Beethoven’s “Ode To Joy” is almost preternaturally uplifting, but if one version of it is likely to give you pause it’s this one. Serving as percussionist, Vitaly Kryuchin, the head of the Russian Federation Of Practical Shooting, swaps out drumsticks for a pair of Glock pistols, which he unloads on a wall of strategically placed chime targets. He calls this instrument the “Glockafons.”
Kryuchin is joined by a violinist, keyboard player, and, eventually, a pair of singers. The vocalists join them once the band has moved onto their second song, “Old McDonald Had A Farm,” and it’s not hard to guess who’s punctuating those E-I-E-I-Os.
For their final song, the gang opts for “Murka,” an old Russian standard. That one’s slower, more melancholic, and, by the looks of it, the most difficult melody to capture via firearm. Kryuchin nails it, though, and the result is certainly beguiling.
Still, who needs pistols when you can have a keytar.