РозенБАУФ
06-24-2005, 03:28 PM
GROZNY -- A six-hour rock music festival in Chechnya would seem an unlikely effort to return peace to a place where rebel attacks and mysterious abductions remain common.
But the Chechen government and a slew of prominent Moscow-based bands, including Va-Bank, SerGa and B-2, believe otherwise and are gearing up for the "Phoenix: Return to Life" festival on July 5.
The festival's name is a telling metaphor, aimed at promoting the idea that life is returning to normal in the war-scarred republic. A bird in Egyptian mythology, the phoenix is a symbol of resurrection because it burns up in flames and then rises from the ashes.
The concert's venue is being kept secret until the last moment for security reasons, and musicians say security will be in the hands of Chechnya's first deputy prime minister, Ramzan Kadyrov. Kadyrov's controversial security force has been suspected of being behind many of the thousands of abductions in the republic in recent years.
"Generally, the main task is to go there to play music and show that life is good and it's good to live," SerGa frontman Sergei Galanin said at a recent Moscow news conference to promote the event. "If it helps someone become interested in a peaceful life, it will be useful."
But the Chechen government and a slew of prominent Moscow-based bands, including Va-Bank, SerGa and B-2, believe otherwise and are gearing up for the "Phoenix: Return to Life" festival on July 5.
The festival's name is a telling metaphor, aimed at promoting the idea that life is returning to normal in the war-scarred republic. A bird in Egyptian mythology, the phoenix is a symbol of resurrection because it burns up in flames and then rises from the ashes.
The concert's venue is being kept secret until the last moment for security reasons, and musicians say security will be in the hands of Chechnya's first deputy prime minister, Ramzan Kadyrov. Kadyrov's controversial security force has been suspected of being behind many of the thousands of abductions in the republic in recent years.
"Generally, the main task is to go there to play music and show that life is good and it's good to live," SerGa frontman Sergei Galanin said at a recent Moscow news conference to promote the event. "If it helps someone become interested in a peaceful life, it will be useful."