Popular German Scooter band is going to perform at the #ZBFest festival in Sevastopol in August, although, according to the Bild newspaper, the band’s plans to visit Crimea, which the West considers annexed, were sharply criticized in Germany, and the Ukrainian authorities threatened the musicians prison term.
This summer, Scooter will embark on their annual tour of European cities. Their plans are to please fans in Finland, Sweden, Poland and Ukraine, quotes an InoPressa article.
At the end of May, the organizer of the festival in Crimea announced that Scooter would also come to #ZBFest, which was timed to coincide with International Champagne Day. In Balaklava on August 4 and 5, Garik Sukachev and “Brigade S”, Sergey Galanin and the group “SerGa”, Sergey Shnurov with the group “Leningrad”, Dima Bilan and the group “Degrees” will also perform.
Member of the European Parliament from the German Union 90/Greens party Rebecca Harms made accusations against the musicians. “The Scooter group doesn’t care that Crimea is illegally occupied Russian troops“, said the politician, quoted by TASS. According to Kharms, musicians should be ashamed of their irresponsibility, since the Russian authorities “made Crimea the largest military base on the Black Sea.” She noted that one cannot perform only in the interests of their fans .The performance of the German group is used Russian leadership to “disguise severe human rights violations in Crimea,” Kharms said.
In turn, Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yevgeny Enin told the publication that the group faces a prison sentence for visiting Crimea, which Kyiv continues to consider its territory, without special permission. “Violation of the law is punishable by up to eight years in prison,” he said. The deputy head of the department added that similar cases have already been initiated against several foreigners. As the article says, according to another Ukrainian law, only Ukrainian companies can conduct concert activities in Crimea.
Scooter is one of the most successful music groups in Germany. More than 30 million copies of her recordings have been sold worldwide. Most of the band's songs are created in the electronic genre. dance music in English.
Let us remind you that some Russian artists entry into Ukraine is prohibited due to performances in Crimea or visiting the peninsula after its annexation by the Russian Federation. Thus, Yulia Samoilova, nominated by the Russian Federation for Eurovision 2017, for this reason could not get to Kyiv, and the competition took place without the participation of Russia. In April Russian singer Lolita Milyavskaya was taken off the train while she was on her way to see her sick daughter in Kyiv. The artist was told that she was banned from entering the country because of her trip to Crimea in 2015.
TALLINN, June 16 – Sputnik. The musicians of the German band Scooter could face up to eight years in prison for performing at a music festival in Balaklava (Sevastopol), the German tabloid Bild reported.
As Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yevgeny Enin explained to the publication, according to the country’s legislation, “foreigners can visit temporarily occupied territories only with special permission and must enter and exit from points in the mainland of Ukraine.” In turn, Scooter’s manager confirmed to Bild that the musicians will fly to Crimea by plane via Moscow, RIA Novosti reports.
“Violation of the law is punishable by imprisonment for a term of one to eight years, depending on the circumstances,” Yenin said. According to him, “investigations are already underway against several foreigners who illegally entered the Crimean peninsula.”
The situation is complicated by the fact that the musicians planned to perform in Kyiv this year.
In case of arrival in Crimea Scooter will violate another Ukrainian law - "On concert activities", according to which only Ukrainian companies can act as intermediaries in organizing concerts in Crimea. The Scooter concert is organized by Russian company, notes Bild.
Scooter's performance at the festival in Balaclava is scheduled for August 4. At the same time, Bild notes that the country is not indicated opposite the date of the performance in Balaklava on the group’s website, while next to other concerts there is the date of the performance, the name of the festival, the place and the state.
“We did this on purpose. We do not want to inflame discussions on this issue and want to maintain a neutral position,” explained the band’s manager Jens Tele.
He emphasized that the group wants to stay away from political conflicts and is going to Crimea to please its fans.
Second music Festival under open air in Balaklava will be held on August 4-5 in honor of International Day champagne. In addition to performances by musicians, guests will be treated to “Crimean cuisine accompanied by their favorite sparkling wines, as well as entertaining themed spaces,” according to the event’s website.
