The Picnic group, like its leader and soloist Edmund Shklyarsky, can be confidently called a legend of Russian rock. Few musicians were able to hold out on stage for such a long time and have a real army of fans of completely different ages.
The popularity of "Picnic" is quite high. The musicians annually hold a huge number of concerts, touring the cities of Russia. Their unique show always attracts the attention of the public and invariably attracts full halls of fans.
Group history facts
"Picnic" has been on the stage for almost forty years, if we consider 1981 as the birthday of the group. The group has its own unusual and unique style of music. They use a variety of instruments in their performances. These can be both ordinary keyboards and folk, non-traditional and exotic instruments. The soloist's voice is very recognizable, has its own unique timbre and sound.
The musicians organized a collective while studying at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute. It was in 1978, when Russian rock was just beginning to gain popularity.
Some people think that the group has three birthdays. 1978 - emergence, 1981 - joining Shklyarsky's group, 1982 - when the tape album "Smoke" was recorded at the famous studio of Andrei Tropillo, which many rightly call the first producer of the Soviet Union. The songs for the album were written by Shklyarsky and Dobychin.
In the early 1980s, the country's authorities did not welcome the emergence of rock bands and in every possible way hindered their performances. It is interesting that at that very moment one of the songs of "Picnic" unexpectedly hit the hit parade, which was made up by the newspaper "Smena".
N. Mikhailov, one of the participants of the "Picnic", became the president of the Leningrad Rock Club, and the group itself stood at the origins of the club and was actually one of its founders. But the prospect of performing only on the stage of a rock club or in small halls of the Houses of Culture, in apartment buildings did not suit Shklyarsky. Therefore, in 1986 they began to cooperate with Lenconcert. This made it possible for "Picnic" to begin touring and record discs on the Melodiya record company that existed at that time. In 1988, their first disc "Hieroglyph" was released, which brought the musicians immense popularity and fame.
In those years, many media outlets began to call "Picnic" a disco group, although Shklyarsky said more than once that he did not like dance music and fast melodies. But during the perestroika period, he had to write some songs to order, which were allowed to be played on the radio and to show the performance of musicians on a television screen. One of these songs was the famous composition called "Holiday", which Shklyarsky wrote in 1985 for the "Spinning Discs" program.
In the early 1990s, "Picnic" had a difficult time. A crisis hit the country, which seriously affected the musicians' creativity. They were forced to stop concert activities and record new records for some time. "Picnic" steadfastly survived all the troubles and problems, and by the end of the 1990s it again declared itself with renewed vigor.
Picnic and Shklyarsky
"Picnic" began his creative career back in the days of the Soviet Union. The group was organized in Leningrad in 1978. True, 1981 is considered the real birthday of the "Picnic" group, when Shklyarsky joined it. A year later, the musicians recorded their first album "Smoke", which brought them their first great success.
Among the songs written by Shklyarsky for "Picnic", there are those that were created under the influence of folk music and songs of the war. Even in his famous compositions "Hieroglyph", "We are like quivering birds", "Egyptian", "In a torn apart paradise" you can hear folk tunes.
The peculiar sound of "Picnic" is difficult to confuse with someone. In recent years, their work is often equated with gothic culture and vampire themes. Perhaps the reason for this was that the famous author Sergei Lukyanenko mentioned the Picnic and their songs in his book Night Watch. In an interview, Shklyarsky said that after reading the book, many seriously decided that "Picnic" belongs to the "dark". Lukyanenko not only called Shklyarsky "the main vampire of the country", but also cited many phrases from the group's songs in the book.
It was also a surprise for Shklyarsky that some media reported that sadomasochists love to listen to their music, as well as the compositions of the famous French singer Mylene Farmer and the Agatha Christie group. But Shklyarsky is not offended by the press, believing that one should not pay attention to all the rumors that appear in magazines and the Internet.
Musicians move very little at their concerts. This also applies to their performance style. Shklyarsky believes that it is possible to achieve intensity not only by jumping and running around the stage or by demonstratively expressing too strong emotions, as some musicians do.
The group uses special decorations and lighting, and shows whole theatrical performances performed by invited artists at concerts. This is what creates a special atmosphere and emotions for the audience.
Shklyarsky believes that he has never been a showman, so at concerts he always looks stern, hiding from everyone behind dark glasses. Attracting professional artists, dancers, circus performers, acrobats to his performances, he, with their help, solves the issue of the entertainment of the concert. At the performances of the group, you can see the unique stage design and various techniques, and sometimes even whole pyrotechnic shows.
Shklyarsky not only writes songs for the group. He draws beautifully, many albums are designed according to his sketches. Also, the soloist of "Picnic" is fond of Buddhism and yoga. He is also an avid collector and collector of everything related to the work of the group. These can be posters, badges, tickets, programs, stickers, toys and much more. After the concerts, some fans give him unique souvenirs that Shklyarsky keeps at home.
Concert activities
Many media representatives and fans of the group are interested in the question of how much "Picnic" earns today. It is difficult to answer it, because Shklyarsky does not talk about his real income. He believes that such an interest has nothing to do with the work of the collective.
"Picnic" tours a lot not only in Russia, but also abroad, gathering full houses. The musicians annually conduct a traditional autumn tour and fans are always waiting for them in all cities where the band comes.
Shklyarsky loves to hold rehearsals of upcoming concerts in Finland. He believes that there is everything you need for this, and most importantly - the silence, which the musician simply adores.
In an interview a few years ago, Shklyarsky answered questions, among which there were several about money. Then he said that the 1998 crisis became a serious test for the musicians, after which they came to their senses for several years. Now he does not think about any crisis, believing that he needs to live for today and not make plans for the distant future.
Shklyarsky noted that a lot of spectators always come to the group's concerts, which means they will not remain hungry. Once, many years ago, while performing in one Ukrainian city, the musicians could not be paid and were given a fee with bags of sugar. They were very pleased, because it was a time of widespread shortages in the country.
"Picnic" takes part in various events and corporate parties. Representatives of the group are usually responsible for organizing performances. To find out the prices, you need to contact the manager, who will tell you in sufficient detail how much the performance of "Picnic" costs.
In the near future "Picnic" will act as a headliner at the "Invasion" festival, which will greatly delight its fans.
Until the end of 2019, "Picnic" will give a large number of concerts in different cities, including: St. Petersburg, Moscow, Veliky Novgorod, Saratov, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Penza, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk.
Ticket prices for each region may differ. It depends on the concert venue and the chosen place in the hall. Tickets for the Picnic concerts cost from 1,000 to 20,000 rubles.
