Rock History in Red Square

n old Russian, krasny, meaning red, also meant beautiful -- and so indeed is Red Square, which was given its name in the 16th century, just after the completion of St. Basil's Cathedral and long before communism became the thing.


A popular place for promenades and markets, Red Square was turned into a kind of shrine only after Lenin was buried in his mausoleum in 1924. After that, the square was used for twice yearly military parades and mass demonstrations; on normal days it attracted tourists, photographers, long lines for Lenin and visitors to GUM.


Since perestroika, however, there has always been a push to do something big and non-political in Red Square.


The very name of the place had a magnet-like draw on artists and promoters, who assaulted the Soviet cultural establishment with various indecent proposals.


Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Jean-Michel Jarre were just a few of the Western pop celebrities who said they would play Moscow for a reasonable sum if they could perform in Red Square.


The answer was always "no way," and the lingering presence of Lenin in his tomb was always given as the main reason.


So it was only in the summer of 1992 when Vladimir Ilyich's ears could finally vibrate to the sound of something other than a military march.


A classical music festival, featuring the opera great Jose Carreras, was held in the square -- and was a big flop. Last year, Mstislav Rostropovich took the stage there to conduct Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" for the Yeltsins, a few other guests of honor and journalists.


It was more successful, but the square still had yet to experience a true music blow-out.


A substitute pop site had been found behind St. Basil's, where various festivals and fashion shows were staged.


But last Saturday -- June 25, 1994 -- Andrey Makarevich and Mashina Vremeni made rock history, at long last when they became the first band to perform right in the middle of Red Square.


God knows how many people turned out to celebrate the group's 25th anniversary, but this was unquestionably the biggest voluntary crowd the square has ever seen.


I am personally very glad it was a local band, and not someone like Michael Jackson or Madonna, that managed to pull it off.


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The Tchaikovsky competitions are another recent (and continuing) musical event of note.


I went to only one performance, invited by a girl whom I had danced with the night before at Manhattan Express.


Not being an aficionado of classical music, I can't say much about the performances, but what I really enjoyed -- aesthetically speaking -- was the audience.


I have always advised my foreign male friends looking to meet decent females in Moscow to conduct their searches in unlikely places like the Conservatory, the theaters or big libraries.


Believe me, during this single evening at the competition I saw more beautiful and intelligentniye girls than in an entire year of regular nightclubbing.


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I do not believe that a weak government in a weak country can effectively fight crime and corruption, no matter how drastic a decree they issue.


All that actually comes of the government's new measure is that police and security forces, given almost unlimited power,will begin using it to their own advantage and profit.


The other day I saw a nice scene on the embankment near the Kremlin: A Lada with an out-of-town plate (Stavropol, I think), was driving rather clumsily down the road and inadvertently crossed the path of a police car.


The police overtook the Lada, forcing it up on the sidewalk, and a couple of militiamen jumped out their car, carrying guns, and dragged the passengers out.


I didn't see what happened after that, but it was clear the people in the Lada weren't criminals -- just people who were unlucky enough to annoy a group of armed policemen with their awkward driving manners.