Russia... Élménybeszámoló Oroszországból - Report)

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Rock'n'Roll in Russia

30.10.2014 – 5.11.2014

Chapters:

1. Night thoughts that led to a visa

2. Soviet Russia welcomes you

3. Sights to be seen

4. Калевала

5. Ne uspeyu!

6. Best decision ever

7. Good morning, Sankt-Petersburg & pörkölt a la soviet style

8. Outro

1. Night thoughts that led to a visa

It all started on the 24^th of July 2014, short after midnight, when I messaged Nikita Andrijanov on Facebook. He is the composer and guitarist of the Russian folk metal band called Kalevala.

Kalevala also happens to be one of my favourite bands, but they never play in Europe, they are not that famous here. Because of this, I usually just spend hours having fun on Youtube, “wasting” long hours by watching their concert videos, and the best – their acoustic performances... Same was happening on that white summer evening... but then it hit me: “From September to December I will be living in Tallinn, Estonia, which is very-very close to the Russian border in general, and also super close to the Russian metropole, Sankt-Petersburg... What if...” I asked him whether they would have any concerts there in the autumn-winter period. And yes. Kalevala, 2^nd of November, SPB. I AM GOING TO RUSSIA. The theoretical decision was made very fast, as I was sure that one of my biggest music-related wishes was to see Kalevala live...

Fast forward to September... Russian decision still only in theory, I thought of going by ferry because you can be in SPB as a tourist for 72 hours, but that ferry thing seemed complicated and expensive, but I was having that plan anyway... And then I found this bus company called Lux Express who go between Tallinn and SPB for 15-20 eur one way. How nice, but then I need a visa. And then accidentally (really), I saw a travel agency offering Russian visa... A two week visa 70 eur... That's a shitload of money, but still within the affordable range... So I went to ask information and I found out getting hold of a Russian visa in Estonia as an EU citizen is super simple – you need to fill in a paper, bring your passport, a document photo, pay (try not to cry while doing so) 70 eur and wait 10 days... And then I was there, having my tickets, having the visa, counting the days and trying to get an accomodation. I really didn't feel like paying for it, and staying at an actual person feels much more close-to-human (what a beautiful mirror translation from Hungarian), and I have hosted more people so I decided to give a try to couchsurf. Luckily I found a guy who lives with his future wife and could host me for all the nights.

On the 30^th of October I got up around 7.30, went to class, received my Russian exam and my essay – a C and a 16/20, respectively, on a level B2 so I was pretty happy. Came home, started to pack my bags and organise my things, went to class again, went to have a nice dinner and buy food and things like that for the journey, finished packing, and around 23.30 I was already on the bus station of Tallinn. I still couldn't believe I was going to Russia, seeing Sankt-Petersburg written on the display and on the bus didn't help too much either. I suppose I was very nervous because during all the journey, I just couldn't fall asleep. Around 3 in the night we reached the Russian-Estonian border, and spent there around a beautiful 1,5 hours. Passport check, again, and again, then off the bus with the packs, another passport check, a stamp to the passport, then checking the stamp in your passport... It was horrible. Didn't manage to fall asleep after this either.

2. Soviet Russia welcomes you

I was supposed to arrive to the Coach Station around 8 in the morning (which is 7 in Tallinn, and we spent a lot of time on the border, so it is not a long trip in that way) and so I told my host. But around 6 in the morning we were already in SPB, and we got off at the Balkanskij station. It was cold, I was tired, I hated the world, I felt like a zombie and I wasn't even happy I was in SPB. It was dark and I felt lost, but luckily I found the passage to the metro, and having a metro map, I found my way to the metro station Kupchino, the one closest to my host's place of living. The only problem was that I thought we would arrive to the city at 8 and I told him that we can meet around 9-10. And around 6.30 I was already pretty close, and well, if somebody accepts to host you, it is not a good first thing to do to wake them up, but until 9 it was a shitload of time. So I decided to send him an SMS and see what happens. Luckily I found one fast food place that's open (the metro station Kupchino has a huuuuge commercial center, with a shopping mall with a size of a city – only that it opens at 10), went in, bought a Kvas, put down my things (running around spending time would have been especially inconvenient because I had like 3 bags, and not really lightweight), sat down at a table, opened my laptop and as there was no wifi, I actually started watching a movie (Dancing with wolves). But already after like the first 15 minutes of it, my host messaged me back that he could come pick me up – I was very happy, I was already imagining that I would be watching all the 3 hours of that movie in that fast food place.

