The Fish and The Fury - Russian Punk Gig

The Fish and The Fury - Russian Punk Gig

 

 

 

 

On the 3rd and 5th of May, Russian punk bands The Zverstvo and Ankylym played for the first time in the UK, to a crowd of Londoners and punk aficionados who travelled in for the only opportunity to see these seminal bands.

 

 

 

 

 

Supported by local bands Anarchistwood and Public Disgrace, the Russian bands brought gripping visual theatre and satire, not to mention accordions, mallikats, double basses, saxophones, and balalaikas in their arsenal.

 

From the ceiling, hanging dead fish with tiny top hats by a collaborating artist helped to set the scene, and by the time Peter from Zverstvo was writing around on the floor like an escaped lunatic the audience had been taken to another crazy, dysfunctional, and totally enjoyable world.  After the frenetic experimental folk metal of Ankylym and quirky off-beat unpredictable riffs of The Zverstvo, nobody wanted to go back to normality.

 

Not speaking much English, the bands had been wandering the streets of London with hip flasks of whisky and bellies full of greasy spoon food (to soak up the alcohol), visiting the tourist sites, but now on the stage they were in their element as punk provocateurs and agents of insanity.

 

Ankylym finished their set with a hilarious and satirical rendition of 'heavy metal' singing, a cappella and complete with theatrical 'tableaux' of ironic and heroic posing. Peter's staggering, jagged stage walking and foetal-coiling left the audience numb with wonder.

 

Londoners loved it and wanted more, but now the bands are back in St Petersburg and Krasnodar, prompting us to think, hmm, next time a UK/European tour might be needed to satisfy the demand.  It's something we don't have much of in our country, bands which really don't care what you think, they just do what they do and you like it or lump it...and we liked it!

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