The Leningrad group is the most outrageous, scandalous and outspoken group in the post-Soviet space.
There is a lot of profanity in the lyrics of the band's songs. And in the clips - frankness and shocking, they are loved and hated at the same time. There are no indifferent ones, since Sergey Shnurov (creator, soloist, ideological inspirer of the group) expresses himself in his songs in the way that the majority thinks, but is afraid to voice.
He provided the courts and lawyers with jobs for many years. Some have many lawsuits about the use of profanity in the lyrics. Others work to refute the claims, while "fans" smash lyrics into quotes. And several thousand fans gather at concerts.
The composition of the group "Leningrad"
Sergey Shnurov and Igor Vdovin came up with the Leningrad project on January 9, 1997. And on January 13, 1997, the musicians performed their first concert.
In four days, the guys assembled a team, which included: Sergey Shnurov (vocals, bass guitar), Igor Vdovin (composer, vocalist), Andrey Antonenko (keyboards), Alexander Popov (drums), Alexei Kalinin (drums), Roman Fokin (saxophone), Ilya Ivashov and Oleg Sokolov (trumpets).
A year later, the group was left without Vdovin. Cords became the main vocalist. During the existence of the group, at least two dozen musicians passed through Shnurov's school.
Cords says that he does not remember everyone. There was a time when the Leningrad group performed on tour in several cities with different composition at the same time.
Leonid Fedorov - the main "auctioneer", he became the advertising face of the group. While drunk, he swore from the stage, not thinking about his appearance.
Although the guys were not allowed into Moscow, being in demand, the band members began to conflict and soon worked in the studio.
The updated team "Leningrad"
In 2002, the Leningrad group changed. The frontman released new songs that were included in Shnurov's solo album. And also in the 8th studio album "For millions".
Some of the participants left the group and moved to the Sritfire group, which accompanied them at concerts.
Vocalist Yulia Kogan
Yulia Kogan in 2007 became the first backing vocalist, later the vocalist of the Leningrad group. But 6 years later, in September 2013, she left the group, according to Shnurov, "due to creative differences."
Her place was taken by Alisa Voks-Burmistrova (songs "Bag", "Exhibit", etc.). But Shnurov suddenly fired her in 2016, saying that she "caught a star."
Vocalist Alice Vox
Instead of Alice in March 2017, he took two vocalists to the group - Florida Chanturia and Vasilisa Starshova. Vasilisa starred in the clip "Sobchak Points" and left the group.
Instead of Vasilisa, Shnurov invited vocalists - Victoria Kuzmina, Maria Olkhova and Anna Zotova. Kuzmina was already known for her participation in the Voice project, in the Sugarmamas duet as part of the show.
Also, the group "Leningrad" has 16 members - men. These are guitars, keyboards and percussion instruments, double bass, trombone, harmonica, alto saxophone, scratch, tambourine.
Actress Yulia Topolnitskaya
Yulia Topolnitskaya starred in the video clips "Exhibit", "Kolshchik", "Tits". In July 2017, Vasilisa Starshova left the group.
Discography
The debut album "Bullet" was released on cassettes in a small edition. In it, instead of the song "Katyukha", the song "Bells" is recorded, in which one can hear the influence of the work of Arkady Severny.
The band's unique style was heard in the second disc "Mat Without Electricity".
In the 2000s, the band's compositions began to be actively broadcast on television and played on the radio. The group performed in clubs, and also took part in various festivals.
The hits "I would be in the sky" and WWW (from the album "Pirates of the XXI century") (2002) became the hallmark of the group. The team gave a concert at which they sang the songs: “Without you n ***”, “Sp *** d”, “Pid *** s”. The amount of profanity exceeded.
But in the next album "Bread", as well as in the album "Indian Summer", it was reduced, including due to the fact that the girl began to solo. In the summer of 2004, the song "Gelendzhik" became very popular. In 2008, Shnurov again announced the breakup of the group.
The video clip "Sweet Dream" (Vsevolod Antonov performed the male version of "Bitter Dream") meant the revival of the Leningrad group (as they called themselves).
In 2011, the group released the album "Henna", and then the collection "Eternal Flame". The songs “Love our people” and “Fish of my dreams” became hits.
Prizes of the Leningrad group
In 2016, the Leningrad group was nominated for the MTV EMA 2016 award. But Anton Belyaev's Therr Maitz team received the prestigious award. And Shnurov was awarded the Golden Gramophone for the song Exhibit.