He appeared shortly and we took a trolleybus to their place, pretty close to the metro station. We talked a while, he was very nice, but then I indicated that I really actually would like to go to bed. And then what almost never happens, happened – I managed to fall asleep in daylight, with noises and moving around me – I really had to be super tired. Then around noon something woke me up (or did I have alarm? No acuerdo), which was good, because I wouldn't want to spend all my first day in SPB sleeping. So I decided to set foot to the city, first I discovered the area where I was staying – soviet buildings, just like at home, and many shops and restaurants. I got to this shopping mall, and found a nice Georgian restaurant and ate a very nice soup (of course it had dill, everything has dill in Finland AND in Estonia AND in Russia.. I used to hate it and feel like puking from the smell even, but now I guess I just got acostumbrado to it), which turned out to be too little so also enjoyed a typical Russian Chickenburger at Макдоналдс. Then I went to the city center, to the Petrogradskoe metro station and searched for the Phoenix Music club where the concert would take place and bought my ticket, and also found out that the day after the concert there would be Equilibrium playing, but for a crazy price of 24 eur (the 10 eur I paid for the ticket of the mini festival of 5 Russian bands also seemed much for my Hungarian standards but of course I was happy to pay it this time :D).

3. Sights to be seen

Then I went to Nevskij prospekt – since the time I read the same titled novel by Gogol, I really wanted to be there and also just walked on it. Read it guys! (Un?)fortunately by the time I got there it got dark (it's late autumn, you know), but the lit buildings were beautiful and I was really enjoying my walk. Only that I had no idea where I was, just the street name, but it was enough. I really wanted a hot chocolate in a nice café with a beautiful view on the avenue, even if it is 8 eur (which is more like 4 eur in this country :D), but ended up in a not so fancy café that was out of hot chocolate and ate some nice cake. :)

T
hen tiredness started to hit me again and there was not much to do anymore anyway, so I decided to head back to my place. On the way I stopped in a souvenir shop, individually chose and bought postcards for Abel, Adela, Regina, FeelGood Hostel, and myself, and also bought SPB-themed calendar. I went home, started writing a blog post but I just couldn't keep myself up and went to bed.

Next day I decided to visit Tzarskoe Selo, in the village Pushkin (also used to be called Tz. S. but then Pushkin wrote a deal of important pieces of literature there so it got renamed.) Another place that I was interested in because of my literature classes, I am such a nerd. This is a beautiful place, full of beautiful castles, like the Catherine Castle and the Alexander Castle. I decided not to pay any of these overpriced tourist trips, but as always, with the whole trip, organise things myself. Kupchino is actually pretty close to Tz.S, so I took a suburban train and was there in 15 minutes or so, for a very cheap price. Then I quickly found the city bus taking there, asked some help from the locals and then not so much time after, I started seeing the beautiful buildings. It was magnificient! A guy was playing flute inside the park and it was just so beautiful – the nice sights, accompanied with soul soothing classical music...

The queue to Catherine castle seemed huge, but I quickly found out it goes fast and the price for getting in is not expensive at all so I decided to get in. It was very nice, very tzarish and grandiose. I liked it but the tour took too long and in the end I was just tired and hungry so I went to some fancy restaurant to eat a quiche (киш, of course :D) for like 6 eur and it was nice and the bathroom was nice and I stole a minitowel. Then I continued my walk, saw some more nice buildings and realised that it has to be around 0*C because the lake was partially frozen. I got so surprised and it seemed so much warmer, first I thought that the layer of the lake looks different, because it is dirty, I had to touch it to believe it is ice! :D I got very tired, even though I only saw the Katherine park, then got a boiled corn, took a quick look at the Aleksander park (was that even the name of the other one?) and went home... On the way home I found this shop what we call 'one euro shop,' here it was 37 roubles (65 cents). These shops are great because they are very diverse, and you get all kinds of useful and useless shit for a very cheap price so I decided to go and see what they got.. And came out with a cheese cutter, a lipstick, earrings and hair clips, all for some super cheap price.

4. Калевала

Next day I was very nervous, excited, and just everything! I agreed to meet a girl I found on VK before the concert, an hour before we had lunch, tea, and went to the venue and another guy (he is very nice, likes Hungarian and actually came to Hungary to see some Hungarian bands.. :)), who I met from VK was just there interviewing Nikita and I was almost getting into a long-time-no-see fangirling mode. I went closer to the door where I got recognised by somebody 'You're the girl from Hungary, no?' - I just wrote a message on Vkontakte, on the Russian Facebook, and some people remember me. :) I said yes in a very high enthusiastic voice.. :P

Quickly after the interview we went for a tea to a food place nearby, because there still was some time left until door opening time. We just arrived back to the venue right on time, when the first band, Emerald Forest was the first band.

