the tour’s best, considering all the parameters.
Our hearty thanks to Vitaliy, Andrew, and Necrowolf.
17th of May – Stariy Oskol – Moonlight Club
But for the tour, never would I hear of such town as Stariy Oskol. Although it’s not large, and there are no wonders of architecture and jewels of sightseeing there (exclusive of the Slavyanka - Russia’s major chocolate company) the club appeared to be quite ok, with large stage, high-grade backline and portals.
The fest was not of entirely metal style – we’ve seen goths, punks and rockers there. In spite of such different alternative subculture representatives, the audience’s attitude was rather positive.
The after party took place at the home of Gimly and Alexandra. Loads of thanks to our hosts!
21st of May – Saratov – Canyon Club
The road to Saratov by train took us about a day. Maybe because of the fact we had been nearly exhausted, we weren’t very much impressed by the city. For me it seemed to be a bit tattered and too industrial. The club seemed to be the remnant of Soviet times. Nevertheless, it was evident we had been waited for! The slam during the gig was great and the after party and signing session about 2 hours.
Review Extracts: www.sarrock.ru
“The grandeur of metal power riffs was beyond my expectations. It’s a real pity the musicians next tour will take place only in autumn…”
“Welicoruss is a really great band, inferior to none. The lyrics are surprisingly rich for a pagan metal band…”
24th of May – Magnitogorsk – Podval Club
Here we are in Magnitogorsk – the final destination of our tour at last! Heading to our accommodation place – the hotel complex situated in the picturesque green hills and forests we’ve managed to have a glimpse of the city. It’s not a large industrial city, known for its metallurgist factory, one of the biggest in Russia.
Our impressions of the Podval club, situated in the center of the city, were rather positive. We’ve performed all the planned set-list, in the end of it everybody was singing Slavsya Rus, head-banging, slamming and trying to climb on stage to get the album signed first. It was fantastic. So, we were very happy to have such pleasant experience before our road home – to Novosibirsk.
From the local newspaper:
“Maybe somebody has expected usual pagan/battle metal blockbusters of Temnozor style; Welicoruss are more sophisticated. In spite of this, head bangers roar WE-LI-CO-RUSS by the end and hundreds of fists and v-signs in the air has shown the admiration and amazement of the people”.
Hearty thanks to Kuzma, Vitaliy and Evgeniy.
To conclude, I’d say that although metal business in Russia is rather young and has its difficulties and peculiarities, there is considerable progress in this field. Judging by our experience, more and more people go in for metal music, more and more promoters and club staff become professionals in their field. Our tour has brought us invaluable experience, knew acquaintances and positive impressions.
Hails and thanks to our fans and promoters. Hope to see you again soon!