Outside the Bounds of Dimension: Why Yegor Letov Is Not What He Seems
Wednesday 7. May at 19:00 - 22:00
Doors open at 18:30
Laska Bar, Riga
To many, Grazhdanskaya Oborona is just dirty punk for drunk kids in Soviet stairwells. Its founder, Yegor Letov, is remembered as a man of bleak convictions— a preacher of hate and suicide — whose songs were little more than three chords and a barrage of obscenities. A man, too, of alarming inconsistency: first denouncing the Soviet Union, then aligning himself with nationalists and calling for the overthrow of democratic institutions.
Even now, more than a decade and a half after Letov’s death, this version of him still dominates the conversation.
But each of these stereotypes begins to fall apart under scrutiny — from the idea that Letov was a punk at all, to the notion that his ideological shifts lacked coherence. There was a logic to his transformation, and a structure beneath the chaos.
This summer, Alexander Gorbachev’s book "He Saw the Sun. Yegor Letov and His Time" will be released — an extension of his earlier podcast of the same name — offering a completely different perspective on the creator of “Grazhdanskaya Oborona”: as a witty, imaginative figure whose strategies and ideas remain relevant to Russian-speaking audiences even in 2025; as a cultured intellectual who carried forward the traditions of the Russian avant-garde and succeeded in bringing them to the broadest possible audience.
On May 7, there will be a special teaser lecture tied to the release of the book.
Alexander will aim to debunk the myths surrounding “Grazhdanskaya Oborona” and prove that Letov’s work is not primitive punk, but complex conceptual art. He’ll also share a few rare and perhaps unheard anecdotes from Letov’s life.
Alexander Gorbachev is a journalist, music critic, editor, screenwriter, and publisher. He is the author of the podcast He Saw the Sun about Yegor Letov and of a forthcoming book of the same name, scheduled for release in the summer of 2025. Formerly the editor-in-chief of Afisha magazine, he has also worked as an editor at Meduza and Holod.
Gorbachev is the co-author of several books, including Songs into the Void, about the lost generation of 1990s Russian rock; No Need to Be Shy, a history of post-Soviet pop music; and One for All, chronicling the story of Moscow’s Spartak football club in the 1990s. He also created and co-wrote the documentary series The Spartak Era.
He is currently the editor-in-chief of the StraightForward Foundation, a project that supports the creation and publication of uncensored nonfiction about Russia.
🗓 May 7, 19:00
📍 Laska Bar
Vagonu Street 21
The lecture will be held in Russian.
After the purchase, a confirmation email with a QR code will be sent to your inbox. If you don't see the email, please make sure to check your spam folder.
Laska Bar • Vagonu iela 21, LV-1009 Riga, Riga, Latvia
