Shaun McGirr: Live music in Moscow
Moscow's music scene is hit and miss. Onerous paperwork and high venue costs mean that foreign acts of mid-range fame (eg Wilco, The National), who sell out 10,000+ seats in several US cities each tour, could not make it pay in Russia even if they wanted to come. As for small up-and-coming foreign acts, only the most committed Russophiles amongst them would contemplate overcoming the necessary rigmarole to stand on a Moscow stage.
This leaves the Moscow concert-goer with two choices: blockbuster nostalgic stadium shows (Madonna, Elton John, Pink Floyd etc) or familiarisation with the lively local music scene.
If you want to follow approach #1 and see Jennifer Lopez with other Muscovites, you'll get plenty of advance notice. These concerts are well-advertised on billboards all over town, and I'm sure the crowds are enthusiastic and good-natured. Prices are roughly what you'd pay elsewhere.
Approach #2 is more difficult and requires a little leg-work. But that makes success sweeter, right?
First, the home truths: as in any city, some music you'll see in Moscow is just plain bad. There's funk without groove, rock without soul, jazz without finesse, and all kinds of ill-conceived alloys in-between. So be prepared to roll with the punches. The upside is that most local music is either free or tickets are cheap, so the cost of any mistake is low! And the chance that you see something special is well worth the experiment.
Another advantage of the local music scene is that almost every act you might see at a small venue will have most of its music online. I've been pleasantly surprised a few times to find whole albums available for listening on a band's own website! This means you always have some idea of what you're getting yourself in for.
So with all that knowledge in hand, where should you look?
- Your first stop should be The Moscow Times, who have a comprehensive "Arts & Ideas" section, which sometimes includes a listing of non-classical gigs.
- Next stop is Afisha's concerts page (Russian only).
- Concert.ru also has a good listing, with the ability to buy tickets online (Russian only).
And finally, you can visit the pages of some of the better venues for good Russian live music:
- FAQ Cafe is in a great cave-like setting.
- Arte-FAQ is also literally underground.
- Bourbon St Bar has a really fantastic "Cpt Nemoff's Blues Trio" every Friday or Saturday.
- Sixteen Tons is the classic pub rock venue.
- B2 club is "the largest club" in Moscow, a multi-floor labyrinth, and it's where many of the classic acts of 1990s Russian (especially Ekaterinburg) rock play, as well as the more well-known up-and-coming homegrown acts. Avoid the 1980s throwback disco parties!