Filed Under: Video > Entertainment > Kino’s last concert at Luzhniki Stadium
Kino’s last concert at Luzhniki Stadium
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VIKTOR TSOI'S LAST CONCERT
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<i>Friends!</i>
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00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:26,840
<i>Here at Luzhniki,</i>
<i>in this great sports arena,</i>
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00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,920
<i>we're celebrating the</i>
Moskovskij komsomolets <i>newspaper.</i>
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00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:35,000
<i>And now, we welcome to the stage</i>
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00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:38,760
<i>the band you're all here to see.</i>
<i>It's Kino!</i>
7
00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:43,200
<i>And their frontman, Viktor Tsoi!</i>
8
00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:48,200
<i>There's the flame!</i>
<i>Everyone look at the flame!</i>
9
00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:17,400
Hello.
10
00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:27,520
Thanks for coming.
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00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:56,000
White snow
Gray ice
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00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,160
On the fractured earth
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00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,600
And there, like a patchwork quilt
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00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,880
An endless traffic loop city
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00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,440
Clouds drift above the city
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00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,600
Obscuring heaven's light
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00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:22,160
And a yellow haze hangs over it
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00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:26,880
The city that for two thousand years
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00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:33,600
Has lived in the light
Of a star called the Sun
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00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,880
It's been two thousand years of war
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00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,480
War with no particular cause
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00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,240
War is a job for the young
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00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,200
A drug to keep the wrinkles away
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00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,200
The very reddest blood
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00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:05,840
Turns to mere soil in an hour
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00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,840
In two, it bears flowers and grass
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00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,400
In three, it's alive once more
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00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:20,960
Warmed by the rays
Of a star called the Sun
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00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,400
And we know that it's always been so
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00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,800
That he who fate loves the most
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00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,800
Is he who lives by other laws
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00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:44,080
And is destined to die young
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00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,400
With no thought for "yes" or "no"
34
00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,840
With no thought for ranks or names
35
00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,280
He's able to reach for the stars
36
00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,120
Never thinking that it's a dream
37
00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:08,120
Only to fall, burned
By a star called the Sun
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,840
VIKTOR TSOI'S LAST CONCERT
2
00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,320
<i>Friends!</i>
3
00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:26,840
<i>Here at Luzhniki,</i>
<i>in this great sports arena,</i>
4
00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,920
<i>we're celebrating the</i>
Moskovskij komsomolets <i>newspaper.</i>
5
00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:35,000
<i>And now, we welcome to the stage</i>
6
00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:38,760
<i>the band you're all here to see.</i>
<i>It's Kino!</i>
7
00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:43,200
<i>And their frontman, Viktor Tsoi!</i>
8
00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:48,200
<i>There's the flame!</i>
<i>Everyone look at the flame!</i>
9
00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:17,400
Hello.
10
00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:27,520
Thanks for coming.
11
00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:56,000
White snow
Gray ice
12
00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,160
On the fractured earth
13
00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,600
And there, like a patchwork quilt
14
00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,880
An endless traffic loop city
15
00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,440
Clouds drift above the city
16
00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,600
Obscuring heaven's light
17
00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:22,160
And a yellow haze hangs over it
18
00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:26,880
The city that for two thousand years
19
00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:33,600
Has lived in the light
Of a star called the Sun
20
00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,880
It's been two thousand years of war
21
00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,480
War with no particular cause
22
00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,240
War is a job for the young
23
00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,200
A drug to keep the wrinkles away
24
00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,200
The very reddest blood
25
00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:05,840
Turns to mere soil in an hour
26
00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,840
In two, it bears flowers and grass
27
00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,400
In three, it's alive once more
28
00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:20,960
Warmed by the rays
Of a star called the Sun
29
00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,400
And we know that it's always been so
30
00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,800
That he who fate loves the most
31
00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,800
Is he who lives by other laws
32
00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:44,080
And is destined to die young
33
00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,400
With no thought for "yes" or "no"
34
00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,840
With no thought for ranks or names
35
00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,280
He's able to reach for the stars
36
00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,120
Never thinking that it's a dream
37
00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:08,120
Only to fall, burned
By a star called the Sun
Kino’s final concert took place on 24 June at Moscow’s Luzhniki sports arena, shortly before frontman Viktor Tsoi’s (1962-1990) tragic death in an automobile accident that August. The sold-out show was envisioned as the final, celebratory event at the annual music festival of the daily Moskovskij Komsomolets (Moscow Komsomol, 1919-) and represents the tremendous political and cultural influence of rock music during the last years of Soviet rule.
This recording, in particular, documents Soviet rock music’s trajectory from underground phenomenon to officially supported form of artistic expression, showing Gorbachev’s glasnost paradoxically coexisting with the remnants of the old Soviet regime. On the one hand, Tsoi and his band are shown at the height of their popularity, seemingly testifying to the triumph of Western-inflected youth culture over Soviet cultural conservatism. On the other hand, the very visible and vaguely menacing Soviet police presence—there, ostensibly, to protect the band—personifies the most notorious of Soviet repressive functions: the surveillance state. Tsoi’s demeanor as he performs suggests he understands his own cultural authority and forward-looking influence, by contrast with the anachronistic presence of old-order law enforcement and officialdom at the open-air event.
As the camera pans across the crowd, we see Kino fans displaying the red hammer and sickle banner—emblematic of the supposedly eternal might of the USSR, then about 18 months from collapse. Yet some attendees (see 3:47-4:00 in the footage above) also wave the tricolor Russian flag, which, by August 1991, would become the symbol of popular resistance to an anti-Gorbachev coup. Further highlighting the extent of Kino’s popularity and Tsoi’s status as a nationally recognized rock icon is the Olympic flame, lit in honor of the concert for the first time since the 1980 Moscow Olympics (see 0:50-0:52).
Apart from the band itself, the full Luzhniki footage also features key cultural figures: Natalia Razlogova (1956-), a fixture of the Soviet cinema community and Tsoi’s partner, and Kino’s manager, Yuri Aizenshpis (1945-), trailing the band with a handheld camcorder, who will later make an even larger fortune and name for himself for discovering and producing the post-Soviet pop sensation Dima Bilan.