The majority of Moscow’s large concert venues have refused to hold a rock concert in memory of Boris Nemtsov on the 40th day after his death.
Prominent Russian producer Mikhail Kozyrev reported on his Facebook page that many famous Russian musicians have agreed to take part in a concert tribute to Boris Nemtsov, which was planned for April 7. Kozyrev writes that all venues he spoke with, which have a capacity of 2000 people and over, eventually refused to host the concert, despite voicing initial interest and putting together a preliminary deal. Some of the venue representatives got back to Kozyrev after 24 hours and said that hosting such an event “was not recommended” and that they “do not want to get mixed up in this.”
Only one venue agreed to host the event, Stas Namin’s open-air Zelyony Teatr stage, which is located in Moscow’s central Gorky Park. However, due to time constraints, it is impossible to meet the deadline for official permission to hold the event at this venue by April 7.
It has been decided to hold the concert in the studio of independent TV channel Dozhd and to broadcast it live on the evening of April 7.
We don’t have any complaints against these people and these venues. Everybody runs their own business and has their own problems; but for the record, let’s just note that it was impossible to hold a concert in Moscow in April, in memory of a politician who was killed in the street, even when the concert would feature the most prominent musicians and even when we could guarantee that seats would be sold out entirely.
Musicians who agreed to participate in the concert included prominent singer-songwrited Yuri Shevchuk of the rock band DDT, renowned musician Andrey Makarevich of Mashina Vremeni, and the rock band Bi-2.
Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and prominent critic of Vladimir Putin, was shot to death on February 27 in the center of Moscow on Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, just yards from the Kremlin. Investigators claim the murder is likely to have been a contract killing, but motives have not been definitively identified.
Mourners have set up a makeshift memorial of flowers, candles, signs and portraits in his memory at the site of the murder. In late March, the flowers and signs were removed. The online news source Yod reported that the removal was ordered by Moscow’s deputy mayor Biryukov, yet the mayor’s office has denied the claims.