V-ROX: on the way to the Main festival stage

On Sunday, July, 10, Primorye’s talented youth performed at the site of Amphitheatre on Sportivnaya Gavan within the V-ROX festival’s elimination rounds. The main project’s aim was to give a possibility to children aged 10-17 to perform at a big stage, to show their talents and ambitions.

The real rock atmosphere prevailed at the site, in spite of the participants’ young age. Six bands from Primorsky region took part in the concert. Artistic directors were allowed to help young musicians. Most of the groups had never performed before. Generally their repertoire consisted of famous foreign bands songs’ covers, though some of them performed their own pieces.

The participants included Lightness band who played melodious but at the same time energetic blues rock, a bit heavier to compare with music of the legends of the sixties. Qwerty played unobtrusive light rock, they are the growing generation of musicians from pop department of children’s music school №3. HOKSS (Rus — «ХОКСС») are the most experienced participants, the band had already performed in some Vladivostok schools and in BSB CLUB, Chkalov Bar, Bonnie & Clyde Club.

Dve Chetverti (Rus — «Две Четверти») showed their good music taste in choosing covers of famous rock songs. Kashmir is the band’s tribute to the monsters of rock-n-roll of the seventies — Led Zeppelin. Classic rock is always relevant. Rest Day are at the very beginning of their way to rock-n-roll.

The organizers faced a very difficult choice. Only two bands will take part in the festival and perform at the Main stage of V-ROX on August, 21. Dve Chetverti and Lightness became the winners of «Juniors of V-Rox».
We are expecting the Juniors of V-Rox at the Main stage of the festival!

One of the best Japanese girls bands TsuShiMaMiRe will be the headliner of V-ROX

Japanese alternative girls rock trio TsuShiMaMiRe will be the headliner of V-ROX 2016. The band exists since 1999 and plays electropunk, free jazz, ska and funk, mixed with pop instrumental sounds and peculiar, provoking lyrics.

TsuShiMaMiRe are one of those who became famous thanks to South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and to performances at anime conventions together with the Suicide Girls, and to Japanese Benten Label’s “Japan Girls Nite” tours.

In 2007 American magazine Shojo beat choose TsuShiMaMiRe as Best Girls Japanese Band. In to 2010 the band started their own label Mojor Records.

TsuShiMaMiRe’s music is very emotional, their performances fascinate. This trio is definitely one of the best who play live in Japan and one of the most powerful Japanese girls bands. It’s worth mentioning that the band’s membership has never changed for 17 years of its existence.

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The first Mongolian alternative rock band Nisvanis is coming to V-ROX

The first Mongolian alternative rock band Nisvanis will be the V-ROX’s headliner. It was founded in 1996. Vladivostok will hear the oldest Mongolian rockers at the international music festival for the first time.

At first the band consisted of the lead singer Enh-Amgalan Londjida (vocals, guitar), Darhanat Darhaa (bass), Anar Altangerel (drumms) and Hosbayar Sergelen (lead guitar).

Before the foundation of Nisvanis, Enh-Amgalan and Darhanbat played together in a pop rock band Yesterday&Today during musical college studying in 1993. In October 1995 they met a modern poet Galsansuh who became the first band’s manager. He suggested to work together, after that the musicians changed band’s genre and name, now it was called Nisvanis (this name was borrowed from the Mongolian film Ard Ayush). On April 9, 1996 Nisvanis performed in the grunge-rock style for the first time.

During the time of its existence the band released four albums and won Pentatonic Awards for Best Debut, Song of the Year – «Tesrelt» and «Ulaan heruulch», and Album of the Year – UFO.

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Our congratulations to the V-Rox’s mentor Ilya Lagutenko on receiving the title of the «Horonary citizen of Vladivostok»!

Today in Vladivostok Ilya Lagutenko was awarded with the attributes of the «Horonary citizen of Vladivostok» on the solemn assembly dedicated to the 156th birthday of the city.

The lead singer of the band «Mumiy Troll» was welcomed with loud applauses when he was going up to the stage of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. The mentor of V-Rox got the award ribbon, the certificate, the commemorative medal and the identification document from the chairperson of the City Duma Elena Novitskaya and the interim major of Vladivostok Konstantin Loboda.

