Music
Franz Ferdinand
June 9
One of the most popular post-punk bands in the world, Scottish band Franz Ferdinand will visit Moscow for the third time this June. Their concert at Adrenaline Stadium will be part of the tour in support of their fifth album, “Always Ascending,” released last February.
Where: Adrenaline Stadium Leningradsky Prospekt, 80. Bldg. 17 adrenaline-stadium.ru
Aquarium
June 9
Aquarium are the true veterans of Russian rock, with more than 40 years in the business. During this time pretty much everything and everyone has changed at Aquarium, except for Boris Grebenshikov — aka BG — its irreplaceable leader. After playing around with various musical genres, BG went back to his perestroika-era sound. Last February BG released his latest album, “Vremya N” (Time of N), so expect some new material at the Crocus City Hall concert.
Where: Crocus City Hall
65-66 km of MKAD, Crocus Exhibition Center, Pavilion 3 crocus-hall.ru
Bosco Fresh Fest
June 10-11
Bosco Fresh Fest is one of the regular Moscow festivals that moves to a new venue every year. This year it will be the park at the Skolkovo Management School in western Moscow. It’s a two-day affair and the headliners include Fever Ray, one half of the Swedish duo The Knife, as well as electronic music veterans Orbital and rapper Talib Kweli.
Where: Skolkovo Management School Novaya Ulitsa, 100. Skolkovo boscofreshfest18.com
Bol
June 10-11
Bol (Pain) is as alternative a festival as it gets in Moscow. This year it will take place at the brand new Main Stage Space and the headliners are Husky, a rapper who released one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2017 in Russia, as well as Grechka, a 17-year-old singer-songwriter from a small town of Kingisepp, who took Russia’s music scene by storm last winter. There are also some foreign bands — British post-punk band Shame, American post-hardcore Slaves and Estonian rapper Tommy Cash.
Where: Main Stage Space
Ulitsa Sharikopodshipnikovskaya, 13. Bldg. 33 bolfest.com
Ibeyi
June 13
Ibeyi is the most anticipated concert of the third season of Mosaic Music at the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art. Last year they released “Ash,” whose music can be best described as a mix of electronic, jazz and soul.
Where: Garage Museum Krymsky Val, 9 garagemca.org
Guns N’ Roses
July 13
Guns N’ Roses launched a reunion tour entitled “Not in This Lifetime” last year and it’s been so successful that they extended it to 2018. The concert at Otkritie Arena stadium will be their first in Moscow.
Where: Otkritie Arena stadium
Volokolamskoye Shosse, 69 otkritiearena.ru
Portugal. The Man
July 18
Portugal. The Man, an American indie band from Alaska with an unlikely name, has been around for more than a decade, but hit mainstream success last summer with their hit “Feel It Still,” for which the band received a Grammy. The concert at Crocus City Hall will be their first in Russia.
Where: Crocus City Hall
65-66 km of MKAD, Crocus Exhibition Center, Pavilion 3 crocus-hall.ru
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
July 27
The last time Nick Cave and his band The Bad Seeds played in Moscow was just three years ago. He’s got a loyal fan base and his “Red Right Hand” is the theme song for the popular “Peaky Blinders” series. This summer they will play at the Adrenaline Stadium as part of the tour in support of Cave’s latest album “Skeleton Tree,” which he wrote in the aftermath of his son’s tragic death.
Where: Adrenaline Stadium
Leningradsky Prospekt, 80. Bldg. 17 adrenaline-stadium.ru
Die Antwood
August 10
Die Antwoord is an electronic rap act from South Africa singing in a mix of English and Afrikaans. Known for lively performances, they call their style “zef,” which is an Afrikaans word for “common,” used to identify white lower middle class people. Die Antwoord is quite popular in Russia, so expect Adrenaline Stadium to be packed.
Where: Adrenaline Stadium
Leningradsky Prospekt, 80. Bldg. 17 adrenaline-stadium.ru
Imagine Dragons
August 29
One of the most anticipated concerts this summer is by Imagine Dragons, an American band from Las Vegas. They have truly become indie-rock giants, recording soundtracks for such blockbusters as “Hunger Games” and “Transformers.” They’ve been to Moscow several times already and have many fans here. This time they will play their largest venue in Russia so far — the newly restored Dinamo/VTB Arena Stadium.
Where: VTB Arena Stadium
Leningradsky Prospekt, 36 vtb-arena.com/stadium
Theater
Anna Karenina
June 16-17
Where: Bolshoi Theatre
“Anna Karenina,” one of the biggest premieres at the Bolshoi Theater this season, is a unique production in cooperation with the Hamburg Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada, directed by world-renowned choreographer John Neumeier. It’s a ballet in two acts, to music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Alfred Schnittke and Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam.
Teatralnaya Ploshchad, 1 bolshoi.ru/en
Little Tragedies
June 18-19
Where: Gogol Center
The Gogol Center’s Kirill Serebrennikov is still under house arrest, but his latest production “Little Tragedies” is back on stage. Based on four short dramas in verse penned by Alexander Pushkin, “Little Tragedies” stays close to the words of the classic, but updates and sometimes revolutionizes the meaning. The production features music by Husky, one of the most popular rappers in Russia.
Ulitsa Kazakova, 8 en.gogolcenter.com
Macbeth
June 20-22
Where: Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Academic Music Theater This June, the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Academic Music Theater premieres a new version of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera based on Shakespeare’s famous play. “Macbeth” will be directed by the world-renowned Kama Ginkas, for whom it will be a first opera in Russia. While trendy directors keep updating classical texts to modern times, Kama Ginkas will place Shakespeare’s plot in prehistoric times.
Ulitsa Bolshaya Dmitrovka, 17 stanmus.com
