Letter to Stas Pieje (instead of review) Dear Stas! You're very good at working completely in live sound, without a single phonogram. You have a lot of respect for that.
I am happy to note that your voice sounds good – full-blooded, bright, courageous. But you have nothing to sing with this beautiful instrument. There is no repertoire, no program, no directing. And yawning voids between a few successful numbers, you naturally fill with a discussion - free, sincere, sometimes overly frank, but, alas, inept, for the most part empty-worded and at the same time very deliberate.
Why do you read so many of your poems – believe me, they are naive, artless, momentary, they have very little poetry. Such vershees write at the age of 16 almost all boys and girls. Well, if you want to, I read one poem and that's it, basta. Why is it so juicy to talk from the stage about yard boys from their childhood, who threatened to “crush your sides”? Are you in a nightclub or a beer bar with your friends? Does this have anything to do with the content of the songs?
Why are you endlessly admiring the girls present in the hall, even though women of Balzac age and very old ladies are sitting at the concert? And if men like you, some of them prefer your concert to sitting on the TV couch. That is, in your opinion, you need to talk from the stage only about these annoying young fans, and the rest of the audience, what, sideways?
In fact, the singer from the stage is desirable not to say anything. Or speak little, scornfully, and when necessary. The singer must sing. His songs should speak for him. That’s what the audience came to his concert for. If the audience would like to listen to jokes and jokes, they would go to the concert of “Anshlaga!” or Maxim Galkin. But she wanted songs performed by Stas Pieha. And I heard very few decent compositions and too many empty conversations. Speaking of repertoire. Is it true that for so many years of work on the stage, Stas, you have not accumulated at least a dozen good, bright works? “I’ll give you a gift”, “A line in the palm of your hand”, duets with Valery and Grisha Leps and a beautiful, but already pretty much imposed in the teeth “One Star”. Well, maybe two or three more decent jobs I forgot about. That's it! The New Year song, sung by a duet with singer Pasha, was boring and inexpressive. And this is not a duet work, it is solo. There was no duo, just a song together. The composition dedicated to the incomparable Edita Stanislavovna was also very mediocre. Your grandmother deserves a much more melodic, slager and much better arranged thing. You, of course, can not remember (due to age I do not remember), but Edita Pieha in your years was a singer No. 1 on the Soviet stage.
And here on this repertory fishlessness, in order to fill the concert time, you have passing duets with a certain Mark Yusin, with the same incomprehensible from where Pasha came... Then you sing “Clean Ponds” in memory of Igor Talkov, perform a medley of legendary rock hits that have more than an indirect relationship to you. And over the years, you should already accumulate your full-fledged hits - those that would become business cards! Such as for your grandmother appeared in their time "Bus of the Chervon", "Wreath of the Danube", "It's great", "Veronica", "Birch Land" and many others. You can't rent music. And if you do cover versions of famous hits, then they should be done so that everyone gets goosebumps.
Meanwhile, you keep talking and talking and talking from the stage. You turn in all directions, roll around the stage like on a skating rink, jump on one leg, toss and catch the microphone (this trick Leps probably taught you?)... And the audience, already small (initially gathered a maximum of two-thirds of the audience), everything goes out and out – who goes to the toilet, who smokes, and who – go home. And you shout at her, "Goodbye, see you next time!" And the next time may not be – these listeners, most likely, went to look for a new idol.
Yeah, you have a good team of musicians. They're young, talented. But you have to rehearse and rehearse. In some songs, it is worth adding convex solo guitar losses, few keyboards are heard. Musicians still lack cohesion, playfulness, but this is a lucrative business. Pay attention to the sound of your voice. Do not relax, so that there is not, especially at the top, a note with a fake. Mild vocal negligence is, of course, sometimes forgivable, but not always appropriate. Remember that you work not in a club for a drunken audience, but in a solid concert hall. Yeah, and your other weakness is the stage suit. Well, Stas, you know, I CANNOT go on stage in a regular summer white shirt with a short (!) sleeve under the gray classic trousers! This form of clothing is simply old-fashioned. This is the 60s of the last century. And you are a modern fashionable young artist.
By the way, I don't understand why your hair hasn't changed for so long. I don't know who came up with this ridiculous bangs and these carelessly slicked liquid strands covering your cheeks and ears, but it is, in my opinion, ugly and unstyled. Why do you keep covering your ears so carefully, they are protruding and you are ashamed of it? However, if you like this pot on your head, please wear it. The main thing is that the fans scream...
But there's still a resource, Stas, and it's in your talent. Singer's talent. In your sincerity, in your "presentity." But all these valuable human and professional qualities must be put to the service of one thing: BECOME ARTIST. In the highest sense of the word. That is, it is necessary not to be "his own in the board" guy on the stage (and in life "his own in the board" to be not always good), namely, an artist. And the artist is always a little above the viewer, over everyday life, over everyday life. A true artist is always a mystery, always a dream. And here a textbook example for you should be the stage life of your grandmother. Talk to her more, listen to her recordings, watch videos and invite her to your concerts more often.
I'm sure you'll have some real success. I wish you relentless search, aspiration for development and good health. Be happy...