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Lastochka Festival
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July 09, 12:00
Luzhniki Area 
Held at the Luzhniki sports complex, the Lastochka (swallow) festival is a new name but it’s organized partly by the same team that did Subbotnik in Gorky Park a couple years ago. Lastochka is a place for all-day sport and lifestyle events. River bank will turn into "gastronomic promenade" of the best Moscow restaurant projects. Music headliners will be first time in Moscow: Hurts, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, FKA Twigs, Icona Pop and Alex Vargas. Festival was orginized to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Luzhniki but plan to become anual fest of modern pop-music and active events. On 9th July Lastochka will wide open the whole Luzhniki territory: most of space becomes family picnic area, active sport and even swimming pool dance-party in a new Aquacomplex. The main stage with fantastic view on the Moscow-river, park and University building will be given to trendsetter artist from Europe and USA. Lastochka will be the first festival at renewed Luzhniki complex.
Icona Pop (Sweden)
Icona Pop are a Swedish duo who were formed in 2009, with electro house, punk and indie pop music influences. The two members Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo, who grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, create music "which you can both laugh and cry with at the same time". They signed to TEN Music Group in 2009. In late 2010, their song "Manners" was featured on Kitsuné Maison Compilation 10. The duo's self titled debut album was released later that year. "I Love It" went to become one of the biggest hits by a Swedish artist since Roxette, with the song peaking at number 7 on the US Hot 100. In 2014 Icona Pop toured heavily. They were opening acts for both Miley Cyrus' Bangerz tour and Katy Perry's Prismatic tour. During the year, they also released a new single, "Get Lost". It had more teen pop and country influences compared to their previously EDM inspired music. It did not became as big hit internationally as previous singles, though it became their first single since "Girlfriend" to chart on the Swedish singles chart, peaking at number 58 ("Girlfriend" peaked at number 57).
Hurts (UK)
 Manchester, UK electro-pop duo Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson. Formed in 2009, elegant and enigmatic HURTS have their sharp suits, slick hair and stark visuals. Theo and Adam present a striking contrast to the glow-in-the-dark pop stars who have run amok across the charts of late. Looking like they would rather be on the cover of Vogue Hommes than NME or Smash Hits, the pair resemble Tears For Fears as shot by Anton Corbijn. Hurts have recently released their first single "Better Than Love" and toured the UK and Europe during the summer of 2010. In August of 2010, Hurts' debut full-length album, Happiness, debuted at number four on the U.K. albums chart, selling over 25,000 copies in its first week, making it the fastest selling album by a band in the U.K. that year. Featuring the singles "Better Than Love," "Wonderful Life," and "Stay," among others, the album was huge success across Europe and Hurts' profile rose exponentially. Several accolades followed in 2010 including topping the BBC's Sound of 2010 poll, winning a German BAMBI award, and garnering an MTV Europe Music Award nomination. The following year, Hurts earned more public support after a playing a high-profile slot at the Glastonbury Festival. The performance was well-received and was even voted best of the festival by NME readers. Also that year, the band headlined their first European tour which culminated with a concert at London's Brixton Academy with special guest Kylie Minogue. In December of 2012, in anticipation of their next album and in keeping with their tradition of releasing stylish, immaculately directed videos, Hurts released a long-form promotional video for the song "The Road," which itself was inspired by Cormac McCarthy's novel of the same name and J.G. Ballard's novel Crash. Hurts followed up in 2013 by releasing their sophomore album, Exile. Featuring production from Hutchcraft and Anderson, along with Quant and Dan Grech-Marguerat, Exile showcased a nuanced, somewhat more contemporary sound that incorporated more orchestral and rock instrumentation, yet retained all of Hurts' core new wave and Krautrock influences. In 2015, Hurts delivered their third studio album, Surrender, which featured production from Quant as well as Stuart Price (Madonna, the Killers) and Ariel Rechtshaid (HAIM, Vampire Weekend).