According to Shnurov, the song "Exhibit" received praise from Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds, who played the main role in the action movie "Deadpool".
In the final part of the action movie, the song "Fuss in the Mud" performed by the Leningrad group sounds. The film also mentions the Telegram messenger in spite of the federal service Roskomnadzor, which wanted to block it.
A year later, the Leningrad group released a new video clip "Ch.P.Kh." (“Pure St. Petersburg Fuck”) in an unusual genre - rap, action - a battle with ST (Alexander Stepanov).
Shnurov invited fellow countrymen to shoot - football player Alexander Kerzhakov and journalist Alexander Nevzorov. The video was posted on the band's YouTube channel. In just a few hours, the number of views exceeded 1 million.
For the 20th anniversary of the Leningrad group, the musicians organized the tour “20 years for joy!”. The tour program included the main hits of the group. On July 13, 2017, the anniversary concert took place at the Otkritie Arena stadium. More than 45 thousand spectators gathered there.
Sergey Shnurov (Leningrad group) in 2018
In October 2018, the video clip “Candidate. The clip began with the phrase "No animals were harmed." But the scene when the cat is killed was still impressive. Shnurov wrote on Instagram that he believes in humanity.
The video clip "Kolshchik" filmed by Ilya Naishuller received the UK Music Video Awards. He was also instructed to shoot the video for Voyage. The video clip contains everything that is prohibited on television - smoking, profanity, scenes of violence.
Shnurov released the album "Everything" for his birthday. These are 8 compositions that previously sounded only at concerts, but now received studio processing. Shnurov explained the title of the album succinctly: “The word is very Russian, multifaceted, if you like, comprehensive and insignificant at the same time. And the masters of short reviews, with which the Internet is teeming, will definitely write “g ***”.
The album is available only through Yandex.Music, iTunes and on the group's YouTube channel, and will not be released into circulation. The animated video clip, filmed together with Glukoza, for the song "Zhu-zhu" makes fun of disgruntled fellow citizens.
The video clip “Not Paris” was presented on the eve of March 8, in which the Leningrad group seems to praise women who do everything in life.
The superheroine was played by actress Yulia Aleksandrova (the comedy "Bitter!"), and her husband, completely immersed in video games, was played by the comedian Sergei Burunov (the TV series "Kitchen").
In the summer of 2018, in Barnaul, the group performed with a full house with the first concert. She broke the attendance record in Russia in October 2018. The team gathered 65 thousand spectators at the Zenit Arena in St. Petersburg.
Shnurov published a verse on Instagram in March 2019, in which he announced that the upcoming tour would be the last, and commented in an interview: “From every iron it sounded that we were sliding“ back to the 1990s ”, that we were in an era of stagnation. I thought, if we have an era of stagnation, let's also music will be stagnation". If the stagnant times are over, then the existence of the group is inappropriate. But at the same time, he admits that someday he will reassemble the group. The farewell tour began in Kaliningrad on June 4 this year.
Group "Leningrad". Clips
"Monkey and Eagle";
"Vacation";
"Healthy lifestyle";
"Khimki forest";
"Karasik";
"Exhibit";
"In St. Petersburg - to drink";
"Kolshchik";
"Zhu-zhu";
"Not Paris."
Band discography
1999 - "Bullet";
2000 - "New Year";
2002 - "Point";
2003 - "For millions";
2006 - "Indian Summer";
2010 - “The last concert of “Leningrad””;
2011 - "Henna";
2012 - "Fish";
2014 - Minced meat;
2013 - "Tsunami";
2018 - "Everything".
Leningrad group today
On January 16, 2022, the Leningrad collective pleased music lovers with the release of the video “So far”. The clip is dedicated to the problems of the cultural capital of Russia - St. Petersburg.
In early February, Shnurov's project premiered a provocative track called Shmarathon. The video appeared on the YouTube channel of the Leningrad group. The track was performed by Shnur's ward - the singer Zoya (a member of the Zoya collective).
Cord "tank" walked through the scandalous person Sobchak. In the text of the musical work there is a hint that Xenia gave birth to a son not from her husband. The artist also reminded Ksyusha of a fatal accident in Sochi, we quote an excerpt: “Just think, she killed - she was in a hurry on business.”
Sobchak did not hide the fact that she listened to Shmarathon. She called the singer, not Cord, but lacing on someone else's shoes. “The sober Shnurov looks like a lowered, restless old zozhnik, with a face that is wrinkled * opa, texts of the “Full House-Full House” level, and clips for which his wife does not give money ... ”, commented Ksenia.
