The photographer of the Leningrad Rock Club showcased unknown photos of stars from the 80s and 90s.

      May 28, 2026 16:24 Culture and Leisure Natalia Vasilieva-Hall is a witness to a unique era. She was born in 1954 in Leningrad. She received an education in "library science," but dropped out two months before graduation and became a photographer for the Leningrad Rock Club. As reported by "KP-Petersburg," Natalia captured all the club's concerts and took portraits of the iconic musicians of that time. After the collapse of the USSR, she moved to England, where she became the first Russian photographer accredited to shoot the Rolling Stones. However, Russia remained in her heart. She regularly returns to Petersburg to meet with friends, fans, and journalists. Rock Club: from underground concerts to official status Natalia recounts that rock music in the USSR existed since the mid-70s. It was known to a narrow circle of people, and the authorities did not interfere. However, the situation changed when young people in jeans and girls in mini-skirts began attending concerts. Neighbors started complaining, and it became necessary to open a rock club on Rubinstein Street. Young Tsoi and Kinchev offstage were quite different. Photo: Alexey Bulatov/ "KP-Petersburg" Despite its official status, club members regularly faced legal issues. Natalia herself once spent a night in the police station. "The late 80s. I am a young mother with a child. It’s perestroika outside, the economy is in ruins. I worked as a kindergarten teacher, a cleaner, and sold photos of musicians at concerts. One photo cost three rubles, two cost five rubles. And there was always a line for me. The policemen were furious, of course, because I never paid them, and once I was detained. I had a pocket full of money and photos of Tsoi and Kinchev, who were on the blacklist at that time. And in the photos, they were with bottles – and this was during Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign... In general, I spent the whole night in the police station, and in the morning there was a trial. They let me go," the photographer shared her memories. Kinchev sleeping at the station and the gloomy Tsoi Natalia witnessed the creation of the band "Alice." Konstantin Kinchev was then sleeping at the Moscow railway station, having come from Moscow and without a place to stay. At the first rehearsal, she realized that a future rock star was before her. "Many years later, Konstantin reminded me of this, saying that I was the first who believed in him." In the dressing room before the concert of "Alice" Photo: Alexey Bulatov/ "KP-Petersburg" Over time, many musicians, having befriended Natalia, often visited her Leningrad apartment, which served as an amateur photo studio. This place gathered the main figures of Russian rock: Kinchev, Tsoi, Kuryokhin, and others. Natalia's archive still holds photographs where the band "Kino" hangs on a Swedish wall found by her ex-husband in a dumpster. In other photos, Tsoi and his colleagues pose in costumes taken from the circus. Pyotr Mamonov was already a legendary artist back then Photo: Alexey Bulatov/ "KP-Petersburg" Later, musicians often came to visit Natalia – specifically to take photos. In her pictures, Tsoi is always cheerful and smiling. However, after 1988, he became gloomy in photographs. "This is the main myth about Viktor, created by journalists. Supposedly he was all gloomy and mysterious. No! He was very cheerful. It’s just that when he was interviewed, they asked all sorts of nonsense, and he would shut down. And they couldn’t ask anything else because they didn’t understand what rock music was: just recently, these journalists wrote scathing articles about musician loafers, and now they were interviewing the same musicians as stars," explained Natalia Vasilieva-Hall. The wedding of Kasparyan and Stingray Natalia vividly remembers the wedding of Yuri Kasparyan from the band "Kino" and American Joanna Stingray. It was a grand event for the entire rock community, with American relatives of the bride arriving in Leningrad... However, the concert that Joanna was supposed to organize did not take place. "The reason was the Russian feast: the guests got so drunk so quickly that they had no strength left for the performance," the photographer revealed the details. The performances of "Pop Mechanics" by Sergey Kuryokhin left a lasting impression Photo: Alexey Bulatov/ "KP-Petersburg" NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" has channels on Telegram and MAX. Subscribe to stay updated on major events, exclusive materials, and timely information. Copyright © 1999—2025 NIA "Nizhny Novgorod". When reprinting, a hyperlink to NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" is mandatory. This resource may contain materials 18+