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Aria in Tallinn, 3.04.2009


Event: Aria
Written by: Ivan
Published: 10.04.2009

Galleries:

Aria - Rock Café, Tallinn, Estonia, 03.04.2009 by Ivor (24)

Sponsored by:

Sony


For those not familiar with Aria (Ария), this legendary band is the russian equivalent of Iron Maiden, whose music and appearance they also tried to mimic in the beginning. However, during the 25 years of their career they gradually developed their own unique style and have a huge following in Russia and, despite singing exclusively in russian, have been gaining some recognition abroad as well.

Last time Aria visited Tallinn in 2005, but just a few months ago the former vocalist's band Kipelov (Кипелов) played at the same venue, performing a lot of old Aria songs - so I couldn't help but draw a few comparisons in the course of this report.

Here's the first one: despite being the more well-known name and having cheaper tickets, Aria gathered noticeably less audience than both their own previous concert and Kipelov. Maybe the lack of advertisement is to blame, or perhaps Artur Berkut, who is not as universally loved as the old vocalist? Or maybe it's the financial crisis? Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, the less is the better - easier to breathe, make notes and sip beer from a plastic glass.





Without any warm-up, smoke, special effects or annoyingly long epic intro, and exactly on time the band, subtly attired in black pants and black t-shirts, appeared on stage and plunged right into one of their faster tracks, Химера. No stage design, simple lighting - everything pointed the focus in the direction of the music itself and not the 'show'.

A lot of the elements were there - good sound and flawless performance and a rather interesting set list, but unfortunately still more were missing? Especially in the beginning, the band seemed rather tired (bored?) and less than energetic - even Berkut, who tried his best to appear involved, running around the stage and interacting with the audience. The audience in turn was rather impassionate, clapping and cheering lazily at the end of the songs, with only occasional flashes of excitement and moshing/headbanging within the 5 meter radius from the stage.

High number of slower philosophical songs (Отшельник, Беги За Солнцем, Палач) and the absence of many usual crowd-pleasers (Герой Асфальта, Тореро, Грязь) didn't help either. However, personally I was very pleased with the set list, as it included many of the more interesting songs which they didn't perform last time. The only exception was the horribly upbeat song Дай Жару, which I absolutely hate and which they for some weird reason chose to finish the set with. Sort of left a bad aftertaste...





Things warmed up a bit towards the second part of the concert, largely thanks to Berkut getting his usual drive back and entertaining the audience by dressing up as an executioner for the song Палач and putting on the acid punk-orc mask someone threw onto the stage. Particularly the excellent delivery of Бал У Князя Тьмы and Антихрист was the turning point, where the audience had been won over and started to sing along and really be involved rather than just stand around looking half-asleep.

The rest of the band's stage presence was, however, pretty non-existant. Sure, they played their repertoire to perfection, but they just weren't into it, and it showed. The younger musicians in Kipelov's band delivered the same songs with a lot more energy and style, even if maybe not as flawlessly. Now, I'd like to point out that I'm one of those who like the post-Kipelov Aria as much (if not more) than the "classic" Aria, so I'm not in any way biased here. I really hope the guys can summon the strength for more excellent albums and concerts - and if they ever come to Estonia again, I'll definitely go see them - because despite of its flaws, the concert was still very enjoyable and it was great to hear some of my favorite songs live.





Here's the full set-list:

Химера
Отшельник
Дух Войны
Беги За Солнцем
Не Хочешь Не Верь Мне
Тебе Дадут Знак
Бой Продолжается
Палач
Бал У Князя Тьмы
Антихрист
Последний Закат
Свет Былой Любви
Искушение
Штиль
Колизей
Улица Роз
Беспечный Ангел
Дай Жару


Pictures by Ivor.








