Scooter concert in Crimea. A scandal erupts around the concert of the legendary Scooter in Crimea
Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk said that he would try to persuade German group Scooter cancels performance in Crimea.
“Today is especially delicate diplomatic mission in Hamburg: meeting with the manager of the Scooter group to abandon the adventure in Crimea,” the politician wrote on his Twitter.
As the correspondent of the portal “” reports, Scooter plans to perform in Balaklava on August 4 at the #ZBFest festival. Participants will also include the groups “Leningrad”, “SerGa”, “Brigada S”, “Gradusy” and singer Dima Bilan. In the summer of 2016, a festival whose goal is to popularize Crimea as a fashionable tourist destination, a center of cultural, gastronomic and social life, brought together 15 thousand guests.
Earlier, the German tabloid Bild, citing representatives of Ukrainian justice, reported that musicians could face up to eight years in prison for a concert in Sevastopol in Ukraine. At the same time, in the announcement on the Scooter website next to the name of the city of Balaklava, the country is not indicated. As the group manager emphasized, this was done intentionally so as not to “inflame the discussions.”
The appearance of Scooter at this year's festival was opposed by some European politicians. In particular, Member of the European Parliament from the German Union 90/Greens party Rebecca Harms, who took an active part in the events on the Kiev Maidan in 2014, sharply criticized the musicians’ plans in an interview with the newspaper.
“The Scooter group doesn’t care that Crimea is illegally occupied by Russian troops,” she said. Kharms is sure that the musicians should be ashamed of their irresponsibility, since the Russian authorities “made Crimea the largest military base on the Black Sea.”
“Speaking only in the interests of your own fans is completely unsuitable,” the deputy added.
Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yevgeny Enin told reporters that, according to Ukrainian legislation, “foreigners can visit temporarily occupied territories only with special permission,” and they must enter and leave Crimea only from the mainland of Ukraine. Violation of this is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 1 to 8 years, “depending on the circumstances.”
In turn, the manager of the musical group said that the leader of the group, HP Baxter, and his colleagues would fly to Crimea by plane via Moscow. German journalists note that the musicians are unlikely to face prison, but they do face fines.
“We are going to Crimea not to engage in politics, but because there are many of our fans there. We have something to offer them,” said group leader HP Baxter.
SIMFEROPOL, August 5 – RIA Novosti, Maxim Groznov. The German band Scooter flew to Crimea for the first time and performed in front of an audience of thousands at the #ZBFest festival in Balaklava.
The musicians presented a spectacular multimedia show on the festival stage, performed all their famous hits and promised the Crimeans “to see you next time.”
Double scale
The #ZBFest festival has been taking place in the vineyards of the Zolotaya Balka agricultural company for the second year in a row, and this time on a double scale. Last year, the one-day festival attracted, according to organizers, 15 thousand spectators. This time the festival program stretched over two days, and the organizers expected up to 30 thousand visitors on the first day. One day admission ticket cost from 1 to 3.5 thousand rubles. A free transfer from Sevastopol was organized to the festival site, and at 21.00 spectators were still arriving at the site.
Scooter group became the headliner of the first day of the festival, along with her on Friday in Balaklava were Sergei Galanin and the group “SerGa” and Garik Sukachev with “Brigade S”.
Technical problems
"Brigade S" encountered technical difficulties at the end of its performance - in the middle of the song "Give me some water," the sound disappeared on stage. The musicians did not interrupt the performance and sang to the end with the support of the audience.
The next song also began without sound - the audience sang “Grandma Smoking a Pipe” in chorus along with the band members. In the middle of the song the sound was restored. The musicians finished their performance and left the stage to applause from the audience.
Hits and fireworks
Finally, closer to midnight, the performance of the Scooter group began. The stage was illuminated by spotlights, an image of lightning appeared on the screen, and lead singer H.P. Baxter entered the stage amid fireworks and screams and applause from the audience. The band began the performance with the traditional Ten Seconds Before Sunrise, after which the vocalist greeted the audience.
"Good evening, Balaklava! Are you ready? ( Good evening, Balakalava! Are you ready?)" - HP Baxter addressed the audience. They reacted with shouts, whistles and applause. "Thank you!" - Baxter replied in Russian.
In an hour and a half, the group performed all the hits that are well known in Russia - Bora! Bora! Bora!, Weekend!, Mary Got No Lamb, How Much Is The Fish? and Habanera.
On the screen behind the stage, the group's performance was accompanied by a multimedia show. IN climaxes fireworks were on. This delighted the audience, who sang along with the group, danced and took photos and videos. Between songs, Baxter thanked the audience in Russian, and the audience responded with shouts and applause.
