September 25, 1998, was like the birthday of MTV Russia! It was the first official broadcast of a famous music channel for the audience in Russia, where the TV hosts of programs began to speak Russian!
Almost a year later, on August 14, 1999, there was the first great show of the channel – MTV Party’ya, on Red Square (Vasilyevsky Spusk) in Moscow.
The many-hour concert was held to the joy and delight of several hundred thousand happy fans of MTV and Red Hot Chili Peppers. During the event, popular Russian bands performed, including Gorky Park, IFK, and Zdob si Zdub from Moldavia. And, of course, on stage were the heroes of MTV – Beavis and Butt-Head.
In the finals of the Party’ya, RHCP presented a crazy show as part of its world tour – Californication. The weather was good during the daytime but, in the evening, it started to rain. Anthony Kiedis came on stage and sang the first line of a popular song from soviet times – “May There Always Be Sun” (Пусть Всегда Будет Солнце)!!! And the powerful energy was transferred to the huge crowd of fans and to MTV – as the source of good popular music. The concert brought together more than 300 000 people under the wall of the Kremlin. The exact number is unknown, for the event was free. We know that people were everywhere, where they could see or hear at least something. People were also on the bridge over the Moscow River and on both sides of the promenade.
JSA Stage Company has installed the main big stage, towers and other accessory constructions, crowd barriers, tents in the backstage area for artists and the production team, and the grandstand with a roof for the VIP guests.
*Unfortunately, in 2013, MTV Russia was closed (forced to cease to exist). On the night of May 30–31, 2013, MTV Russia stopped broadcasting. But on October 1, 2013, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), the copyright holder of the MTV brand, launched the “updated” satellite television channel MTV Russia, a paid version. Details are here: www.mtv.ru
But this is a completely different story …
Версия на русском языке: RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS НА КРАСНОЙ ПЛОЩАДИ. ПРЕЗЕНТАЦИЯ КАНАЛА MTV RUSSIA В МОСКВЕ
© All photos are the copyright of JSA Stage Company.