Russian Unorthadox Christmas
with Vulgargrad and Zulya and the Children of the Night
» JD Samson - DJ Set (Le Tigre, Peaches, Men) - Toff in Town, The, Fri, January 9
» The Zebras - Toff in Town, The, Sat, January 10
» No Through Road - Toff in Town, The, Sun, January 11
» Michael Gira (Swans / Angels of Light) - Toff in Town, The, Mon, January 12
» Jess McAvoy - Toff in Town, The, Sat, January 17
» Carnation - Toff in Town, The, Thu, January 22
» Juana Molina - Toff in Town, The, Tue, January 27
» Black Cab - Toff in Town, The, Sat, January 31
» The Sunday Suite - Toff in Town, The, Sun, February 1
View all 14 upcoming events at Toff in Town, The
» Bob Evans - Toff in Town, The, November 27, 2008
» The Shambles Launch Party - Toff in Town, The, March 26, 2008
Does a Soviet-born Tatar princess who sings like an angel joining forces with a filthy band of Russian criminals for a Christmas party sound unorthodox to you? It should. For the first time in Melbourne, this is Russian Unorthodox Christmas.
Internationally acclaimed Zulya and the Children of the Underground are by far one of the most intriguing and unique acts in Australia, and indeed the world. Zulya’s music defies being pigeon-holed, but has been described as “somewhere between Kurt Weill-ish Euro-Cabaret jazz and lullabies constructed to tear your heart out.” Zulya and the Children of the Underground play exquisitely arranged original music inspired by Zulya’s Tatar and Russian roots, and their most recent album, 3 Nights, received the 2007 ARIA for Best World Music Album. 5 stars - “Swinging like a Bolshevik Marlene Dietrich, Zulya and the Children of the Underground are able to strike a deft balance between melancholic sadness and the unbridled joy that is never too far away…….” Songlines, UK.
VulgarGrad, that mysterious band of Russian criminals, make their long-awaited return to Melbourne stages at the Spiegeltent. Fronted by Polish-born gravelly-voiced strongman and star of stage and screen, Jacek Koman (watch out for him as the Russian publican in Baz Luhrmann’s Australia), VulgarGrad are the only band in the country that play music by, for, and about Russian thieves: raucous drinking songs, melancholy waltzes, manic oompah and hot Soviet-era swing. Be prepared for a night of gun-slinging, vodka-swilling, foul-mouthed disorder, and watch out for the biggest, most triangular instrument around, the contrabass balalaika. You will dance or the trumpeter will shoot you. “Like a Soviet Edith Piaf with a flick-knife” – Beat Magazine
Also spinning some tunes from all seven corners of the Russian Federation on the night will be Melbourne's own DJ Russian Disco. Tickets $12 + BF / $15 on door - on sale from Moshtix - phone: 1300 GET TIX (438 849) or on-line: www.moshtix.com.au or Moshtix outlets including Polyester (City). Doors 8.00pm.