Promised to return
After the end of the performance, the musicians left the stage, but the audience immediately began calling them for an encore. Finally, the band returned, H.P. Baxter picked up his guitar, and they performed one of their most famous songs, Fire. The musicians finished with another dance hit of theirs - Move Your Ass.
"Thank you, Crimea! See you next time (See you)," Baxter shouted at the end to volleys of fireworks and a standing ovation from the audience. He introduced the band members, and the musicians left the stage.
The festival in Balaklava will continue on Saturday, with Dima Bilan, the group "Gradusy", L"ONE and "Leningrad" performing for the Crimeans.
SIMFEROPOL, August 5 – RIA Novosti, Maxim Groznov. The German band Scooter flew to Crimea for the first time and performed in front of an audience of thousands at the #ZBFest festival in Balaklava.
The musicians presented a spectacular multimedia show on the festival stage, performed all their famous hits and promised the Crimeans “to see you next time.”
Double scale
The #ZBFest festival has been taking place in the vineyards of the Zolotaya Balka agricultural company for the second year in a row, and this time on a double scale. Last year, the one-day festival attracted, according to organizers, 15 thousand spectators. This time the festival program stretched over two days, and the organizers expected up to 30 thousand visitors on the first day. A one-day entrance ticket cost from 1 to 3.5 thousand rubles. A free transfer from Sevastopol was organized to the festival site, and at 21.00 spectators were still arriving at the site.
The Scooter group became the headliner of the first day of the festival, along with Sergei Galanin and the group "SerGa" and Garik Sukachev with "Brigada S" in Balaklava on Friday.
Technical problems
"Brigade S" encountered technical difficulties at the end of its performance - in the middle of the song "Give me some water," the sound disappeared on stage. The musicians did not interrupt the performance and sang to the end with the support of the audience.
The next song also began without sound - the audience sang “Grandma Smoking a Pipe” in chorus along with the band members. In the middle of the song the sound was restored. The musicians finished their performance and left the stage to applause from the audience.
Hits and fireworks
Finally, closer to midnight, the performance of the Scooter group began. The stage was illuminated by spotlights, an image of lightning appeared on the screen, and lead singer H.P. Baxter entered the stage amid fireworks and screams and applause from the audience. The band began the performance with the traditional Ten Seconds Before Sunrise, after which the vocalist greeted the audience.
“Good evening, Balaklava! Are you ready? (Good evening, Balaklava! Are you ready?),” HP Baxter addressed the audience. They reacted with shouts, whistles and applause. "Thank you!" - Baxter replied in Russian.
In an hour and a half, the group performed all the hits that are well known in Russia - Bora! Bora! Bora!, Weekend!, Mary Got No Lamb, How Much Is The Fish? and Habanera.
On the screen behind the stage, the group's performance was accompanied by a multimedia show. Fireworks were set off at the climax. This delighted the audience, who sang along with the group, danced and took photos and videos. Between songs, Baxter thanked the audience in Russian, and the audience responded with shouts and applause.
Promised to return
After the end of the performance, the musicians left the stage, but the audience immediately began calling them for an encore. Finally, the band returned, H.P. Baxter picked up his guitar, and they performed one of their most famous songs, Fire. The musicians finished with another dance hit of theirs - Move Your Ass.
"Thank you, Crimea! See you next time (See you)," Baxter shouted at the end to volleys of fireworks and a standing ovation from the audience. He introduced the band members, and the musicians left the stage.
The festival in Balaklava will continue on Saturday, with Dima Bilan, the group "Gradusy", L"ONE and "Leningrad" performing for the Crimeans.
The electronic group Scooter gave its first ever concert in Crimea. The musicians performed in front of thousands of spectators at the ZBFest festival in Balaklava and promised to return. But the joy of the Crimeans who saw their idols live haunts the Ukrainian authorities - a criminal case has been opened against the Germans in Kyiv, they are going to be summoned for questioning and threatened with prison terms.
Thank you Crimea, amazing crowd! (Thank you, Crimea, amazing audience), - the band’s frontman HP Baxter thanked the Crimeans after the concert on social networks.
The first visit to Crimea left warm memories both for the musicians themselves and for the residents of the peninsula. The musician was pleased with the hospitality of the Crimeans.
When going to Crimea, Scooter emphasized that their performance was beyond politics, they came for the fans. And that’s why they didn’t even talk to journalists behind the scenes. Instead, bandleader H.P. Baxter concentrated on the music. According to the organizers, before the concert he sat in a tent for a long time and prepared himself for the concert.
