A 6 hour soundcheck rolled on into the first show. It was one loud crowd! Climbing over each other, circle pitting like a dust devil and chanting the lyrics at the top of their lungs. This flows into the very veins of the band and the connection becomes like an electric current!
Khabarovsk was the next city to conquer. It’s located in the Far East of Russia. A bustling city, full of all nationalities. The crowd was so deafening, again! It’s breathtaking when they become one with the band! Max and Iggor decided to treat them and give them a little taste of some classics from Morbid Visions and Roots!
Next stop, Novosibirsk! A heavily wooded area of Siberia, stunning in the autumn foliage. A large crystal wolf and Genghis Khan greeted us in the airport. Travel south and you may make it to Mongolia!
Yekaterinburg is our home today. This is a solemn city to Russian history seekers such as myself. The deadly last stop for Tsar Nicholas II and his family. It was here that the Bolsheviks exiled the royal family and kept them captive until one fateful night when they were mercilessly murdered. Never did I even dream to stand in the wooded area where their bodies were buried but history can become reality with a bit of determination...and here I stood today. Surrounded by the beauty of a forest of birch trees and wildflowers, rich frankincense filtering through the air, a honey bee rested on my thumb and nibbled ever so slightly. A pinch reminding me of a dark gruesome night 98 years ago that I had only seen in the pages of books. Max and I stood at the grave site.
Going back to the city, I wanted to buy our little Remi her baptism outfit. Max and I went downtown to the Church of the Spilled Blood. A massive cathedral erected over the site of the Romanov family’s murder. Once a home turned into a prison for the family, Ex President Yeltsin had it destroyed and the Russian Orthodox Church had it rebuilt into a place of remembrance. There was a priest singing hymns with a small group of worshippers when we arrived.
Back at the hotel, Max putting his new vest on; fans lacing their boots, and the Beneath backdrop being hoisted, we are readying for another Time Travel.....a gift to our Tribe. What goes around, comes around....and Beneath the Remains Arises again!
Class dismissed.....
