The oldest music record store "Rock Island" was once the most popular in the city. It also gained fame thanks to the cult film "Brother," whose main character buys a record by the band "Nautilus Pompilius" there. The little shop is located at 8 Kirochnaya Street — near the Annenkirche — and still operates today, now welcoming customers with Danila Bagrov holding a weapon.
"Rock Island" has survived two waves of widespread enthusiasm for collecting and exchanging audio media: first, vinyl records were exchanged for CDs, and then — when CDs were exchanged for vinyl. The store has not lost its magical appeal and product quality even today! The vinyl repertoire is very diverse, but mostly it features records from the USSR or recordings of famous foreign bands that evoke nostalgia. Music lovers will find everything here: from several shelves of Russian rock to legendary records from the USA and Europe. You can even find radio gymnastics to space disco — a unique item. The store also sells rock musicians' CDs and DVDs. All fans of the film "Brother" will recognize this little shop from the scene where S. Bodrov came for albums by "Agata Kristi" and "Nautilus Pompilius." Although the interior seen in the film has long since changed, the place remains the same — remember this interesting detail when you visit "Rock Island"!
According to the store's CEO Sergey Ryumin, in 2021 part of the premises was rented by an art gallery. "Knowing that everyone is interested in this store, they created a very high-quality graffiti at the entrance. The portrait of the main character at the entrance to the 'Rock Island' store was painted by urban artist Oleg Lukyanov. In this way, he immortalized the memory of the actor on the wall of this cult place, where some scenes of the film 'Brother' were shot and which has become a tourist attraction."
However, the enthusiasm for the graffiti was not shared by a man living in the building where the store is located. According to the portal "Our Saint Petersburg," the man complained about the graffiti as early as February 13, 2023. The municipal services tried to preserve the graffiti — they stretched a film over it and plastered the drawing. This result did not satisfy the resident. He called this work "an act of vandalism." "The facade of the building is smeared with paint mixed with plaster and covered with film. It needs to be brought back to proper condition," reads the appeal dated August 2, 2023.
On September 20, the wall near the store was painted over with gray paint. It so happened that on this day, 21 years ago, Sergey Bodrov died.
Sources:
https://kudago.com/spb/place/rok-ostrov/
https://www.fontanka.ru/2023/09/21/72732113/
