FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ISRAEL — the Joker James musical project is touring!

Joker James is a project by musician and journalist Alexey Ponomarev, podcast editor for the publication "Kholod" (Cold) and co-author of the renowned "Kavachay" (Kavachay).

Over the past year, Joker James has performed in Georgia, Armenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Cyprus.

This March, he's coming to Israel for the first time!

With Joker James, Ponomarev is developing a new musical genre: "bardrap."

"Bardrap" combines hip-hop grooves, the legacy of Russian rock, and echoes of the British 60s. Emotions garnered over years of working in independent media spill out into poignant tracks on topical issues and melancholy ballads about the futility of everything. The lyrical hero of Joker James often completely merges with the author: many of his friends are truly "foreign agents," he's been following the war in Ukraine since 2014, and since around the same time has been ridiculing "patriots" and "defenders," while proudly classifying himself as a national traitor and a fifth columnist.
At his concerts, Alexey constantly experiments, running his voice and guitar through a chain of effects, layering parts to create a captivating sonic canvas.

Mikhail Kozyrev on the Joker James project:

"Lesha Ponomarev sings in my language. Images, connotations, Anglicisms, memes, cultural codes—all mine, all native...
I scream: <...> don't miss him! He's a great artist. A truly great one! I think the audience will grow rapidly, so be sure to see him now in an intimate setting!"

March 12 - Haifa