Ilya Lagutenko: «This is an extraordinary day for such a dreamer like me. I could not even imagine that. I think, it is a miracle for the most of people in this hall to see me in a bit different role. But, as it is said, poets, musicians and artists predestine the future in their fantasies. That’s the future of that Vladivostok-3000. Everyone have their own idea of it and, maybe, it is impossible to build it without taking a look into the future».

At the end of his speech the mentor of V-Rox said hello to his grandmother Veronica Iosifovna Tur, who has her own idea of Vladivostok-3000, too, and who is celebrating her 93rd birthday this year. After that Ilya Lagutenko rephrased his song «Fantastika», singing «Don’t we stay together for all time, for all ti-i-ime».

Photo: Yury Smityuk (TASS)

The Australian musician and singer Joel Sarakula will be the headliner of V-ROX

The Australian-British musician Joel Sarakula, the producer and the performer of heartful songs in the style of indie pop, will sing at V-Rox in Vladivostok.

He travels around the world in pursuit of inspiration, receiving new feelings and introducing them into his music. You can find the reflection of Joel’s musical outlook in his works: from avant-garde to legends of soul and pop, and also the references to contemporaries Beck Hansen, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Erlend Øye.

The songs from his debut British album The Golden Age got into the constant air-time of BBC Radio 2, BBC 6, BBC London, XFM, Q Radio and Absolute Music and of radio stations in other countries. Joel Sarakula is a participant of festivals and club events in Great Britain, Europe and Australia, including Scala, Latitude, The Great Escape, and Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg.

Joel’s single «Northern Soul» got more than 150,000 views in the Internet only for the first months after the post. BBC 6 Music called his last album Imposter, released in 2015, fabulous and compared it with Bowie’s works, also marked really catchy and bold music.

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Vladivostok will listen to «Juniors of V-Rox» from Primorye on July, 10 (Submission is on)

The V-ROX festival introduces «Juniors of V-ROX» – the elimination round for children’s musical groups which will be held on the 10th of July, 2016, Vladivostok. The concerts are starting at 13:00 at the site of amphitheatre of Sportivnaya Gavan.

The project’s aim is to turn the young generation to creative undertakings, to give them a possibility to reveal their talents on the big stage, to guide them to forward movement and to prove that their hard work in this field is not useless.

The participants of the project are groups and single performers (aged 10-17) from Primorye. Artistic directors over the age of 17 are also allowed to be members of groups. Following the results of «Juniors», the V-ROX organizing committee will choose four best groups which will take part in the festival on August, 21.

You can send an application and consult on the project «Juniors of V-ROX» with the coordinator Pavel Lopatin by phone 8 (924) 721-80-95. The participants must send their recordings, some photos and the groups’ story on email 12@vrox.org.

The Ural schoolgirl and the Internet phenomenon Liza Monetochka will perform at V-ROX

The Ural Internet star Liza Monetochka will perform at V-Rox this year. The secondary school student accepted the invitation from the festival’s mentor Ilya Lagutenko and will play her songs in Vladivostok for the first time.

Before that Liza from Ekaterinburg was just studying in the 11th grade, preparing for Unified State Exam and composing simple and naive songs about her friends, classmates, Gosha Rubchinsky and the Internet, which rapidly made her famous and made twice older people argue about Monetochka’s songs. For few days the girl blew the Internet away with her songs that she posted in social media. She is called nearly the main sensation of 2016.

«I’ve got my own agency net in the Urals. Sasha Gagarin («Sansara») told me about Monetochka. I would be glad if Liza would come to Vladivostok to our V-Rox festival this year. This is the main idea of the festival, the moment of discovery, including the turn of virtual stories into the real ones. We’ve got very grateful audience», Ilya Lagutenko said.

It is possible to find out the upcoming participants of the V-Rox festival of this year every week on the web-site. Now the major headliners of the main summer music event are known. TsuShiMaMiRe (Japan), Joel Sarakula (Australia), Nisvanis (Mongolia), Burn the Ballroom (the USA), Zodiac (Latvia) are among them.