TOTAL BALALAIKA SHOW (1993) – part 10 of 11 ——————– — “Glory Hallelujah” ======================================== Russia’s renowned Alexandrov Red Army Ensemble jams with Finland’s outlandish rockers the Leningrad Cowboys. The odd pairing of these two groups results in an inspiring collaboration. The concert took place on 12 June 1993 on Senate Square in Helsinki, Finland. The event drew a crowd of approximately 70000 people from two nations – Finland and Russia – that had been engaged in a state of “peaceful coexistence” during the Cold War. The concert featured an eclectic mix of Western rock and Russian folk music, including a balalaika rendition of “Stairway to Heaven”, and folk dancers performing to rock songs. ======================================== The Leningrad Cowboys is a Finnish rock and roll band famous for it’s humorous songs and concerts featuring the Soviet Red Army Choir. Currently, the band has eleven Cowboys and two Leningrad Ladies. The songs, all somewhat influenced by polka and progressive rock, and performed in English, have themes such as ‘vodka’, ‘tractors’, ‘rockets’, and ‘Genghis Khan’, as well as folkloric Russian songs, rock and roll ballads and covers from bands as diverse as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, all with lots of humour. ———————————– TheRed Army Choir (Choir Aleksandrov) is a performing ensemble that served as the official army choir of the former Soviet Union’s Red Army. The …