Two and a half hours of “brainstorming” is not enough for many
From November 24, in about ten screenings in Riga, as well as in the cinemas of Valmiera and Liepāja, one can see the recording of the “Prāta vētra” tour “A year without a calendar” from the concert at Mežaparka’s Great Stage, which is also called ” Prāta vētra. A year without a scheduled concert in Mežapark”. The recording director is Kaspars Roga, the drummer of “Pratnieku”, and the editing director is Juris Matuzelis. A total of 29 songs and their performances, which will take 2 hours and 25 minutes to watch – it must be said right away that it will not be one of the easiest jobs for impatient guys. “The response from the public was good, especially for the first screening (it was held on November 24th at the “Apollo Kino Plaza”, and before that you could also meet, shake hands and take a picture with the men of “Prāta vetra ” themselves – photos), but in Valmiera and Liepāja it was also very good. People liked it,” comments the general director of “Prāta vētras” Aija Auškāpa laconically on the success of the record.
Aija also cited an example: her godmother, who is 79 years old, went to the “PV” concert in Jelgava, but now, when she went to see the recording of the concert, she said that “something like this can only be seen from heaven” – looked at the recording again. About the view from the sky – it can be translated in several ways, because the many drones and cameras now allow you to perfectly observe the concert from above. “When autumn (well, winter – aut.) comes, I just want to go back to the warm August evening when we met at the concert in Mežapark. With this concert recording, we remind ourselves and the audience of the lakes of light throughout Latvia, of singing together and of the joy of meeting again at concerts after a four-year break”, says “Prāta vētra”.
Resurrecting emotions is difficult, catching new feelings is easy
The “lakes of light” directed by Jānis Jubalt and also other shots shot from the stage, aimed at the huge crowd of around 45,000 listeners, are one of the main elements that make this record worth seeing, because no matter how beautiful the places Surely you have not seen anything like this on the Mežaparka stage. In the recording, you can see in detail how Renard Kauper “stimulates” the audience, with what dedication he sings and also that he is a fan of inappropriately shorts that he doesn’t wear socks… You can see how elegantly Jubalt plays the lead guitar and the violent and diabolical way of Nelli acting Drummer tandem of Bubujanca and Kaspar Roga. It is much better to perceive the perfect bass playing of Ingaras Viļumas and appreciate the rap skills of Mārs Mikhelson. You can finally see the infinitely beautiful backing vocalists of “PV” (Linda Anete Rušeniec, Una Daniela Aizgale and Gabriela Zvaigznīte) and the no less beautiful “Tautumeitas” in the foreground. You can finally see who those happy girls were, whose Renars mobile sang almost a whole song at the concert.
The reviewer failed to revive the emotions captured at the concerts in Valmiera and/or Riga, but it was still not bad – watching such a concert on the big screen is quite an interesting experience. Although before the screening “smart people” invited you to feel like you were at a concert – to sing along, even dance, and even “go to the buffet if you get bored”, only a few took advantage of such opportunities, because it is not accepted in cinemas. So perhaps the program to watch could have been shortened, for example by removing “Earth Hour” and/or Gustavo’s performance, which was inappropriate in the general context, perhaps they could have added some “vigilance” in the form of video clips behind the scenes, but – as it is, it is.
Group donation for their own archive and preservation of emotions
Currently, registration is available in the video section of the group’s website, where it is possible to purchase access rights for streaming for six months or a year: this enjoyment costs €9.69 for six months, €12.10 for a year. “PV” had a similar offer last year as well, when the concert film “A Year Without a Calendar” could be obtained in the same way. The “intellectuals” themselves rate it more as an experiment in terms of content, but the number of unique views was close to 3000, which can be considered a quite acceptable number. “The response has been good, especially considering the fact that people in Latvia and around the world are slowly getting used to the fact that they have to pay for the content that’s on their computers,” Aija agrees. This time, however, it was decided to offer interested parties only the recording of the concert, without background, interviews and other additional bonuses. “Using the capabilities of the cameras, there was so much to see and so much information to give to the audience that it wasn’t even necessary to tell about the tour or the concert,” says Aija.
It must be admitted that “PV” surprised the unprepared with this release: it had never been heard before that such a disc was in the group’s plans. “We also recorded, filmed and released the last concerts from previous tours in some format,” recalls Aija. “With the physical distribution of DVDs dwindling and the opportunities to recoup the investment and earn something with such an edition, it has already become something of a gift to ourselves. That’s why we – with me in the lead – have doubted for long time as needed [to izdot], because the cost of shooting and editing is very high. However, not long after, literally about two weeks before the Mežaparks concert, we realized that – no, we have to film it! If only so that it was preserved and available in our archive. Single stage, program, first [“Prāta vētras”] concert in the renovated Mežaparks stage – these are several reasons why we finally decided in favor of this record. Money doesn’t always decide everything. I wanted to record the emotions that reigned in this concert.”
A vacation for which the time has not yet been found
Before the concert tour, Aija Auškāpa told the reviewer of ‘PV’s’ future plans that ‘after that we will have time for creative rehearsals and expressions, through which our future vision and the path we will follow will crystallize’. The tour is over, what is the vision for the future and the path forward? “In fact, we haven’t done such a big sit-in yet”, admits the general manager of “Prāta vētra”. “We took a little vacation, but even that hasn’t started yet, because so far we have been working on recording a concert and an Estonian film with Renard’s participation is also coming soon (on December 4, the children’s adventure film “Eric Stoneheart” will premiere in Tallinn, where Renard took on the role of a pirate – aut.), so not they still met to discuss and develop a detailed plan. We’re looking at Lithuania, we’re looking at Poland, we’re looking at new markets that could be interesting for us.”
Whatever happens with future plans and markets, one thing is clear – on July 22, 2023, “Brainstorm” will be seen and heard live again – in Liepāja, Daugava Stadium. So next year will also be “Year without a calendar”!
