Mashina Vremeni (The Time Machine) is the oldest and most famous Russian rock group, together since 1969 without any break-ups. They were the first to sing rock music in Russian and popularized it in the former Soviet Union. Their song “Povorot” (The Turn) topped the first Soviet chart in 1979, and in 1984-1985 another hit, “Muzyka Pod Snegom” (Music Under The Snow) topped the chart for 17 months! In the Perestroika times, when the group was allowed to issue LPs, they sold approximately 18,000,000 copies of each. At the same time, Mashina Vremeni started the first independent music label in Russia, called Sintez Records.
In 2014, the band’s frontman, Andrey Makarevich, became one of the leading figures of the anti-war movement in Russia. He openly condemned the Russian occupation of Crimea and gave a concert in the part of Donbass region controlled by Ukraine, for the benefit of internally displaced children. Makarevich’s independent position on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict caused him and his group a lot of trouble. A state-controlled TV channel publically condemned the artist as a ”traitor”. His concerts in Russia, outside Moscow, were canceled by authorities. And now, most of Mashina Vremeni’s concerts take place abroad, all over the world.
On Dec.20, 2015, Mashina Vremeni will perform their greatest hits in London (BTW, their 2007 album, simply called "Time Machine", was recorded at legendary Abbey Road studio, and later band members AndreyMakarevich and Alexander Kutikov worked there on their solo projects). The band will play with its current line-up: Andrey Makarevich (guitar, vocals, piano), Alexander Kutikov (bass, vocals), Andrey Derzhavin (keyboards, vocals), Valery Efremov (drums), supported by Igor Khomich (guitar), Sergey Ostroumov (percussion) and Alexander Ditkovsky (trumpet, tambourine, backing vocals). So, come and hear the music that all the Soviets and Russians have grown up with, from the 70's to today.