Comments

Comments: 6   Visited by: 72 users
10.04.2009 - 17:56
K✞ulu
Seeker of Truth
Last time they came to Kiev, I noticed that they weren't much into the show itself, but they played well, so I enjoyed myself and headbanged as crazy. And I agree, finishing the show with Дай Жару isn't cool. They'd better play 1100 or something, but I think they tour is called Дай Жару, so that's why they finish with it.
----
Savor what you feel and what you see
Things that may not seem important now
But may be tomorrow

R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner

Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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11.04.2009 - 00:58
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Yeah its like Iron Maiden, specely 80's albums and I love Aria 80's albums , I have sone coppy tapes from those albums
And I like such shows no warm up, its best because many cases I dont like warm up bands

Ktulu - Try Rus band cerny Obelisk and Formula 1 and Angels & Demons(one dude also played in Gorky park)

Does there was songs from Mania Velikia till Crovj na Crovj?
----
Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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11.04.2009 - 15:44
Valentin B
Iconoclast
Dunno about you people but the fact that the vocals are done in russian is a serious turn-off for me, i constantly have to look for translations of the lyrics just to get a picture of what the guy is saying.. i don't really mind the language of the lyrics as long as it's a language i know a bit of(spanish, german, french, even japanese), but Russian is going a bit too far lol
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11.04.2009 - 19:11
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by Valentin B on 11.04.2009 at 15:44

Dunno about you people but the fact that the vocals are done in russian is a serious turn-off for me, i constantly have to look for translations of the lyrics just to get a picture of what the guy is saying.. i don't really mind the language of the lyrics as long as it's a language i know a bit of(spanish, german, french, even japanese), but Russian is going a bit too far lol


I have no problem whit it, ok I know russian, but I have no problem vocals in any langauge
Bulgarians has good band Epizod 2 songs ''Maletse'' and ''Svoboden'' are in home page, but I have no problem, same whit czech bands Arakain(Ale? Brichta era), Kabat, Motorrband, Vitacit etc, same spanish band Muro whatever, I lisiten all if its metal what I like
I like Aria, maybe old albums ,. not newer, but well I think its one of that band who's neve rbe famose outside home land, and there many of such bands, but it dont means its bad

Ktulu - What do you think about Korozia Metala?
----
Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...
11.04.2009 - 23:41
K✞ulu
Seeker of Truth
Written by Bad English on 11.04.2009 at 19:11

Written by Valentin B on 11.04.2009 at 15:44

Dunno about you people but the fact that the vocals are done in russian is a serious turn-off for me, i constantly have to look for translations of the lyrics just to get a picture of what the guy is saying.. i don't really mind the language of the lyrics as long as it's a language i know a bit of(spanish, german, french, even japanese), but Russian is going a bit too far lol


I have no problem whit it, ok I know russian, but I have no problem vocals in any langauge
Bulgarians has good band Epizod 2 songs ''Maletse'' and ''Svoboden'' are in home page, but I have no problem, same whit czech bands Arakain(Ale? Brichta era), Kabat, Motorrband, Vitacit etc, same spanish band Muro whatever, I lisiten all if its metal what I like
I like Aria, maybe old albums ,. not newer, but well I think its one of that band who's neve rbe famose outside home land, and there many of such bands, but it dont means its bad

Ktulu - What do you think about Korozia Metala?


A bit of off-topicness. Korozia Metala... I listened to their first album and while music alright, the lyrics are freaking satanic poser crap. By the way, I don't listen to a lot of Russian bands.
----
Savor what you feel and what you see
Things that may not seem important now
But may be tomorrow

R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner

Satan was a Backstreet Boy
Loading...
11.04.2009 - 23:46
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Ktulu - well nacked girls on stage at late 80's well my friend was there and omon ''beat'' him but lyrics well man in those days it was best provocation , real n hard
BTW song ''Golija Marinka''is awesome

I dont listen many Rus band sto, but I like about 250-700 and man I fisicaly cant hear all good bands from Russia , just cant life is to short
----
Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...

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