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| Hermitage Garden 
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| By Richard Morris | |
I have to admit that I did not want to leave the house for this show. It had been raining outside all day, and the temperature felt like we had been propelled overnight into Fall. The combination of a piece of New York (where I somewhat like to call home) and a band with three queens playing rock n’roll piqued my curiosity just enough to slide myself off the couch. My fianc? and I made our way over to Hermitage Gardens, my first time, to see a mixed group of Russian youths ready for their next musical invasion. Moscow had its first evening with the new international music sensation from the States: the Scissor Sisters.
Claiming to be a rock band that brings the disco-like feel of the Bee Gees back to the airwaves the Scissor Sisters have a very unique groove to their rock. The constant energy of their music keeps the listener feeling happy and their toes tapping. Their music is the kind you put on before going out for the evening, something to get you excited about the night to come. Unfortunately, that was all this show was: a short pre-party! Beginning about 8:00pm, the show only lasted for about sixty minutes, quite disappointing for all the promotion and production done for the event. On top of this, there was no opening act to lengthen the show. With tickets at 660R, I expected at least a ninety-minute set, with an opener. Understandably, having only one full-length cd, containing forty-three minutes of music, they did not have a lot of material to work from. It would seem though that for the price of the ticket, at least one other act should have been added to the bill. So as we all ushered out of the gardens, it was a feeling that we just paid roughly twenty dollars for an opener to our evening.
The gardens themselves were not the best setting for the event. The pristine gardens and well manicured lawns of Hermitage Garden did not compliment the funky feel of the music With hippy-like girls dancing through the flower beds, it was a nebulous, overcast view of how the seventies American-hippy era might have felt at that moment. Quite refreshing though, seeing young Muscovites breaking their stoic mold and embracing a little musical art, no matter what the setting was. Almost no one was immune from the dancing and singing, forgetting the cold, rainy weather and just enjoying some rock n’roll.
I must say I was impressed with the Scissor Sisters show itself, though. Their short, sixty minute set was jam packed with energy, hailing more from their theatrical past than from their new rolls as rock musicians. Babydaddy, the lead singer of this crazy bunch sang with such passion you would think he was in the middle of a Broadway musical. Paired with his large, theatrical dance moves, he floated around the stage cradling his microphone, creating a new image for the rock-star. His sidekick Ana Matronic was just as animated, adding a bit more rock n’roll to her character though. Shaking her tambourine (sometimes two), standing steady at her mike, she held the image of a funk sister, jamming passionately to the music that moved her soul.
I have to say overall I was very impressed with this band, bringing the blood of American rock n’roll, adding a bit energy from Broadway, a hint of the John Travolta-era disco funk, and finishing it off with a prideful salute from the rainbow colored streets of Greenwich Village to round out of their dynamic style. As they all held hands, bowing in unison, botching a final “Spacebo” in their limited Russian, the Scissor Sisters left the audience feeling just as their cd would: happy, energetic and ready to party.
15.08.04 |
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