here) and outstanding Russian band fronted by eclectic Kamille Sharapodinov, is about to come back to Europe for enlighting the winter gloom with a load of great and original psychedelic experimental fuzz metallic rock.
Better than the comet!
Let’s remind that The Grand Astoria consists of mastermind Kamille Sharapodinov on vocals and guitar, Daniel Danilov on vocals, keyboards and percussion, Igor Suvorov on guitar and Dmitry Ogorodnov on bass and backing vocals. Plus notable guests and friends collaborating for music, sound engineering and art to the innumerable and always substantial releases of this prolific and valuable band. The Grand Astoria guys are very busy in organizing their new, big 2015 Spring-Summer tour which will involve several other cool bands of the European psych stoner/doom scene, like, for example, Samavayo from Germany and Doctor Cyclops from Italy.
The mega tour next year will culminate in the release of more new music including a split with Samavayo. But our Russian friends were also able to find energies and opportunities for organizing a highly intensive Winter blitz across Europe! As you can see from the banner, the tour will start on saturday December 20th till sunday December 28th 2014 and involve Riga (Latvia), the German cities of Berlin and Nurnberg (right on Christmas Day) and three sites in northern Italy, Dalmine (near Milano), Torino and Parma.
Let’s say that a more than good reason for The Grand Astoria doing this tour may be their latest, fine full-length album, La Belle Epoque. This is surely not the only release for this year, as this ultra-productive band was involved in two splits (one with band Montenegro from Argentina and one with band Mother Mars from Australia), plus an EP and a fat Black Flag tribute album! You can find everything on the band’s highly populated Bandcamp page. And if you add the other musical projects involving Kamille Sharapodinov, i.e. Organic is Orgasmic and The Legendary Flower Punk, well you may start feeling a bit dizzy … The incredible thing is that such relentless creative activity is coupled with top quality!
Anyway, back to the latest full-length album La Belle Epoque, the album has been available as digital download on Bandcamp since last September, but now the vinyl edition of the album, including spectacular violet LP version, is ready and will be available during the tour! Of course there will also be the cool digipack version of the album, in addition to other stuff, likely including the reissue of The Grand Astoria debut CD equipped with a fancy comic book. Another good excuse, beside excellent trippy but energetic, smart, and, yes, kickass heavy music, for those who are along the track beaten by these Russians!
Keep the Facebook page of The Grand Astoria folks checked out for details about the locations of the tour.
For those who will not be able to be there but who would like to put their hands on solid music, including that violet beauty, you can always contact the band and/or visit the webpage of the German label Setalight Records.
Words: Marilena Moroni
The Grand Astoria @ Facebook
The Grand Astoria @ Bandcamp