Picnic (band)
Russian musical group
Picnic (Russian: Пикник), also transliterated as Piknik, is a Russian rock band formed in 1978 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). Known for their blend of art, progressive, gothic, and Russian rock, they are considered a cult phenomenon in Russian music. The group's defining era began in 1981, with the arrival of frontman, guitarist, and primary songwriter Edmund Shklyarskiy. Picnic is highly regarded for their elaborate, theatrical live performances, which often feature custom-built and unconventional instruments.
The band has faced significant tragedies in recent years. In March 2018, several members were severely injured in a tour bus crash near Gus-Khrustalny. On 22 March 2024, they were scheduled to perform at Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, when a terrorist attack occurred, resulting in the death of the band's administrator, Ekaterina Kushner.
History
Formation and early years (1978–1981)
Picnic was formed in September 1978 as a student band at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute. Its lineup included Sergey Omelnichenko (guitar, vocals), Evgeny Voloshchuk (bass), and Alexei Dobychin (vocals), and they began playing local gigs.
Breakthrough with Shklyarskiy (1981–1989)
Picnic's trajectory changed significantly in 1981, when Edmund Shklyarskiy joined as the frontman and principal songwriter.
“Picnic (band)” enters the record as russian musical group. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Picnic, band and Russian can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q127866. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1978, 1981, 2018 and 2024.
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This entry incorporates text from “Picnic (band)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.