BG concert in New York, Webster Hall, May 17, 2026

What a delightful Sunday. Pasha Korniliev drove me to Harrison NJ. We have been living in Corning for 27 years now, went to New York City probably a hundred times, and still I did not know that there is PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) train, sort of like a subway, that takes you from NJ to Manhattan. Twenty minutes from Harrison, and we are at the new World Trade Center. We had a fantastic dinner at the Ukranian restaurant Veselka, all the famous dishes, borscht, pierogi, cabbage rolls, and then headed to the Webster Hall.

The concert exceeded my expectations by far. For some reason I thought BG lost his voice. He did not. Maybe it is not as silky as when he was 20 years old, but still strong and expressive. His current band is also quite good. Brian Finnegan with his four different flutes was amazing.

Konstantin Tumanov, on the keyboards and accordion, was equally amazing, and irreplaceable Alexander Titov (I believe he was with the Aquarium since 1972) on the bass guitar was also there.

The boss himself was playing most of the songs sitting in his chair, but eventually could not quite contain himself, jumped up, and started dancing! The crowd was ecstatic.

Too bad that the violinist did not get the visa and was absent. But it made the flute, accordion, and percussion stand out even more. We really did not want to let them go!

But everything good ends, and by 11pm we were out of the Webster Hall. Pasha left back to Corning (and managed to be home by 3am), and I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn and returned home by bus on Monday.