| Aquarium won no laurels at the Tbilisi-80 Festival, but their participation made it arguably the most important event in Soviet rock history, as the group managed to create their own scandal in the concert hall. The Russian rock critic and impressario Artemy Troitsky recounted the event as follows: AQUARIUM'S FINEST HOUR Aquarium played one of the best concerts of their career; there was more electric rock than in their Moscow concert, and several excellent new songs appeared: Give me my piece of life, Before I get the hell outta here! --"Piece of Life" Sometimes I think we're heroes, Backs to the wall, Afraid of no one -- Sometimes I think we're just scum. -- "Heroes" And "Minus 30," probably my favorite from Aquarium's repertoire, a mid-tempo number built on a hypnotic riff and ritualistic vocal build up influenced perhaps by the work of Jim Morrison and Patti Smith: Today there's snow on the street. It's minus 30, if the announcer's not lying. My bed is cold as ice, But this is not the time to sleep. Only the dead could sleep in this place. Forward, forward! I don't ask for good, and don't seek evil. Today I'm among you again, In search of warmth. The girlfriend I was with at Tbilisi at the time knew little about rock music but was knowledgeable about theater. The concerts were fairly boring for her, poor thing, but Aquarium caught her eye. "This is almost Brecht," she said approvingly. And when I stand in the Saigon* People come in on their own two wheels. The big ... |
