Singing capybara – what was Tatu’s performance at a football match

On a small stage above the bowl of the stadium, right in front of Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina, there was such a fence of people with filming equipment that it looked like a meme: “Don’t scare me, these are the last ones! Specially brought from the reserve.

Federal news agencies began to promote the “reunion of the Tatu group for one evening” two weeks before the landmark match between Zenit and Spartak. A poster with Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina flashed in social networks. Commentators made assumptions: “everything for the money”, “there will be a set of five songs”, “they promise a concert”. The most advanced posted photos of a pregnant Rihanna performing at the Super Bowl after a five-year hiatus from concerts. But Rihanna then gave out as many as 12 of her hits, balancing on a flying platform. And in the case of Tatu, the timing, as it were, hinted that it was not worth rolling the lip: the group’s exit was scheduled just ten minutes before the start of the match.

It cannot be said that Tatu was waiting for the stadium. Yes, they met with applause, they also saw off, but they stared more like a curiosity, and not at the idols of youth, and clearly did not catch up with the meaning of what was happening. If a singing capybara were brought on stage, the effect on the mimemeter scale would be about the same.

The last time the duo “reunited” was in September 2022 in Minsk. Then the fans also complained that the performance came out very short. But compared to what St. Petersburg saw on May 7, it was a real show: the singers arrived at the Dynamo stadium on a fuel truck, just like in their cult video, and performed three hits: “All The Things She Said”, “Not believe, don’t be afraid, don’t ask” and “They won’t overtake us!”.

Gazprom Arena got only one, the last one.

And in general, by all indications, this was the last performance of the group.

“Tattoos”, who always chose images for the stage, if not the same, then at least in the same style or, in the very extreme case, in the same color scheme, this time they looked like characters from different jokes.

Lena Katina, on the penultimate month of pregnancy, appeared in blue trousers as wide as the Baltic sky and an open sports jacket. Yulia Volkova, in a silvery miniskirt, seemed to roll up her windbreaker on purpose to expose her flat stomach.

A women’s choir in strict black dresses lined up behind the girls. It seems that he sang mostly. Meanwhile, on the football field, to the unequivocal “They won’t catch up with us!” there was an organized choreographic procession of equally dressed athletic teenagers who, due to their age, did not catch the time when the “black” and “red” from Tatu kissed during their performances at every opportunity. From December 5, 2022, we recall that it costs 800 thousand rubles for individuals and officials and up to 10 million rubles for legal entities. Ironically, this is exactly how much – about 10 million each – the rumor attributed to the girls for last year’s fifteen-minute show in Minsk.

And young people probably didn’t remember how on February 25, 2003, Tatu performed in long sleeves with an obscene pacifist slogan, a direct citation of which today would lead Themis into double awe. Then the girls had in mind the war in Iraq, for which the United States was preparing with might and main, and demonstrated their slogans during the performance of the song “All the Things She Said” on the American NBC channel. Today, no one would even begin to understand: an undisguised mate, multiplied by defamatory words. And then this demonstration significantly raised the rating of Tatu among the Western, mainly American, public. And obviously boosted sales of merch and CDs.

On the other hand, the fans of Zenit could not help but pay attention to where exactly on May 7 Tatu sang their swan song. The stage for variety performances was wedged into the very place where, once in a past life, huge, scary, bare-chested men under blue-white-blue flags beat gigantic drums and yelled chants in unison. Before the introduction of the ill-fated Fan ID system, there was a fan sector here. And now they’re chanting “Need a goal!” and sing “Katyusha” after the ball against the “Zenith” middle-aged women and students. But literally everyone is allowed into the sector. You don’t even need to show your ticket.

So what was it anyway?

Probably another visualization of the inscription from King Solomon’s ring: “This too shall pass.”