The Rüfüs Guide To A Long Weekend In Moscow


After racking up multiple sold-out tours and festival appearances in Australia, all the while producing remixes for Kitsuné (FRA) and Plant (USA), Sydney dance trio RÜFÜS found time to take their explosive live act to Moscow in between writing and recording their debut album ‘Atlas’, due out August 9th on Sweat It Out. In between playing for and partying with band members from LCD Soundsystem, Holy Ghost! and fellow travel guide scribes Vampire Weekend, RÜFÜS took five minutes to provide us with their top five picks for a long weekend in the fine city of Moscow; including where to eat, where to eat slightly better, where to get your dance on and where to recover the next day. 

If we were gonna tell you to go one place in Moscow, it would be anywhere with locals. Well, maybe not anywhere. But if you are fortunate enough to make friends with some locals, everywhere you go will be like the end of a double rainbow.

FOOD: STARLITE DINER We cruised into this place with some new friends at 3am after cops shut the club we were in (see below). They do Americana here way better than all the Americana joints popping up all over Sydney at the moment. Expect bright lights, pink patent leather, booths, neon signs, burgers, tacos, beer, juke boxes etc. Got the impression it was open 24 hours. Good place for conversation. 
Address: M.Tretyakovskaya M.Polyanka Bolotnaya Sq., 16/5
Phone: +7(495)951-5838
WebsiteStarlite Diner
Hours: Open 24 hours
BETTER FOOD: DENIS SIMACHEV SHOP & BAR This place is nicer. Maybe too nice for us. Great food and drinks. Cool spot to start a night. It’s a Bar opened by a guy named Denis who is a Russian designer of bright, patterned everythings. They have private booths with curtains and an outrageous Japanese Manga mosaic that was the subject of much Snap Chatting.

Address: 12/2, Stoleshnikov per.

Shop: +7 495 629 5702

Bar: +7 495 629 8085:
WebsiteDenis Simachev
TO DANCE: ARMA Or Arma 17 it might be called. It’s a big club. With an obnoxious soundsystem and a bunch of people who like to party. The main room is a converted gas silo, 30 metres high with no windows. We like to have a dance on tour when we can go somewhere worth dancing. Ricardo Villalobos was ripping at this place and the outside of the club is even more interesting than the inside, with retired boats converted into bars dug into the sides of the hill.

Address: Lower Susalny, 5, Building 3A; 105064

Phone: +7 915 404 00 44
WebsiteArma 17
MORE DANCE, LESS TECH: GIPSY This place is a bit of a superclub, which isn’t really our thing back home. It’s indoors and had a swimming pool with palm trees and the biggest disco ball we’d ever seen. But if you’re of the dancing persuasion, they were playing great music (guys like Mujuice play here a lot) until the DJ pulled the plug mid track as cops in full riot gear stormed the dance floor. We’re told this happens every now and again because of a disagreement with local authorities about white powder. Check out the free photo booth.

NOTE: STARLITE DINER (see above) is a short walk from here for late night cravings. 

Address: Bolotnaya naberezhnaya, 3/4 str.2; 119072
Phone: +74956698693
WebsiteGipsy
FOR CHILLING: GORKY PARK We saved the best till last. Gorky Park. This place rules. We spent a an afternoon/evening there with some friends having a drink by the river. The place is filled with people just having a good time doing their thing; dancing, frisbee, laying about. The vibe here lasts until midnight easily. 
10/10 would return.
Address: 9, Krymskiy Val, 117049
Hours: Daily from 10:00 to 22:00
WebsiteGorky Park

Atlas, the debut album from Rüfüs is due out August 9th on Sweat It Out. National Tour Dates as follows:

  • Thu 12 Sep The Cambridge, Newcastle  
  • Fri 13 Sep Hi-Fi, Sydney
  • Sat 14 Sep Thredbo Snow Show 
  • Fri 20 Sep Academy, Canberra 
  • Sat 21 Sep Waves, Wollongong 
  • Fri 27 Sep Corner Hotel, Melbourne 
  • Fri 04 Oct The Zoo, Brisbane 
  • Thu 10 Oct Mojos, Fremantle 
  • Fri 11 Oct Villa, Perth 
  • Sat 12 Oct Fowlers, Adelaide 

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