Auktsion. Left to right: Leonid Fyodorov, Oleg
Garkusla, Nikolai Rubanov. Auktsion, one of the most influential bands in Russia -- which managed to remain together and retain its creativity when other 1980s' groups split up or lost their integrity -- will perform on Saturday.
Once Auktsion was a byword for scandal, now it means just music. But its sound -- which encompasses every possible influence ranging from jazz to ethnic music -- remains truly unique. It has proved popular in Western Europe, where the band has been touring extensively.
Its first performance abroad was in Germany in 1989, and since then the group has returned again and again having found a peculiar popularity among German audiences. Auktsion also has a manager in Hamburg, who organizes their concerts in the West and releases their CDs on his own Dyadyushka record label.
The motley crew of unlikely characters, who once shocked the unsuspecting public through their film and stage appearances --with their makeup and strange-looking costumes they looked like space invaders -- has been through some changes over the years.
Their lead singer left the group to find more profitable success with a commercial pop group and has not been heard of lately. Kirill Miller, the artist who did much for the band's visual image and stage designs, also left the group and started his own Art Clinic nightclub which he founded earlier this year.
But the band has managed to keep the core of its music much the same as it was in the late 1980s. Its leader Leonid Fyodorov, 32, plays guitar, sings in his specific burring manner and writes his unforgettable melodies.
The band's keyboard player Dmitry Ozersky, 31, sings back-up vocals and writes strangely ragged lyrics -- surreal, albeit sometimes socially aware. The band's showman and singer Oleg Garkusha, 34, writes full-fledged poems, having publishing some in his poetry collection called "Old Pioneer."
Although the band members themselves have enough material to come up with new songs of their own, they have chosen to continue their four year collaboration with the emigre poet Alexei Khvostenko.
Khvostenko, once a well-known figure in Leningrad's literary circles, emigrated to France in the late 1970s. Himself a song-writer, he co-wrote the famous song "Paradise" (also known as "The City of Gold" or "Under the Blue Skies") which became one of Aquarium's biggest hits at a time when it was forbidden to mention Khvostenko's name.
In 1992 Auktsion invited Khvostenko into the studio to record a joint album "Chainik Vina" ("Teapot of Wine"). The recording has proved even more successful than Auktsion's own efforts. Now the group has just finished its second co-project with Khvostenko "Zhilets Vershin" ("Dweller of the Peaks"), which is due out on CD later this year. The tape will be available at the concert.
The band's concert on Saturday will be their last live performance in Russia this year. In November Auktsion will start another tour of Germany and Switzerland and won't return until New Year's Eve.
Having matured over the years, Auktsion is now more of a musical and poetic phenomenon than the theatrical circus it used to be. But there's always something to see at its concerts as well as hear.