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (USA)
 A grassroots success, Seattle rapper Macklemore not only climbed to number two on the Billboard 200 album charts, but with little mainstream help, his 2012 sophomore release debuted with only Mumford & Sons in his way for the number one spot. Born Ben Haggerty and raised in Seattle, he debuted as Professor Macklemore in 2000 with the Open Your Eyes EP. Five years later his debut album, The Language of My World, earned him a local following, but it was his 2010 team-up with DJ/producer Ryan Lewis for the Vs. Redux EP that yielded the Red Hot Chili Peppers-sampling hit "Otherside." With Macklemore's wit meeting Lewis' inventive production, further hits like "My Oh My" and "Can't Hold Us" were spread throughout social media and video-sharing sites, setting the stage for a successful sophomore release. That came in 2012 when The Heist dropped as a Macklemore & Ryan Lewis release, debuting at the number two spot on the Billboard 200. Its "Thrift Shop" topped the Billboard Hot 100, and the album eventually reached platinum sales status. The duo performed another one of the album's singles, "Same Love," at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards during a marriage ceremony for over 30 couples. That night, the duo took the awards for Best New Artist, Best Rap Album, and Best Rap Performance. In 2015, Macklemore & Lewis returned with "Downtown," the first single from their second collaborative effort, This Unruly Mess I've Made. The 2016 album also featured "Kevin," a song they debuted live at the 2015 American Music Awards with guest star Leon Bridges, along with the elaborate and politically charged second single "White Privilege II."
Alex Vargas (Denmark)
 Alexander Vargas Blay, better known as Alex Vargas, is a singer, songwriter and producer born in Hørsholm, Denmark on 17 February 1988 to a Danish/English mother and Uruguayan father. Alex relocated to London at age 17 to pursue his musical career where he was signed to Geffen Records and formed the band Vagabond. The band toured the UK selling out two headline tours and also performed at the Glastonbury, T in the Park and V music festivals. On 16 February 2010 Alex disbanded Vagabond in order to pursue a solo career. On 12 and 13 October 2013 Alex performed as a vocalist with trance band Above & Beyond at their acoustic show at the Greek Theater, Los Angeles. Alex also co-wrote and featured on 5 songs from their fourth studio album We Are All We Need, which debuted at #1 in the US Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard), #12 in the UK official UK album charts and #34 in the US Billboard 200 chart. In 2014 Alex Vargas signed with Copenhagen Records and started working on material for his forthcoming EP and Album with collaborator Tommy Sheen who also performs live with Vargas. First release on Copenhagen Records was the single "Till Forever Runs Out" (03.12.14) followed by "Solid Ground" on March 30, 2015. "Solid Ground" became a viral hit and is included on the EP "Giving Up The Ghost" from January 22, 2016. The title track however premiered on US music blog Pigeons & Planes on September 16, 2015. The EP peaked as #1 on both the Danish and Dutch iTunes Album Chart while the feature single, "Shackled Up" also made it to #1 on the Danish iTunes Singles Chart and #4 on the Dutch iTunes Singles Chart. UK press and blogs have described Alex as “Engrossing, poetic and openly emotional, Vargas' soulful approach is winning fans - prepare to become one of them” (Clash Music). Alex is a BMI writer and is published by Atlas Music Publishing out of New York.
FKA Twigs (UK)
 Crafting ethereal electronic R&B that evokes the heyday of Tricky and Massive Attack and the spare 2010s aesthetic of the xx, London's FKA twigs is the project of Twigs, aka Tahliah Barnett, a half-Jamaican native of Gloucestershire. Surrounded by farmland during her teens, she studied ballet and sang on tracks recorded at a studio in a Jamaican youth club. By the time she was 16, Twigs -- whose nickname comes from how loudly she can crack her bones -- began writing songs in earnest; though she moved to London to pursue a career as a dancer at 17, and appeared in videos for songs by Jessie J, Ed Sheeran, Kylie Minogue, and Taio Cruz, among others, she soon realized she really wanted to be a professional musician. Along with working as a bartender, Twigs spent as much time in the studio as possible and ultimately self-released her self-titled EP in 2012 via Bandcamp. After changing her moniker to FKA twigs at the request of another artist named Twigs, she returned with EP2, a striking set of songs featuring production from Kanye West collaborator Arca. In February 2015, she debuted Congregata, an interpretive dance performance inspired by and set to songs from LP1. FKA twigs returned with new music that August: the M3LL155X ("Melissa") EP featured collaborations with producer Boots, as well as the full-length version of "Glass & Patron."
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