Revelations in Riga — CMU

Revelations in Riga

It`s crazy how shit happens sometimes. I`m writing this in part on a tour bus and in part on a plane on the way back from Riga, Latvia, where Losers were helping celebrate a riotous weekend during which its residents commemorate the foundation of their beloved city, eight hundred and something years ago. We played a packed stadium, 15,000 people, before heading to the gigantic Daugava river that runs through the city centre to witness the sky catching fire with one of the biggest firework displays I`ve ever seen. A truly epic weekend.

The reason this happened was that Tom and I did a Losers mix for a Russian band called Mumiy Troll. Ilya, their singer, liked the mix so much he offered to fly the whole band, plus crew, out here to support them at this amazing gig.

The other support band, Run Run Run, have a similar random-Ilya-connection story, but they`re from LA. Their singer, Xander, is one of the finest Americans I`ve ever met: an American with a Love And Rockets tattoo no less (and a great story to go with it). Any American who`s even aware of a Bauhaus splinter group like that has my admiration, but one that has their logo tattooed on their left wrist has my undying love.

I watched Mumiy Troll with Xander, from the side of the stage, and asked him about the band. He explained, with great authority – having toured with them in the USA and Russia too – why these 15,000 people were so utterly mesmerised.

“When the wall came down, it took the Russians years to figure out what the fuck was going on…■ he gesticulated, groping the air. “The first thing they latched onto was grunge – after the event – but the first band that gave them a sense of their own identity was Mumiy Troll, with this one song…■

And as if by magic, the band started playing that very song. “▒Vladivostok`, THIS song, they`re playing it now!■ He shouted. “It`s a workers song…■ – Xander fisted the air, like a Detroit steel worker would if describing a song about their beloved Steel City, or like Jon McLure would if he was talking about a pivotal Sheffield song – “…about the most industrial place in the former Soviet Union■.

That was the moment I GOT Mumiy Troll. They`d sounded alien to me up till that point. At that moment I watched the lips of every single person in that crowd mouth the words of the song that was the tipping point for one of the biggest bands on this continent, a song that remains a unifying factor with these innumerable countries now the Soviet Union itself has fragmented. I saw the enormous love that this band inspire in their audience and I was truly moved.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Ilya, and Mumiy Troll, for treating us like royalty on this fascinating trip. I`d never been this side of the Baltic before, and never been to any country in the former USSR, and I`m so glad we did that remix for these guys, the random connector that made this crazy weekend happen.