«Mumiy Troll rocks The Independent in San Francisco» — San Francisco Examiner (USA, San Francisco)

Mumiy Troll rocks The Independent in San Francisco

Mumiy Troll, one of Russia`s most legendary rock bands, played a live show at The Independent in San Francisco last Thursday. They had the crowd in the palm of their hand from the moment they took the stage, opening with a rocking rendition of Nuclear Station. Clad in a rumpled sailor suit and long black scarf, lead singer Ilya Lagutenko awed the audience with his raw charisma and non stop energy.

Mumiy Troll`s performance was seamless, with drummer Oleg Pungin, guitarist Yuri Tsaler, and bass player Eugene Zvidionny effortlessly following Lagutenko from song to song whether they were on the original set list or not. The show was a roller coaster of emotions and sound with Lagutenko as its conductor. Three numbers deep and the audience was cheering, singing the choruses, and pressed against the stage. They stayed in this state all night long.

Lagutenko never stopped moving throughout the evening. As one would expect of a top notch rockstar, he was by turns charming, confident, and sexy. However, Lagutenko also brought something very unique to the mix — he was at times playful and downright goofy, drawing laughs and smiles from the crowd as often as he drew screams from the women in the audience.

The most amazing part of the show for me was how enjoyable it was even though I did not understand nearly anything that was said. I heard Ilya Lagutenko say a few things in English — «aw yeah,» «thank you very much,» and «seaweed.» Other than that he sang and addressed the crowd in Russian. Because rock n` roll is quite often about the energy and emotion created by the performers and the music, and Mumiy Troll created so much of both, a common language was not necessary! The sound and the performance was more than enough to draw me in. Plus, when Lagutenko is onstage holding a guitar between his legs and running his hand up and down the neck quickly while making faces, it isn`t too difficult to figure out what`s amusing about that.

While I did not need to hear English to thoroughly enjoy the high energy show put on by Mumiy Troll, I am very glad this group has begun to sing more songs in English. Lagutenko is reportedly a very talented lyricist who is sometimes called the Dostoevsky of Modern Pop — this facet of his writing is lost for those of us who do not speak Russian. However, if they do mostly stick to Russian, it doesn`t matter too much since Mumiy Troll definitely has a great understanding of the heart and soul of rock n` roll. If you get the chance to see them live, you will instantly understand how they came to be one of Russia`s biggest, most legendary rock bands.

Erikka Innes