Matenadaran, Yerevan, Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2009

If British folk-rock legends Jethro Tull materializing in the country last week — with the Armenian prime minister going hell for leather in his return from Kazakhstan so he could catch his favourite band perform live in Yerevan — was bizarre enough, then nothing could prepare anyone for the latest surreal development in post Soviet Armenia. Faced with a crucial municipal election in the capital this weekend, how on earth do you find a reason to block off access to the main venue for the opposition to hold rallies?

Actually, it’s quite simple, really. In the past the government would suddenly hold children’s concerts in the same venue although after last year’s bitterly contested and controversial presidential election they tried a different approach, deciding to instead build an underground car park in Yerevan’s Liberty Square to keep it off-limits to everyone until Autumn 2010. But now the opposition are holding rallies at the manuscript museum in Yerevan, what do you do then?

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The full post where comments can be left is available on The Frontline Club.

Ian Anderson, Yerevan, Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2009

With the Armenian prime minister rumored to be one of the biggest Jethro Tull fans in the country, rumors circulating last year that the legendary British rock band would perform in Yerevan were certainly not to be sneezed at. However, while initial efforts to have the band perform last year didn’t come to fruition, the speculation was only confirmed a few months ago. Their concert which some joke might be attended by as many government members as ordinary citizens is scheduled for tonight. PanArmenian.Net covers the news.

Within the frames of its European tours, Jethro Tull legendary rock group will organize one concert in Yerevan on May 22. Armenian rock fans and connoisseurs of the British rock group can attend the concert in Sports-Concert Complex after Karen Demirtchyan. During the concert which will last two hours, the group conducted by Ian Anderson will perform both old and news songs of its repertoire.

“World-famous celebrities, Jethro Tull musicians turned out exceptionally modest, and unlike Scorpions, didn’t demand 7 limousines of latest fashion,” Head of Vibrographus company Vardan Grigoryan told a news conference.

The group’s music is a mixture of blues, folk-rock and a little bit of jazz. Jethro Tull was formed in 1963, out of the amalgamation of the John Evan Band and McGregor’s Engine, two blues-based local UK groups. Over the 40 years of its existence Jethro Tull has released 40 albums and sold over 60 million recording discs.

Concert organizers say they are now negotiating with Deep Purple, Paul McCartny and Russian DDT and Mashina Vremeni groups for inviting them to Yerevan.

The full post accompanied by a video interview with Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson where comments can be left is available on The Caucasian Knot.

In its annual worldwide survey on the media, Freedom House has once again categorized Armenia as “not free,” a situation which has been the case since 2002 when the pro-opposition A1 Plus TV station was taken off the air. A huge question mark then hung over the future of the company as many of its staff left to work elsewhere.

The Council of Europe and international media watchdogs decried the move seen by many as a precursor to later attempts to silence the press in the run-up to the presidential election held less than a year later. However, demands to let A1 Plus return to the air fell on deaf ears.

In June last year, the European Court of Human Rights even ruled in the station’s favour in an action against the government, but the victory was only symbolic. The station still remains without a broadcasting frequency. Instead, and undaunted by attempts to silence its voice, A1 Plus went online.

Also using blogs and YouTube, especially during last year’s contraversial presidential election, its web site is probably the most visited online news source in Armenia, with around 10,000 visits per day. That might not seem much, but in a country where Internet penetration stood at 5.7 percent in 2007, it’s quite something.

Now, in an effort to expand its reach, the banned station this week turned its attention to an estimated 1.9 million mobile phone subscribers in the country, offering short video headlines for users to download. True, the news is hardly extensive, but it does represent another attempt to take on governmental control of the broadcast media.

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The full post where comments can be left is available on the Frontline Club blog.

Tensions appear to be rising as official campaigning kicked off for this month’s crucial municipal election in Yerevan. While the Republican and Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) parties planted trees in various districts of the city, Prosperous Armenia held a free concert in Komitas on Sunday. RFE/RL also reports that the ARF-D, recently departed from the ruling coalition government, seems to be setting its sights on the traditional opposition.

“We must realize that it is wrong to say that by winning [control over] the municipality we can create a state within a state and that the next step, regime change, will not be long in coming: the president of the republic will resign and these authorities will go,” said another Dashnaktsutyun leader, Armen Rustamian.

The message was clearly addressed to the main opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) that has pledged to turn the municipal polls into a “second round” of the disputed presidential election and use its possible victory for toppling Sarkisian. The HAK rallied thousands of supporters in downtown Yerevan on Friday.

Its top leader, former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, described proper conduct of the May 31 vote as Sarkisian’s “last chance to gain some authority with Armenian society and the international community.” Ter-Petrosian did not say, though, what his 18-party alliance will do if it considers the vote to have been fraudulent.

Full coverage of the campaign period leading up to the 31 May Yerevan election can be found on The Caucasian Knot and The Frontline Club. You can also join The Caucasian Knot Facebook group for further updates and breaking news or keep an eye on Twitter.