Good evening, Balaclava! - he greeted the audience as he entered the stage.
The musicians performed in front of thousands of spectators at the festival in Balaklava and promised to return
An expressive show in the style of techno, trance and hardcore was accompanied by flashes of fire, fireworks, and the performance of go-go dancers. Scooter performed his most famous songs- Hyper Hyper, Weekend!, Bora! Bora! Bora! and many others. If at the beginning of the concert the audience looked at the stage with interest and filmed the show on their phones, then after a few songs they began to dance with all their might and sing along with the energetic German.
Come on, come on! - Baxter encouraged them in Russian and gave them new charges of rhythm and drive.
Scooter fans specially came to Balaklava from all over the peninsula and from distant Russian cities. Many people danced to their songs in discos in the 90s and still remember the words. Social networks were filled with photos from the concert, which caused a storm of emotions in everyone.
Among the spectators were Germans - participants in the Berlin - Moscow motor rally. They said that they came to Crimea, despite the horror stories that the German media tell about the peninsula, and expressed hope for friendship between Russia and Germany.
When the musicians left the stage towards the end of the show, the audience sang the melody How Much Is The Fish in chorus. Scooter rewarded them for their creativity with their favorite composition Fire. The concert ended with fireworks.
Scooter's visit to Crimea caused indignation among some German and Ukrainian politicians, although before their trip to the peninsula the musicians asked not to be drawn into a political conflict. While Crimean fans rejoiced at the arrival of their idols, the Ukrainian authorities wasted no time - the prosecutor’s office in Kiev opened a criminal case against Baxter and other members of the group for allegedly violating “the procedure for entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory of the country.” For this they face up to eight years in prison. Ukrainian law enforcement officers are already dreaming of calling the Scooter group for questioning. The representative of the prosecutor's office, Tatyana Tikhonchik, said that Ukraine would send a request to the “competent authorities of Germany” so that they could help interrogate the musicians.
Scooter themselves do not react to these attacks in any way. Instead, they promised to come to Crimea again:
Thank you, Crimea! “See you next time,” shouted HP Baxter at the end of the hour and a half show.
The musicians announced the concert in Balaklava on their official website; it took place as part of the band’s European tour. Scooter is considered one of the most successful musical groups Germany, Russia and Eastern Europe it became popular in the mid-90s. Next year the group will celebrate its 25th anniversary.
MOSCOW, June 16. /TASS/. German musical group Scooter intends to perform at the #ZBFest festival in Sevastopol on August 4, despite criticism from politicians in Germany and threats from the Ukrainian authorities. The attacks on the musicians were reported on Thursday by the German newspaper Bild.
At the end of May, the festival organizer announced that Scooter would come to #ZBFest, which was timed to coincide with International Day champagne. Garik Sukachev and Brigada S, Sergei Galanin and the SerGa group, Sergei Shnurov with the Leningrad group, Dima Bilan, the Degrees group and other artists will also perform at the festival site in Balaklava on August 4 and 5. In the summer of 2016, the festival, whose goal is to popularize Crimea as a fashionable tourist destination, a center of cultural, gastronomic and social life, attracted 15 thousand guests.
Criticism at home
The appearance of Scooter at this year's festival was opposed by some European politicians. In particular, Member of the European Parliament from the German Union 90/Greens party Rebecca Harms, who took an active part in the events on the Kiev Maidan in 2014, sharply criticized the musicians’ plans in an interview with the newspaper.
“The Scooter group doesn’t care that Crimea is illegally occupied by Russian troops,” she believes. Kharms is sure that the musicians should be ashamed of their irresponsibility, since the Russian authorities “made Crimea the largest military base on the Black Sea.” “Speaking only in the interests of your own fans is completely unsuitable,” the deputy added.
Threats from Kyiv
Commenting on the plans of the German artists, Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yevgeny Enin told the publication that the group faces a prison sentence for visiting Crimea, which Kyiv continues to consider its territory, without special permission. “Violation of the law is punishable by up to eight years in prison,” he said. The deputy head of the department added that similar cases have already been initiated “against several foreigners.”
According to the newspaper, another Ukrainian law stipulates that only Ukrainian companies can conduct concert activities in Crimea. Thus, Scooter risks violating several norms of Ukrainian legislation at once, the newspaper notes.
At the same time, the musicians themselves confirmed to the publication that they intend to get to Sevastopol through Moscow.
Group response
Scooter is one of the most successful musical groups in Germany. Her recordings have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. Most of the band's songs are created in the electronic genre. dance music in English.
