Yuri Shevchuk sang in Miami about the Russian reality

Yuri Shevchuk on stage Julius Littman Theater in North Miami Beach. Photo: Rafael Apriam

Russian stars of various sizes regularly come to Miami to give concerts. For example, over the past month, rapper Guf, stripper Tarzan with his erotic show, and Sergei Zhukov from the pop group “Hands Up” have performed here.

However, there was no Russian rock in South Florida for a long time, so the solo concert of the leader of the legendary group DDT, Yuri Shevchuk, looked like a rather unique event. Shevchuk himself even joked about this topic, warning the audience: “Sorry, I won’t sing to a soundtrack.”

The audience at the Julius Littman Theater in North Miami Beach gathered motley. Evening outfits coexisted with more familiar T-shirts and shorts for the resort town. Interestingly, the concert of Shevchuk, who founded DDT in the beginning of 80, attracted a lot of young people.

“Yesterday I was at the concert of the group “Hands Up” [we were apparently talking about the concert of Sergei Zhukov - approx. FD]. Well, that's cool. Today, I decided to listen to Shevchuk,” one of the visitors says to his friend at the entrance to the hall.

The concert in Miami was the first for Yuri Shevchuk as part of a new tour of North America, which will be held in two formats. If in New York and in Boston the DDT group will present their album “Transparent”, then Shevchuk brought the solo program “Acoustics” to Miami, Philadelphia and other cities.

On stage, in the light of spotlights, Shevchuk himself and only two musicians from the group - guitarist Alexey Fedichev and drummer Artem Mamay.

The undisputed leader of DDT performs the most famous and beloved by many generations of compositions in acoustic arrangement, as well as fresh works. However, the special aura of the solo Shevchuk creates his communication with the audience.

Photo: Rafael Apriam

"Welcome to reality! Who feels in reality now? Do you feel like you are in reality at all? - Shevchuk asked, receiving a positive answer from the audience. “And we [in Russia] love mythology - on Channel One, Channel Two, Channel Three.”

Yuri Shevchuk, known for his criticism of the current Russian authorities, repeatedly returned to the topic of protest during a concert in Miami, reading, among other things, a poem with the words “I don’t know, I don’t know how long Putin will rule.”

Having sung the song “Visiting the General” about the FSB general (“Well, son, let’s raise V.V., although he got us, of course, too”), Shevchuk, as he emphasized, performed, in contrast, a composition dedicated to the captain Dmitry Kolesnikov, who died on the Kursk submarine.

“There are a lot of worthy people in Russia. Unfortunately, heroism often occurs through the fault of soulless and cynical authorities,” the musician said.

The hits of past years, “Whistled through,” “Motherland,” and “Last Autumn” (“God willing, not the last,” Shevchuk added), were replaced by compositions of the last decade, including “Missing in Action,” written, according to the author, about those who disappeared and continue to disappear in endless wars, and also “disappear in this life, never finding a place for themselves.”

“So, what should we sing about? Yes, you are talking about freedom to sing. You are already so free that I think you are already sick of it,” the audience reacts to these words of Shevchuk with laughter.

From time to time, Shevchuk urged the audience to feel more relaxed and sing along: “I’m not pop, I won’t say, “I don’t see your hands, where are you, where are you?”, “We, like in my kitchen, can sometimes sing.” .

The audience eagerly sang along with “I appreciate your courage to make tea,” and in the end they started dancing. A real dance floor with several dozen spectators formed between the stage and the first rows.

“I’ve never been to Miami before,” Shevchuk sang almost in verse, “I thought that the only people living here were majors, pop music and I don’t know who, like our deputies. But in fact, they are wonderful people, sincere, pure, and that’s why we will come again.”

Yuri Shevchuk stressed that he was pleased that not only visitors from Russia, but also Ukrainians, Belarusians, Kazakhs and many other Miami residents are in the hall. Immediately after the concert, ForumDaily correspondent talked with some of the viewers.

“Shevchuk is a genius, this is the spirit of Russia. I’ve been living here for 5 years now, and, in my opinion, I’ve never seen such a concert in Miami,” says Olga, who moved to the USA from Minsk. — Shevchuk was not in Belarus during my student days, but I believe he himself does not want to go there, because he does not support the existing political system. I hope there will be more such concerts. Rock doesn't make it to Miami, that's a problem. I know a lot of people want this."

“The impressions are simply amazing. Every song is on point. Such a sincere person, so many memories, so many emotions,” says Alexander Kobelev from Kyiv. “All the years of Shevchuk’s performances confirm the sincerity of his work; you also feel connected to him at his performances. Despite the fact that today everyone has gone crazy, as he said, there are still people who live by rock.”

Alexander Kobelev from Kiev with his wife Julia. Photo: Rafael Apriam

“The concert is amazing. And it’s great that Shevchuk was able to stir up the relaxed Miami audience. At the end there was such wonderful energy in the room,” says Yuri from St. Petersburg, who has lived in Florida for 15 years. — I’ve been to DDT concerts in Russia before, but Shevchuk, if I’m not mistaken, came here for the first time. Let’s hope that they will come to us again, as a whole team.”

Saying goodbye, Yuri Shevchuk, wished the Miami public love, freedom and creativity. All these components, according to the musician, cannot exist without each other.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Yuri Shevchuk will perform in the United States with a solo concert "Acoustics"

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Tamara Gverdtsiteli will perform in New York and Boston

Ilya Lagutenko: starting life from a clean slate is easy, because “first is love”

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