10 Most Iconic Moments At Live Rock Shows
7. Former Soviet Soldiers Rocking Out To Metallica
In 1991 the Soviet Union dissolved and as a result the flood gates of Western pop-culture opened. The unthinkably corrupting influences of western music had for so long been forbidden in the Soviet Union, with only a few exceptions.
Elton John had played a few shows in Russia as far back as 1979 ,and Billy Joel managed to obtain entry to the Soviet Union in '86 and '87, which resulted in rather a lot of damage being done to the musical venue, so excited were the audiences by the prospect of western music .
But after the fall of the Union, several hard rock and heavy metal bands were permitted to perform the first open air rock concert in Russian history.
1.6 Million people attended this iconic event. The scenes looked reminiscent of a concert put together in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, after the survivors of nuclear war had converged together for the mother of all parties. A red haze hung over all, a military chopper flew over head, and then one of the biggest rock bands in the world began to play.
At about 1:19 into the video soviet soldiers are seen with their jackets undone, caps removed, while they perch atop the shoulders of the crowd, head banging with the rest. It would seem once rock entered Russia nothing else mattered.