They performed without a drummer, which was pretty weird at start but after it my attention went to music, because the guys played very well. Although I was very excited, just running all around, meeting people from VK, hanging around the merch table, I just couldn't stop myself. Got a slovak Zlaty Bazant dark beer for an incredible price of like 6 eurs, and was running around, talking to people, and being so excited that I could not stand in one place. I bought Kalevala CD-s, a tshirt, a magnet of the festival, and made pictures with Nikita.

The next band was Woodscream who I actually started listening to some days before the concert – as a part of the 'pre-concert-self-education', and I liked the songs... It is like Eluveitie with cyrillics. Their concert I actually joined and headbanged and jumped in the front row. I didn't like all the songs, but generally they are a very nice band and the crowd was crazy about them, shouting 'Vuudskriiiim'. Leshak was the next band, who I kind of forgot to look up, but I went to buy a Woodscream CD (for like 4 eur :D) and a Svarga one, I started to like them. :) Leshak is like the Russian Trollfest, but I didn't really like them, but as I was so excited, time was going fast, and I was chatting with people at the merch. :)

When Svarga was entering the stage, I got myself into the front row again, and they started with a song I really like, so it cheered me up and overall the concert was also very good, I sang along a lot. :D The singer was reading almost all the lyrics from a paper :(

After Svarga my heart beat was speeding up and I couldn't believe that I am actually going to see Kalevala live, after all these years... But then the soundcheck started, and it was getting real. I was talking to my friend and met another girl in the front row, who was also going crazy and it was also her first concert.

But then it was happening! Ksenia came to the stage and the intro of Nagrjanuli from the latest album started, and the guitars started playing and it was on... I felt this 'I am going to cry' kind of happiness, it was unbelievable, unreal, incredible, but then I didn't cry, I was like a three year old at Christmas... A huge party started with all of us jumping, dancing, moving around like crazy and headbanging... I was just so happy to hear those familiar tunes and see those people on stage... They continued with hits like Goj, Olen, Kalevala, Kukushkini Deti and I was dancing like crazy and just having an awesome time, during some song I actually needed to run out for filling a random ex beer cup with water and drink it so I wouldn't die and shared it with the girl next to me... It was just so awesome, but then it was over waaaay too soon... The concert was a bit interesting because I even kind of felt sorry for the band, the crowd was kinda lame... I suppose they got tired during all the nice support bands, which is no wonder. But still, the crowd was super silent, I was going crazy at every song announcement, and shouting, alone. And when they left the stage, people seemed so indifferent... :O It was weird. But there were moshpits, and I think I was during the song Batka-Ataman that I reaaaaally felt that I just need to go to the moshpit that was happening behind me. There were maybe 8-9 guys moshing (yes, only guys, a Russian friend said that in Russia it is very-very unusual for girls to mosh), and I joined them, and for like the first twenty seconds there was a guy trying to hold me and 'rescue' me out of the pit, but I just kept going back – wtf dude, I DO want to mosh, haha – of course it was nice of him that he wanted to rescue me, only that I didn't want to be rescued... :) During Milij and Ladushka I phoned My Miliy and on another song I also moshed... Mostly I was just jumping around in the front row :D

After the concert everybody went to the backstage entrance and hoped for their luck to get a picture or a signature from the band I also was walking there and Nikita came out and pointed at me and called me into backstage to take a picture with them, so nice of him! It felt very nice that he cared about me and invited me inside for the picture, he was
searching for me and wanted to make sure I get the picture without me asking... Just felt very very nice. So we took a pic and then I got sent out of
backstage but soon went back to get atleast one of my newly acquired CDs signed and so I did. Then I started chatting with one of the guys from Svarga and we had a very nice chat, and soon everybody around me started talking about 'Eh, girl from Hungary, living in Estonia, speaks Russian and came here... WHAT? TO SEE KALEVALA?! UH', and all this. And I was talking with these people and everybody was just so very nice during all night. I just got such a very very warm welcome!

The following songs were played, in different order: Nagrjanuli, Kalevala, Kukushkiny deti, Tausen-Rada, Jarilo Ladushka, Milij, Batka-Ataman, Goj Olen', Uletaj na kryljah vetra, Korochun, Dohu ja kupila

5. Ne uspeyu!

I was staying a bit more at the venue, hoping that maybe some kind of afterparty would happen, but what was happening instead was the following disco and bad, loud electronic music happening and the disco guests appearing, and everybody from us leaving home. So I also went in front of the venue, already being nervous because I thought that it is just the time for the last metro going... So everybody was encouraging me to “Run, this is your last chance”, so I went for it. Ran ~600 metres in like 1*C cold, then finally reached the metro, almost didn't find my wallet, but then after this crazy hurrying I got into the metro! I don't even want to go to details how incredibly wet my pullover was and all... Running in winter coat and so :D

I sat on the metro and I was just very, very, very happy. How can a band, music, and such things mean so much. I was overwhelmed and couldn't believe this dream come true. I have seen many bands, met a shitload of musicians, had many stories in backstage and tour buses, and I don't get any musician-anxiety but seeing these guys, who until now felt just simply unreachable, was really something special...

