Brightest Young Things

all photos: James Malone
all words: Wlada Kolosowa

I doubt The Black Cat has ever had such a high percentage of XXL-legs, rolling Rs and hydrogen peroxide blondes in its queue. Mumiy Troll, one of the most enduring and classy Russian “rockapop” bands came to DC - and gave me the chance to finally make Mommy proud. See, my parents were not exactly happy when I entered journalism school. Being Russian, they believe journalists get killed all the time. Three years of writing and a handful of internships later (and me still being alive) they finally came to peace with my professional goal. Still, they are not over it yet. When Mommy calls, she always takes more interest in what I had for dinner rather than in my academic and journalistic achievements.

Interviewing Mumiy Troll’s founder and master-mind Ilia Lagutenko was already a gigantic step towards my parents' approval. I remember Mumiy Troll lyrics and Lagutenko’s photo being pinned to our fridge for years (until Dad started to get fat and replaced it with a nutrition information panel). Seeing them live would be a family mission, it would be like lending ears to my old folks. In 1999, two years after Mumiy Troll had released “Morskaya” and became popular over night, my parents moved to Germany and never had the chance to see the songs on stage. But they know all the lyrics of by heart , had sung along to for hours when going on vacation and had probably made out to.

With accumulated family expectations reaching that level of sky-highness, I could only get disappointed. And indeed my hopes were dimmed when the pre-band, Ru Pasaran, entered the stage. Although Mascha, the only girl in the band, did a fare share of bouncing behind her keyboard, the spark didn’t strike. The gig was passionless, the audience kind and forgiving but unmoved. Long story short: The pre-gig was lame, not to mention the technical problems. (I’m aware of the fact that rock music is made for maxing out. But when people cover their ears with faces wreathed in pain, something has definitely gone wrong.)

Still, if I was born as a rock star in my next life and were given the opportunity to choose my nationality I would definitely pick Russian. These are the reasons why:

2. girls tart up for the concert and put on 5-inch-heels  - but still manage to dance on them so the sparks fly
3. the crowd is so enthusiastic  (or uncritical?), they even cheer the roadies
4. the guests were greeted with: “ This is an severe warning not to climb on the stage. Violators will regret their doing very, very strongly.” People tried anyway, were removed, tried again.

Dressed up as sailors, the quartet from Vladivostok absolutely lived up to their name: Mumiy – a mummy –  Troll – well, a troll. And, hell yeah, that’s what they were: indestructible, insane kobolds. Lagutenko swiped the floor with his androgenic body, grimacing, convulsing and doing things with his face one didn’t know a face can do. He was a phenomenon itself, a one-man-show you could watch for hours even if he doesn’t open his mouth.

But what came out when he did was even better -  meowing and cooing vocals, a contradicting mixture of blasé and energetic. The audience - 90 percent of which probably had a Russian passport - was hanging on his lips and singing along with the vocals for the entire show.   (Amazingly, everybody knew the lyrics! Do they have them pinned to their fridge as well?)

On the peak of the show, when the almost sold out Black Cat was chanting and moving, I dialed Mum’s number and let her hear “Utekay”  - her personal anthem of the Nineties.

Mommy texted back: “Daughter, your education is finally starting to pay off. But did you eat enough today?”

Previously in Live DC:

• 2/13: LiveDC: George Clinton & The Parliament-Funkadelic @ 930 Club
• 2/13: LiveDC: Veronica Falls/ Brilliant Colors @ Black Cat
• 2/13: LIVE DC: Steve Aoki/ Datsik/ Alvin Risk @ Fillmore
• 2/13: LiveDC: The Darkness @ 930 Club
• 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
• 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
• 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre