Picnic (band)

For the Spanish band, see Pic-Nic.

Picnic
Edmund Shklyarskiy of Picnic wearing a dark shirt, pants, and cap, with black sunglasses, playing electric guitar on an outdoor stage, with drummer behind him
Frontman Edmund Shklyarskiy in 2013
Background information
OriginLeningrad, Soviet Union
Genres
Years active1978 (1978)–present
Members
  • Edmund Shklyarskiy
  • Leonid Kirnos
  • Marat Korchemny
  • Stanislav Shklyarskiy
Past membersSee band members
Websitepiknik.info
Picnic in concert at Ramenskoye, 2022

Picnic (Russian: Пикник), or Piknik, is a Russian rock band known for its unique style, a mixture of art rock, progressive rock and original Russian rock. The band was formed in 1978 in Leningrad,[1] though the members consider the band's official starting point to be Edmund Shklyarsky's arrival, in 1981, or the year the first album was recorded—1982.[2]

Some of their early songs are in Polish, due to Shklyarsky's paternal heritage.[3][4]

In 2016, the band was barred from playing in Ukraine due to their performance in Crimea after it was annexed by Russia.[5][6][7]

Music critic Andrei Burlaka notes the group as a cult phenomenon in Russian rock music.[8]

Picnic were set to perform at the Crocus City Hall on 22 March 2024 before a terrorist attack took place there, killing 145 people.[9][10] On the afternoon of 24 March, it became known that Ekaterina Kushner, the assistant to the director of the group, had died in the attack.[11]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference last was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Interview with Piknik". inyourpocket.com. 25 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Эдмунд Шклярский спел на польском языке". Nashe Radio (in Russian). 27 August 2019.
  4. ^ "15 фактов о группе Пикник". SkyRock (in Russian). 26 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Музыканты группы "Пикник": "нам плевать на санкции"" [The musicians of Piknik: "we do not care about the sanctions"]. РИА Крым (in Russian). 13 August 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Знаменитые российские рокеры приехали в оккупированный Крым "поплевать на санкции": появилось видео" [Famous Russian rockers have come to the occupied Crimea "spit on sanctions": there was a video]. news.online.ua (in Russian). 15 August 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  7. ^ "United Nations A/RES/68/262 General Assembly" (PDF). United Nations. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  8. ^ Игорь Фадеев (10 December 2009). "«Пикник» не на обочине". Весть.
  9. ^ "Death toll from concert hall attack in Russia's Moscow region rises to 144". Anadolu Agency. 29 March 2024. Archived from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Moscow attack latest: At least 40 dead at concert hall, says Russian intelligence service". BBC News. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Помощница директора группы "Пикник" погибла при теракте в "Крокусе"". РИА Новости (in Russian). 24 March 2024.