Prāta Vētra closed off their Latvian concert tour with a huge show at Skonto Stadium in Rīga on 17th August. A crowd in excess of 25,000 gathered to see their two and a half hour performance. The show was recorded for an upcoming DVD to be released in November. Earlier that evening the crowd was warmed up by D.J. Toms Grēviņš, followed by a fresh uplifting set by pop-rock group The Sound Poets.

Prāta Vētra took the stage at precisely 21:30 according to schedule and embarked on a 24 song set that featured material from their two latest albums. The show opened with the energetic song “Mēles”, one of few fast songs on the new album Vēl vienā klusā daba. The third song in the set “Bronza” featured Latvian BMX Olympians Rihards Veide, Edžus Treimanis and gold medal winner Māris Štrombergs riding onto the stage catwalk with their BMX bikes in full uniform.

“Nakamā nodaļa”, a beautiful, slow song showcased a duet between lead singer Renārs Kaupers and Evija Smagare, a young and talented singer from Daugavpils.  “Ko tu vēl domā” which is also from the latest album Vēl viena klusā daba is probably one of the groups shortest songs coming in at 2 minutes and 12 seconds and because of this it was a sure reprise candidate, during which the all-girl background singing trio “Limonāde” (Kristīne Tkačuka, Ieva Katkovska & Iluta Valtere) got to shine in their short yellow dresses. The first half of the show was ended by a couple of songs sung in Russian which surprisingly made a lot of the crowd sing along. Some jeers and whistles were heard by fans in the crowd which found it rather tasteless for a Latvian group to perform songs in Russian in Latvia.

After a small pause the show continued with the group emerging in white NASA overalls playing their new single “Lantern”.  Riding two small movable platforms from either side of the stage, singer Renārs Kaupers, drummer Kaspars Roga and bassist Ingars Viļums met keyboardist Māris Mihelsons and guitarist Jānis Jubalts at the center point of the catwalk that extended out in the public.  This five song mid-portion of the concert was very disco-beat-influenced and had a pre-recorded rhythm track underneath the “live music”.

The crowd became ecstatic when rapper Gustavo jumped up on the catwalk stage on “Tur kaut kam ir jābūt”. Kaupers and Gustavo exchanged vocal parts and were joined by the background singers, probably the high point of the entire show. A medley of older hits in this disco version followed and a large group of extras gathered on the stage with lanterns and at one point the white suits had fluorescent strips when the stage lights were turned off – a nice effect well received by the crowd.

The last part of the show had older, classic hits. The group now performing “live” in regular stage clothes played megahits such as “Lec” “Rudens” and “Spogulīts” (Jubalts solo song).
“Četri krasti” and “Īssavienojums” which had an extra never-released verse ended the show, before the group emerged to play two new songs for the encore. Many people had already left or were in the process of leaving the stadium when the group re-emerged one last time to play one of their largest hits “Lidmašīnas” from the Veronika album. People danced and cheered as this song was performed.  Concert sound was crystal clear thanks to soundman Tālis Timrots.

The following night an additional privately-sponsored concert was played by the group at the same venue where the repertoire featured older, more classical material. In total some 89.000 people saw the concert tour including the last private show on Saturday, according to band manager Guna Zučika.

The infamous “Siege of Sidney Street” of January 1911, in which a pair of armed Latvian anarchists held off British police and soldiers until they perished in a fire, left an enduring mystery: Who was Peter the Painter?

Anarchist historian Philip Ruff (Filips Rufs) has finally answered that question in the new book, Pa stāvu liesmu debesīs, published this week by Rīga-based Dienas Grāmata.

Peter the Painter was assumed to be the leader of a Latvian anarchist cell operating in London’s East End, but questions about his identity and whereabouts dogged British authorities and authors for decades, leading to both fiction and non-fiction accounts of his exploits. But as Ruff tells it, he was the first one to travel to Latvia to seek a definitive answer.

Peter the Painter was in fact Jānis Žākle, a well-known anarchist leader in Rīga who fled the city with his compatriots after a number of terroristic attacks in 1906 made them the focus of Czarist authorities.

In London, he was in charge of a small band of Latvians who in December 1910 attempted to break into a jewelry shop. Their effort failed when police were alerted to loud noises coming from the building next door. Rather than surrendering, the Latvians opened fire and killed three officers. One of their own also was fatally wounded.

The manhunt that ensued led to the Jan. 3, 1911, siege of 100 Sidney Street, where two of the gang were holed up. The gunfight lasted several hours until the house caught fire and the two men died. Among those on the scene was Winston Churchill, who at the time was Britain’s home secretary.

However, Peter the Painter remained at large. Ruff’s research into Žākle’s true identity as well as the social history of the Latvian anarchists began in the 1980s. It has taken him to various sources in Britain and Latvia. Ruff even learned the Latvian language so that he could perform his research, but his Latvian-born wife, Irēne Huls, has helped, too.

Ruff wrote the book in English. It was translated to Latvian by Lauris Gundars. The 288-page book is illustrated with photographs from British, Latvian and personal archives.

The north side of the Empire State Building in New York City will be illuminated with the colors of Latvia’s flag the night of Aug. 7, according to the structure’s official website.

The tribute is part of the building management’s celebration of the 2012 London Olympics. Sharing the spotlights will be Colombia on the west side, Uzbekistan on the south and Ethiopia on the east.

The other two Baltic nations will be highlighted Aug. 10, with Lithuania’s flag colors viewable on the north side and Estonia’s on the south.

The building, which opened in 1931, is owned by investor Peter L. Malkin.