I reached my hosts' place, and was completely 'drunk from happiness' (we have this expression in Hungarian, it just soooo fitting!), hyperactive, smiling all the time and didn't fall asleep until my hosts didn't, went to bed around 5 and got up around noon. That day I planned to go to the historical center of Sankt-Petersburg, see the Hermitage, the Winter Palace and things like that, go into museums and so... But then I was browsing Vkontakte and saw that this day Kalevala is playing in Pskov, which is also very close to the Estonian border, pretty close to Tartu. I was really sorry because if I knew about this concert earlier, I could have organised my trip in a different way – Tallinn – St. Petersburg – Pskov – Tartu – Tallinn, and going home that way, but I didn't... So I kind of accepted, that I am not going to Pskov. Or didn't I? The idea of that maybe I should just go there started to get born in me, but I didn't really believe it... But then a friend from yesterday was helping me with buses and soon I found out that I can go there by bus, and most important, I have a bus back in the night, so I can come home after the concert! Let me quote some of my chat conversation around 2 p.m. 3^rd of October

Vica Katona

today kalevala plays 4 hours awway by bus

roundtrip is 20 eur

+concert ticket 8-9

and im almost sure not going

and i will regret it forever lol

dont encourage me, tell me reasons against :(

03/11/2014 13:11

Andrea Prinzessin

why shouldnt you go?

03/11/2014 13:12

Vica Katona

i spent a lot of money already , i should stop this huge spendingand i have no idea how to get there but thats ok; but no idea how i could come home, where i would spend the night

03/11/2014 13:23

Vica Katona

fuck i have to go, i just have to

03/11/2014 13:24

Andrea Prinzessin

hahaha you know I am the wrong person to ask for reasons not to go, I'll always say DO IT

03/11/2014 13:24

Vica Katona

:D:D:D

i have buses nicely

• oh my god

i said to two members my plan, they are like: 'Come!' xD

i will feel bad about spending money

03/11/2014 13:26

Andrea Prinzessin

then go... how often do you get such a chance

03/11/2014 13:26

Vica Katona

but well, money is meant to be spent

03/11/2014 13:26

Andrea Prinzessin

money is there to be spent

03/11/2014 13:26

Vica Katona

and they will play longer

03/11/2014 13:26

Andrea Prinzessin

hahaha

03/11/2014 13:26

Vica Katona

hahah

fuck, im in russia, i love this band wiht all my heart

i can cut on eating in the school canteen and making boiled potatoes for myself

fuckmylife, i promised my hosts to cook lunch today

but i can make it tomorrow

who needs to see Hermitage anyway.............

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, i feel so mindless

03/11/2014 13:30

Andrea Prinzessin

Hahaha oh dear

03/11/2014 13:30

Vica Katona

ok i grab a paper and start to planxd

03/11/2014 13:37

Vica Katona

AAAAAAAAARGH xdddd

• 03/11/2014 15:14

Vica Katona

Guess who is on a bus to Pskov. But why are we not moving yet..

So yeah, this was it... I felt very crazy and very insecure about making this decision... But well, the reasons are listed above... If I am in Russia already and have this opportunity, I really should grab it... So I went for it... Only problem was that my bus left at 16.00 and arrived to Pskov at 20.00 and Nikita said they would start the concert at 20.00, or probably 20.30 because concerts there are always late... So I was already a bit worried about all this... I packed my things very quickly, and went for it... My bus was going from the Moskovskaja metro station+square, and which was just 3 metro stops away from Kupchino but my hosts recommended me to go by bus because it is faster, and there was absolutely no time for me to waste – I had one hour left until the bus and I would have loved to buy something to eat because I haven't eaten the whole day. I was stupid and I accepted their advice, and went searching for the buses, which are unknown to me, opposed with the metro that I already know :( So, of course, I managed to get lost, I got on the wrong city bus, which was taking me away into aaaaabsolutely no foken idea where...

