Kanye West to stage two October concerts at St. Petersburg's Gazprom Arena
Kanye West will perform two shows on Oct. 10-11 at St. Petersburg’s 70,000-seat Gazprom Arena, according to a venue announcement on Telegram.
A Telegram post from the Gazprom Arena confirmed that Kanye West is slated to hold two concerts in St. Petersburg on Oct. 10 and 11, each at the venue’s 70,000-seat capacity. The announcement described West as “the most influential musical artist of our time” and linked the events to his record-breaking world tour, despite recent cancellations in Poland, Italy, Switzerland, the U.K., and a postponed date in France due to past antisemitic remarks and Nazi-related imagery.
Russia’s state-run news agency one outlet added that the cheapest tickets were snapped up within an hour of the shows being announced. The performances mark a notable instance of a major U.S. act appearing in Russia since the war in Ukraine began in 2022. The news highlights both the commercial demand for the shows and the ongoing controversy surrounding the artist’s public statements.
Why it matters
The concerts show a high-profile Western artist performing in Russia despite recent political and cultural tensions.
In this story
