Vaiciushkevich's Christmas concert banned by authorities

Zmicier's Vaiciushkevich's Christmas concert, scheduled for January 12 at the MAZ house of culture, will not take place. The Minsk city authorities had held off until they decided not to grant a permit for the gig, pointing at the irregularities in the agreement between the venue and the organizer - it had allegedlly been concluded without taking into account the new financial situation in the country.

According to the musician, the permit was delayed by Minsk City Hall deliberately. Ideology officials needed not less than  three weeks to familiarize themselves with the texts of Vaiciushkevich's songs, written by the Belarusian literature classic Henadz Buraukin. On January 12, the musician was to premier his latest album "Varanok" based on the lirics by Buraukin.

"Obviously, they were taking time to find reasons for justifying their decision to deny the permit. I don't know why. It just shows once again who is the master in the house," says Zmicier.

Euroradio reminds that the first concert after four years on the black list took place with support of Euroradio at the Sharko house of culture in Minsk on October 29. It was a total success. The concert was in memory of poets Ryhor Baradulin and Henadz Buraukin who passed away eariler this year. "It may be the last concert. So, I should play it together with an orchestra," joked the musician. Saddly, it turns out he was right.