Yes, unfortunately it was the very last gig ASHEN LIGHT took part in. The reasons? I guess, Alex (guitars) would explain you why the hell it happened better, since it was him who actually made the band to become defunct.
Earlier that morning I called Alex (another one... the guy who plays(ed) keyboards in ASHEN LIGHT) and asked him whether it's possible for me to attend this gig for free or not. Thousand hails to him, since he made it possible.
And, therefore, I approached U2 at 18:00, feeling a bit worried that I may be late or whatever. No, I wasn't. In fact, no one was. The show began almost two hours later than it had to be, and don't ask me why, since I have no explanation at all.
Anyway, it wasn't really boring to sit outside and wait until the doors are open all this time, moreover - pretty amusing. A couple of freaks (with Stas (ex-GALGEN) among them) were marching across the whole place holding banners stating various idiocy like "Ashen Light развалился, выпить повод появился" or "Прощайте, Пепсы"... Needless to say, it caused nothing but a good laughter.
And hey men, the show was going on! I've met Lazar and Kniaz' from ROSSOMAHAAR who also decided to visit this gig, and together we have witnessed oh such a precious picture! Two guys (one of them tall, wearing spectacles and leather jacket, and another one small, wearing "bomber") must have been drunk as fuck, so they decided to figure out who's the real Conan here and started the fight... Or more likely, a parody on what's called a fight between two grown-up (?) men. I've counted on the "jacket", while Lazar - on the "bomber" guy. Well, sad to say, but my "stake" first was beaten up by the opponent, and then... Then this moron decided that if can't kick "bomber's" ass, he has to try it with policeman. Should I really tell you what was the outcome?
Then we beheld yet one more fight, although this time a bit of different sort. Have you ever heard about the "bottle-hunters" tribe? Definitely you had - at least if you live in Moscow. These worthless creatures pick up the empty beer bottles and then sell 'em at ridiculous price, earning some bucks to live on. Poor wretched beings. But that's not the point. The point is, two of them discovered that the ground near U2 was pretty good for perfoming Russian equivalent to WCW (World Championship Wrestling; check it out on Sundays at "TNT" channel). And so we kept on bitterfully laughing watching this circus...
Oh, what the hell, let's finally talk about the gig.
When we entered the building, going down and checking out what the hell is happening at the stage, was the last thing I wanted to do. So, together with Pavel (guitars in STONEHENGE) we had a couple of sets in pool, and that was definitely better than watching (and listening to) NEOTRUTH (who were the first ones to play that evening) performing their rather mediocre mixture of mid-paced death / doom / black metal.
If I'm not mistaken, AZEROTH were next. If you've already checked out the review on their latest offering, "Live In Polygon" MC, you should know that I won't be able to state anything negative regarding their performance. Undoubtedly stunning, that's my opinion. Hope it wasn't the last gig in Moscow they participated in.
Further on, we beheld a band whose name I can't recall at the moment (sorry). Probably STIGMATA, or something like that. This combo delivered rather enjoyable amalgamation of doom and black metal, and even though I can't say I got high on it, I still don't consider the time I spent near the stage during STIGMATA's set wasted.
Finally... no, I won't say that "finally GODS TOWER have entered the stage" and such, because these cult Belorussian heathens couldn't come to Moscow and take part in this concert, and I still don't know why. A pity, indeed.
Instead ASHEN LIGHT have conquered the stage. Unfortunately, they obviously weren't in the perfect shape; therefore, their set left much to be desired, especially taking into account the fact it was their last one.
And lastly, I feel like I have to admit that the sound was surprisingly bad, almost horrible (so maybe that's the reason explaining why ASHEN LIGHT's performance didn't excite me the way it had to?). Moreover, U2 isn't the place to arrange the black metal gigs at, that's for sure.