Blue ribbon, DDT
The St. Petersburg Times
Issue #1543 (4), Friday, January 29, 2010
CULTURE
Chernov’s choice
Rock music and protest often go hand in hand, but not in today’s St. Petersburg. A Blue Ribbon campaign against the planned 403-meter Okhta Center skyscraper was stopped by the authorities at a sell-out concert by the popular local band DDT, whose leader Yury Shevchuk is an outspoken opponent of the project.
At a press conference several days before the concert, which was primarily a fundraiser for the House of Hope free rehab center, Shevchuk announced an anti-tower event planned to take place during the band’s Jan. 16 gig at Yubileiny Sports Palace.
The Blue Ribbon campaign was launched by the preservationist group Living City last year. Campaigners distribute blue ribbons as a symbol of St. Petersburg’s UNESCO-protected skyline, which protesters say has been put at risk by the project. Gazprom, whose headquarters the planned complex will house, plans to build the skyscraper close to the city center, across the River Neva from Smolny Cathedral.
According to Peterburgsky Chas Pik, Shevchuk described the project as a “bottle of oil.”
“The city doesn’t need this bottle of oil,” he said, adding that he would have not opposed the construction “three kilometers from St. Petersburg,” the newspaper reported.
But despite prior agreement with the band and promoter, as well as announcements in the media, activists were detained by the venue’s security guards and administration.
“Several people were detained as they tried to enter the venue with leaflets and ribbons, and then the rest, who had already entered and had been distributing them, were detained as well,” Living City activist Pyotr Zabirokhin said by phone on Thursday.
“They confiscated all the printed materials and ribbons from the detainees, and took two of them to the police facilities located in the venue.”
According to Zabirokhin, the security guards who made the detentions suspected that the leaflets contained “extremist materials.”
“The police looked at the leaflets and said, ‘Why, there’s no extremism,’ and let them go without writing a report.”
After representatives of DDT and promoter Stop Time interfered, the detainees were released, but the leaflets and blue ribbons were confiscated until the end of the show.
Some of the blue ribbons were however distributed and even thrown from the stage by SP Babai musician Mikhail Novitsky, while Shevchuk announced the event to the audience.
“In fact, it’s not fully clear what it was all about, because the administration claimed no agreement had been made [to distribute the materials,] and it could have been a misunderstanding; or some orders had been made to prevent the event,” Zabirokhin said.
This week’s concerts include Mad Sin (Money Honey, Friday), Arsonists Get All the Girls (Orlandina, Wednesday) and Depeche Mode (SKK, Thursday).
- By Sergey Chernov
http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=30713
Issue #1543 (4), Friday, January 29, 2010
CULTURE
Chernov’s choice
Rock music and protest often go hand in hand, but not in today’s St. Petersburg. A Blue Ribbon campaign against the planned 403-meter Okhta Center skyscraper was stopped by the authorities at a sell-out concert by the popular local band DDT, whose leader Yury Shevchuk is an outspoken opponent of the project.
At a press conference several days before the concert, which was primarily a fundraiser for the House of Hope free rehab center, Shevchuk announced an anti-tower event planned to take place during the band’s Jan. 16 gig at Yubileiny Sports Palace.
The Blue Ribbon campaign was launched by the preservationist group Living City last year. Campaigners distribute blue ribbons as a symbol of St. Petersburg’s UNESCO-protected skyline, which protesters say has been put at risk by the project. Gazprom, whose headquarters the planned complex will house, plans to build the skyscraper close to the city center, across the River Neva from Smolny Cathedral.
According to Peterburgsky Chas Pik, Shevchuk described the project as a “bottle of oil.”
“The city doesn’t need this bottle of oil,” he said, adding that he would have not opposed the construction “three kilometers from St. Petersburg,” the newspaper reported.
But despite prior agreement with the band and promoter, as well as announcements in the media, activists were detained by the venue’s security guards and administration.
“Several people were detained as they tried to enter the venue with leaflets and ribbons, and then the rest, who had already entered and had been distributing them, were detained as well,” Living City activist Pyotr Zabirokhin said by phone on Thursday.
“They confiscated all the printed materials and ribbons from the detainees, and took two of them to the police facilities located in the venue.”
According to Zabirokhin, the security guards who made the detentions suspected that the leaflets contained “extremist materials.”
“The police looked at the leaflets and said, ‘Why, there’s no extremism,’ and let them go without writing a report.”
After representatives of DDT and promoter Stop Time interfered, the detainees were released, but the leaflets and blue ribbons were confiscated until the end of the show.
Some of the blue ribbons were however distributed and even thrown from the stage by SP Babai musician Mikhail Novitsky, while Shevchuk announced the event to the audience.
“In fact, it’s not fully clear what it was all about, because the administration claimed no agreement had been made [to distribute the materials,] and it could have been a misunderstanding; or some orders had been made to prevent the event,” Zabirokhin said.
This week’s concerts include Mad Sin (Money Honey, Friday), Arsonists Get All the Girls (Orlandina, Wednesday) and Depeche Mode (SKK, Thursday).
- By Sergey Chernov
http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=30713