Among the performers who will come to Sevastopol, in addition to Scooter, are the groups "Leningrad" (Sergey Shnurov), "Serga" (Sergey Galanin), "Brigada S" (Garik Sukachev), Dima Bilan.
Artists, athletes and journalists suffer
We would like to remind you that Ukraine has repeatedly denied entry to Russian artists who visited Crimea. So, in April Kyiv did not allow Russian artist Elena Vorobey, keeping her at the airport for several hours without water.
Concerts in Crimea were also the reason why the Ukrainian border service did not allow singer Kristina Sy, rapper L"One, and singer Shura to leave the country.
The apotheosis of this policy was the ban on entry into the country of a Russian participant in the international song competition"Eurovision" by Yulia Samoilova.
Russian athletes and journalists also fell under Kyiv’s restrictions. On June 14, it became known that Russian boxer Georgy Kushitashvili, press attache of the Russian Boxing Federation, two journalists and several fans who were traveling as part of the delegation, who were heading to Kharkov for the European Championship, were not allowed into the territory of Ukraine.
The State Border Service of Ukraine reported that it had banned nine representatives of the Russian Boxing Federation from entering Ukraine for a period of three years due to visiting Crimea without agreement with Kiev.
Crimea has become Russian region after the March 2014 referendum, in which the vast majority of residents voted in favor. The referendum was held after the coup d'etat in Ukraine in February 2014.
Ukraine still considers Crimea its own, but “temporarily occupied” territory. Russia rejects all accusations against it, recalling that the entry of Crimea and Sevastopol into the Russian Federation occurred legitimately and at the will of the people of these territories. The UN Charter and international law were not violated. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Crimea issue is “finally closed.”
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SIMFEROPOL, August 5 – RIA Novosti, Maxim Groznov. The German band Scooter flew to Crimea for the first time and performed in front of an audience of thousands at the #ZBFest festival in Balaklava.
The musicians presented a spectacular multimedia show on the festival stage, performed all their famous hits and promised the Crimeans “to see you next time.”
Double scale
The #ZBFest festival has been taking place in the vineyards of the Zolotaya Balka agricultural company for the second year in a row, and this time on a double scale. Last year, the one-day festival attracted, according to organizers, 15 thousand spectators. This time the festival program stretched over two days, and the organizers expected up to 30 thousand visitors on the first day. One day admission ticket cost from 1 to 3.5 thousand rubles. A free transfer from Sevastopol was organized to the festival site, and at 21.00 spectators were still arriving at the site.
The Scooter group became the headliner of the first day of the festival, along with Sergei Galanin and the group "SerGa" and Garik Sukachev with "Brigada S" in Balaklava on Friday.
Technical problems
"Brigade S" encountered technical difficulties at the end of its performance - in the middle of the song "Give me some water," the sound disappeared on stage. The musicians did not interrupt the performance and sang to the end with the support of the audience.
The next song also began without sound - the audience sang “Grandma Smoking a Pipe” in chorus along with the band members. In the middle of the song the sound was restored. The musicians finished their performance and left the stage to applause from the audience.
Hits and fireworks
Finally, closer to midnight, the performance of the Scooter group began. The stage was illuminated by spotlights, an image of lightning appeared on the screen, and lead singer H.P. Baxter entered the stage amid fireworks and screams and applause from the audience. The band began the performance with the traditional Ten Seconds Before Sunrise, after which the vocalist greeted the audience.
"Good evening, Balaklava! Are you ready? ( Good evening, Balakalava! Are you ready?)" - HP Baxter addressed the audience. They reacted with shouts, whistles and applause. "Thank you!" - Baxter responded in Russian.
In an hour and a half, the group performed all the hits that are well known in Russia - Bora! Bora! Bora!, Weekend!, Mary Got No Lamb, How Much Is The Fish? and Habanera.
On the screen behind the stage, the group's performance was accompanied by a multimedia show. Fireworks were set off at the climax. This delighted the audience, who sang along with the group, danced and took photos and videos. Between songs, Baxter thanked the audience in Russian, and the audience responded with shouts and applause.
