Communists fear contamination by rock

[Robert Harris]

Seems like the communists and some others are afraid of Paul McCartney, and think if he performs in Red Square it will upset the ghosts of early glorious leaders. Jackasses.



From BBC:

Protest over Beatle in Moscow

Sir Paul McCartney's planned concert in Moscow's Red Square has been called "blasphemous" by a number of Russian politicians.

Communist and nationalist deputies said the 24 May concert was an insult to the memory of communist leaders, such as Lenin and Stalin, who are buried there.

"We find it absolutely senseless and blasphemous to hold rock concerts in a special graveyard where Stalin, Lenin, Brezhnev, Gagarin, and other prominent personalities are buried," an open letter to Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov said.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3026195.stmccc

[Robert Harris]

Seems that this one is not going away quietly. Some folks really believe that if he soings in the Square it will be terrible. and not just the Communists.

Hmmmm. Red square has been used for all sorts of things in the past -- fashion shoots, concerts, parades, executions, just wandering around -- I am not sure why this is sacreligeous.

RED SQUARE SQUABBLE PITS LENIN AGAINST MCCARTNEY. An unspecified number of Duma deputies have written to former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and to Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov urging them to cancel a 24 May concert on Red Square, polit.ru reported on 13 May. The deputies argue that holding the event near the mausoleum of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin and the burial sites of other Soviet luminaries including Josef Stalin and Leonid Brezhnev is "senseless and blasphemous." They said that McCartney is risking becoming "the center of a big political scandal." Among the deputies who signed the letter are Aleksei Mitrofanov (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia), Sergei Reshulskii (Communist), and Nikolai Bezborodov (Russian Regions). On 18 April, 161 deputies signed another letter asking the city to move the concert to another location, but on 15 April, the Duma voted against endorsing such a resolution (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 April 2003). VY

From: RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 90, Part I, 14 May 2003

[Robert Harris]

Seems the concert went off quite well, despite Communist opposition. Red Square packed, etc. And the McCartneys got a private tour of the Kremlin with a special guide. :)

[IamZed]

Who could blame anybody for fearing their culture could be contaminated by Rock?

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/137/039_C50845.jpg