Brainstorm in Riga

So there is this band in Latvia that could be considered the most popular band in Latvia of all times. The name is Brainstorm or Prāta Vētra (Latvian for "storm of the mind", which doesn't really mean the same thing as the more figurative "brainstorm", but I'm not gonna get into those details.) They are huge. And then once in a while they have a huge tour throughout Latvia that usually ends in Riga with the hugest of all concerts. The last time this happened was in 2005 when they had their album "Četri Krasti" ("Four Shores") out, and they got a total of around 40,000 people to attend, which is a huge number for a country like Latvia.

This year they released their latest album "Tur Kaut Kam Ir Jābūt" (to be released in English as "Fire Monkey" later this year), and they had to have a concert. And guess what, even more people attended. They broke their previous record for the most people at a pop-music concert in Latvia - 45,000. The second place this year was taken by Metallica (33,000).

The concert had a few surprizes. One of them was the appearance of the Russian/Belorussian band Би-2, to sing Скользкие улицы.

The other surprize was the appearance of the ex-president of Latvia (1999-2007), Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, to sing a Latvian folk song. I must say that I have to give props to Vaira for having the courage to sing in front of 45,000 people, all chanting her name "Vaira, Vaira, Vaira".. Good times.

And then of course the performances themselves:

Bronza


Vakardienas Trakums


Ai Nu Lai


Mana Dziesma


Tur Kaut Kam Ir Jābūt


Laikam