Promised to return
After the end of the performance, the musicians left the stage, but the audience immediately began calling them for an encore. Finally, the band returned, H.P. Baxter picked up his guitar, and they performed one of their most famous songs, Fire. The musicians finished with another dance hit of theirs - Move Your Ass.
"Thank you, Crimea! See you next time," Baxter shouted at the end to volleys of fireworks and a standing ovation from the audience. He introduced the band members, and the musicians left the stage.
The festival in Balaklava will continue on Saturday, with Dima Bilan, the group "Gradusy", L"ONE and "Leningrad" performing for the Crimeans.
The electronic group Scooter gave its first ever concert in Crimea. The musicians performed in front of thousands of spectators at the ZBFest festival in Balaklava and promised to return. But the joy of the Crimeans who saw their idols live haunts the Ukrainian authorities - a criminal case has been opened against the Germans in Kyiv, they are going to be summoned for questioning and threatened with prison terms.
Thank you Crimea, amazing crowd! (Thank you, Crimea, amazing audience), - the band’s frontman HP Baxter thanked the Crimeans after the concert on social networks.
The first visit to Crimea left warm memories both for the musicians themselves and for the residents of the peninsula. The musician was pleased with the hospitality of the Crimeans.
When going to Crimea, Scooter emphasized that their performance was beyond politics, they came for the fans. And that’s why they didn’t even talk to journalists behind the scenes. Instead, bandleader H.P. Baxter concentrated on the music. According to the organizers, before the concert he sat in a tent for a long time and prepared himself for the concert.
Good evening, Balaclava! - he greeted the audience as he entered the stage.
The musicians performed in front of thousands of spectators at the festival in Balaclava and promised to return
An expressive show in the style of techno, trance and hardcore was accompanied by flashes of fire, fireworks, and the performance of go-go dancers. Scooter performed his most famous songs - Hyper Hyper, Weekend!, Bora! Bora! Bora! and many others. If at the beginning of the concert the audience looked at the stage with interest and filmed the show on their phones, then after a few songs they began to dance with all their might and sing along with the energetic German.
Come on, come on! - Baxter encouraged them in Russian and gave them new charges of rhythm and drive.
Scooter fans specially came to Balaklava from all over the peninsula and from distant Russian cities. Many people danced to their songs in discos in the 90s and still remember the words. Social networks were filled with photos from the concert, which caused a storm of emotions in everyone.
Among the spectators were Germans - participants in the Berlin - Moscow motor rally. They said that they came to Crimea, despite the horror stories that the German media tell about the peninsula, and expressed hope for friendship between Russia and Germany.
When the musicians left the stage towards the end of the show, the audience sang the melody How Much Is The Fish in chorus. Scooter rewarded them for their creativity with their favorite composition Fire. The concert ended with fireworks.
Scooter's visit to Crimea caused indignation among some German and Ukrainian politicians, although before their trip to the peninsula the musicians asked not to be drawn into a political conflict. While Crimean fans rejoiced at the arrival of their idols, the Ukrainian authorities wasted no time - the prosecutor’s office in Kyiv opened a criminal case against Baxter and other members of the group for allegedly violating “the procedure for entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory of the country.” For this they face up to eight years in prison. Ukrainian law enforcement officers are already dreaming of calling the Scooter group for questioning. The representative of the prosecutor's office, Tatyana Tikhonchik, said that Ukraine would send a request to the “competent authorities of Germany” so that they could help interrogate the musicians.
Scooter themselves do not react to these attacks in any way. Instead, they promised to come to Crimea again:
Thank you, Crimea! “See you next time,” shouted HP Baxter at the end of the hour and a half show.
The musicians announced the concert in Balaklava on their official website; it took place as part of the band’s European tour. Scooter is considered one of the most successful musical groups Germany, Russia and Eastern Europe it became popular in the mid-90s. Next year the group will celebrate its 25th anniversary.
