May 17th, 2001. London

Report by Jane Lambourne

Author: Jane Lambourne

On 17th May, 2001, Mumiy Troll played their second ever concert in the UK at The Mean Fiddler in London. Although the audience was mainly made up of Russians, there were a number of new fans from Britain and other countries, some of whom had discovered Mumiy Troll at the Eurovision 5 days previously. The band began with 'Lady Alpine Blue’, the song which most new fans know best, but their only song at present in English.
At the time of the concert, I was unfamiliar with most of MT’s Russian material. However, my first impression was the energy and life in the music; even without understanding the words it is possible to feel the emotion of the songs — understanding the texts can only increase this.

The concert was a very intense and moving experience for me; Mumiy Troll produce live music at its best, something which has sadly been forgotten in a large section of the music scene in Britain. Ilia’s voice and accent sound very special and unique in English, and this is increased by the charisma Ilia shows when performing. He is a great performer, who deserves to be ranked alongside the greatest in rock music; and his band are true musicians, who also give everything when they play.
At present the biggest barrier to Mumiy Troll’s fame over here is language; most people here cannot see beyond words they do not understand, but when MT record their first English language album this year, they deserve big success.