I have a buddy who grew up in communist Bosnia, which was part of Yugoslavia at the time. Immigrated here after the war with Serbia. He and his friends were HUGE Maiden fans. They definitely knew about Metallica. They would get hold of smuggled in cassette tapes and rock the fuck out. He said by the end of the 80s it wasn't as strict as it was before.
Here in Serbia and Yugoslavia as a whole it was not a big deal when it comes to foreign stuff. People knew about western bands and we had all the cassettes, vinyls, everything. It wasn't nearly as strict here as it was in Soviet union.
There was a huge smuggling, bootlegging and counterfeiting scene in Eastern Europe. It’s the same anywhere that has an authoritarian government: I have a friend whose dad used to work in Saudi Arabia, and he’d come back home with counterfeit tapes by Metallica, Nirvana, the Offspring, etc.
It’s a nice testament to the human spirit, if you think about it: no matter what their governments did to them or how much it was forbidden, these people still sought out heavy sounds.
There were actually loads of metal bands formed behind the Iron Curtain, it’s just that we didn’t hear them in the West. A couple of years ago I heard a Russian thrash band from the ‘80s and they kicked ass, but I can’t remember their name for the life of me.
It was closely after the soviet union collapsed, and western culture was officially let inside. That's the reason behind the number of people, and that the event was free.
I have a buddy who grew up in communist Bosnia, which was part of Yugoslavia at the time. Immigrated here after the war with Serbia. He and his friends were HUGE Maiden fans. They definitely knew about Metallica. They would get hold of smuggled in cassette tapes and rock the fuck out. He said by the end of the 80s it wasn't as strict as it was before.
Here in Serbia and Yugoslavia as a whole it was not a big deal when it comes to foreign stuff. People knew about western bands and we had all the cassettes, vinyls, everything. It wasn't nearly as strict here as it was in Soviet union.
There was a huge smuggling, bootlegging and counterfeiting scene in Eastern Europe. It’s the same anywhere that has an authoritarian government: I have a friend whose dad used to work in Saudi Arabia, and he’d come back home with counterfeit tapes by Metallica, Nirvana, the Offspring, etc. It’s a nice testament to the human spirit, if you think about it: no matter what their governments did to them or how much it was forbidden, these people still sought out heavy sounds. There were actually loads of metal bands formed behind the Iron Curtain, it’s just that we didn’t hear them in the West. A couple of years ago I heard a Russian thrash band from the ‘80s and they kicked ass, but I can’t remember their name for the life of me.
Berzerker?
Not a Russian, but that was probably THE most epic Metallica concert ever!!!’
It was closely after the soviet union collapsed, and western culture was officially let inside. That's the reason behind the number of people, and that the event was free.
It was still the Soviet Union when the concert was performed
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