Ballad evening in Paris

On the 14th September in Paris was held a small ballad gig featuring the singer of the most famous band from Russia – Kolovrat.

We have been told about the event just a week before it, the gig was not publicly announced due to security reasons. There were rumors circulating during the last year about a possible Kolovrat gig in France, but this concert did not take place until this time.

The day before the gig we got a phone call from D. and he explained to us what technical parts he’ll need for the sound system – like microphone, additional cables, etc. We brought the needed stuff and headed to French capital. I was much exited because Kolovrat is very popular band in my Homeland Bulgaria, and now I had the chance to attend an acoustic gig of their front men. We arrived in the late afternoon and reach the gig venue thru the subway.

There were already few comrades, including D. and the owner of the club. We find out that we still need some additional parts for the sound equipment and after a fast running around the shops finally we managed to get all the necessary parts. The concert had to start at 20.00 h. so I had enough time to go to the flat which had to stay to leave my luggage and get changed. We shared a place with few French skins, with which we drank few beers and had a good laugh. All together we came back to the club, which already had about 50 people, but have in mind that the event was just a “private party” for VIP guests. There were no tickets for the gig, the entrance was free of charge.

Shortly afterwards the ballad performance started. After a brief thanksgiving speech to the organizers and sharing his impressions of Paris (it was his first ever visit in France) D. started his program with the infamous ballad “Kosovo front” – a song dedicated to the Zionist war against Serbia. It was wonderful performed and it really hold my breath. The next one was “Imperial banner”, followed by a song dedicated to Ian Stuart, accompanied by a speech about his lifework. Of course the hymn about the Russians troops who fought against Bolshevism on the Germans side in the II World war (Heroes of ROA) was not missed as well.
The following songs were various covers of Bound from Glory, Landser, Skrewdriver as well as some songs of the split album “Triedinstvo” dedicated to the brotherhood between Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian folks.

Next was my personal favourite song of the Kolovrat’s repertoire “Blood of the patriots” which D. dedicated to Motherland Europe and especially to France. The song was followed by a speech about chauvinism among European comrades. The selftitled “Dmitriy Donskoy” was telling us the story of the brave Russian prince which defeated the Tatar invasion in Russian lands in year of 1380. The night has reached it’s climax when from the stage came the sound of legendary “Honour and Blood” (cover of old Russian band “Sturm”). I was surprised by the fact that even some French skins sang this song. It seems that east European bands are getting more and more famous even in Western part of the continent. D. made the crowd even happier when he shared his plans to record some covers of the infamous French bands Legion 88 and Kontingent. Unfortunately Legion 88 does not exist any more, but Kontingent ( who even played with Skrewdriver in Italy back in 1991) are still playing and I had the chance to hear them live once and I’m telling you it’s a worthy band and their singer is great guy who kept his vibrant and youthful spirit. The last of this amazing acoustic set was everyone’s favourite “Tomorrow belongs to me” by ISD. All the people sang together and it was the perfect way to end the ballad evening.

To sum it up, the whole ballad set included 19 songs, and everyone who was lucky enough to attend an acoustic gig of D. knows quite well the top level of musicianship. After the gig everyone wanted to take a photo with D., to exchange few words and he was able to devote a time to each of us. All we had a great “afterparty” with many beers, funny stories, talks and having fun. D. was impressed by the great hospitality of the local comrades and his visit to France. The party continued until 3.00 at the morning when the club was visited by few policemen, but the owner of the venue send them back on the street with the words “This is a private club, and you are not welcomed here unless you have a legal document for research”!!! It was surprising for me but after these words cops just went away. In many European countries nationalists are under big harassment by the authorities, but it seems that in France the right of private ownership and strict following of the laws are still a fact.

The ballad evening was attend by 50-60 people, comrades from France, Russia, Ukraine, England and Bulgaria. The atmosphere was second to none, I have met some old and new friends and I have fulfilled one of my dreams – see Kolovrat live performance. At last but not the least I want to thank my Parisian comrades for their hospitality and great time we spend together. I’m looking forward to the next gig in France - ISD memorial, organized by B&H Midgard.

Exclusive report for NS Revolt

S.