Heated discussions were also sparked by the group’s own shared videos in which they perform songs in Russian.
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Some people openly expressed dissatisfaction with the songs performed by the group.
“F*****k off to Moscow with your occupiers’ language,” one writes.
“By the way, is it nice to sing in the occupiers’ language while people are being killed in Kharkiv?” asks another comment.
“Will you delete the unwanted comment again, coward?” asks yet another.
However, there are many comments where the performers are not criticized but politely admired.
“I don’t like it, of course, it’s a matter of taste to promote that Russian culture,” one person writes.
“Songs in Russian on the streets of Vilnius somehow feel unpleasant. Of course, these musicians have nothing to do with Russian aggression, but they sing in the language of a nation that has done a lot of harm to Lithuanians and many other peoples. And today they are killing peaceful people in Ukraine,” another comment reads.
Žmonės.lt also contacted the founder of Street Music Days, Andrius Mamontovas. He does not hide that he sees a problem with songs performed in Russian in Vilnius, but is not sure how this problem should be solved.
“It’s a very complicated issue because you cannot ban languages. People can sing in any language. But, without a doubt, the Russian language currently associates for all of us with Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and therefore it is unacceptable.
I know the challenges organizers face – I can say that consultations were held with the municipality, experts, and even lawyers, but there is no legal way to ban it. And honestly, I don’t even know how it could be stopped,” he told Žmonės.lt.
The performer claims to see a problem in such performances:
“I think if this is soft power usage, also using democracy… the advantages of democracy that do not forbid singing.
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Another thing is the repertoire. What I saw online sounds like a Soviet song. Maybe some lawyer could comment on the legal basis, whether it is possible to legally and legitimately control this somehow. Because illegal methods are hooliganism. I don’t like it, but how legally and legitimately we can deal with it, I don’t know.”
Scandal – already last year
“Loud Fish” is a group of musicians living in Vilnius, popular for street concerts and cover performances in various languages. They actively perform in Lithuania and abroad, and their energetic performances attract a lot of attention both live and on social networks.
Last year, the musicians performed in Klaipėda at the Sea Festival, but a considerable scandal arose on social networks – the performers received much criticism for singing in Russian.
When contacted by the news portal Žmonės.lt, “Loud Fish” said that some statements, in their opinion, crossed the bounds of decency.
“We pay attention to constructive criticism. But comments like: ‘they should be deported,’ ‘throw a Molotov cocktail at their feet,’ or ‘they support the Kremlin’ are difficult to respond to and evaluate. It would be like trying to answer the comment: ‘why is your hair green’ when it actually isn’t. Therefore, we positively evaluate criticism related to our musical abilities. But we negatively evaluate criticism that incites ethnic discord,” “Loud Fish” told the news portal Žmonės.lt.
Although the Russian songs they perform received the most attention, the group’s repertoire is much more diverse.
“Our native languages are Russian and Lithuanian. We plan to sing not only in Russian and Lithuanian but also in Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian groups and performers’ repertoires opposing the war,” “Loud Fish” said.
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