But then I had luck... You will see that during this day I had a HUGE luck with everything, starting with having a night bus back, or well, more accurately, buses all night every hour! On the bus some locals started helping me when they realised I was pretty lost and am on the wrong bus, an older lady and man was telling me where I need to get off and which bus to take next... Then they got off and I thought the next would be my stop, I started getting off but another man told me (in formal form, calling me vy, not ty, even tho we were same age - but this is Russia, and not Hungary, you talk formally to strangers. First this was weird to me, but then I even started liking it.) that it is not my stop yet, I should wait one more. When we got there he pointed me to my next bus stop out of the bus window... I was so nervous, I had a bus in 30 minutes in a place don't know, and I had no idea whether I was far or close to it...!! So I got off the bus, run to the bus station, and a marshrutka (a taxi-bus) came, I quickly asked whether it stops in Moskovskaja... It did! So I just got on it! I asked, and it would be in 5 minutes as the driver said, and I asked him to announce when we are there. And so he did, I thanked him very much, got off at this huge square and had no idea where to go... I walked around, searching for bus stop looking things, even asked help on VK but then I spotted a place with more buses parking and decided to run there to check out the things – 15 minutes being left. I saw that there really are many buses parking, and a bigger group of people waiting. I went to two of them, and apologised for such a question, but asked: which bus are they waiting for, where are they going? And they said . PSKOV!!!

I was so happy I kind of jumped from happiness that I found the place. I asked whether it is a problem that I don't have a ticket, because of course I didn't have, they said it is no problem, because nobody has, but asked me whether I booked a seat... Well I didn't... But they said it should be ok, because the bus is big... So in 7-8 minutes a MINIBUS arrived, with like 18 seats, and I was almost sure the people wouldn't fit in so I kind of pushed everybody to the side and went onto the bus among the firsts... And realised that I only have one motion sickness pill left and I have no idea what would I do on the way back... But well, that was the problem for another day. Fortunately I fit on the bus also with all the people having reservations but people kind of started shouting with the driver because he only got to the bus around 16.30, so half an hour late and he was shouting back and I was like wtf... Being half an hour late wasn't exactly happy but finally we started the journey... Going often with like 70-80 km/h only, I was so nervous, it really felt we would never reach Pskov... Fortunately I was in contact with Nikita because there was wifi on the bus. In Soviet Russia. And I was keeping him up how far we are from the city and kind of started to tell him not to start the concert until they see me, not that I miss a part of the concert but then he told me they are also arriving later because of some problems so for me it was a pretty happy news. What a luck!

Then, of course, the next problem came: I had no idea about the city of Pskov, I only wrote up the address of the club and some taxi numbers, and hoped I could get there on time with some taxi. And then I had luck again! I posted on Facebook that I was travelling to Pskov and one of my Facebook friends commented that she is actually sitting with a girl who happens to be from Pskov and she is happy for me going there... And then I started asking her questions about the city, taxies, and so... He gave her his phone and we started chatting. She helped me an incredible much! She told me which buses take me to the club from our final stop, which stop I need but soon we found out that as the bus is going to the final station actually stops at that city bus stop! First I didn't dare to ask the driver to stop there, because he didn't seem nice at all, and I didn't know this is veeeery normal to do in Russia, but when he saw I am worried, asking him questions about routes, he asked me whether I have problems with the route.. And I said yes, I told him where I would need to go and asked him whether he could stop at the stop the girl recommended me and he said yes. So he did, even showed me which street is my street... The time was around 20.40 I think... I started walking and kind of running on the street, just to find out I am walking to the wrong direction, so I turned back and actually started to run and finally found the club...

(And what is that section title? It means 'I won't make it' in Russian – this just could be my motto for everything that happened in this section, I was afraid it so many times. Indeed, crazy decisions involve a lot of stress.)

6. Best decision ever

I went in, I heard music but recognised it wasn't Kalevala.. I entered and still the support band was playing! I was so incredibly happy I made it! I just ran in the hall, stood in front of Nikita and we kept smiling at each other for seconds and I almost fell to the ground – sitting in one place for four hours means having super numb legs – and I pretty much right away started running, so I was dead after it, I was sitting during all the Woodscream concert, and put my phones to charger, so I wouldn't be completely closed away from the world, and being without phone would be rather dangerous in an unknown city... There I started talking with a Russian guy, and he, as everybody else was also very nice, we had some nice conversation... I realised there wouldn't be too much time to eat anymore so I just ate a beer (here it was 80 rub, as opposed to the 250 rub in SPB...), and the concert already started.

They started again with Nagrjanuli and during it Ksenia started staring at me, looking at my face whether she sees right.. and I smiled at her and then she was sure it was me and showed me this international 'you're crazy' sign – meaning that it is me again, and I am crazy for doing so. Well, I am, but in a good way, and it was very worth it. On this concert we were less people, but kind of