Līvi (band)

Guntars Mucenieks Jānis Buķelis Henrijs Mucinieks Mārtiņš Burkevics Ilvars Manfelds Andris Krūziņš Dainis Virga Edijs Šnipke Elmārs Cielavs Ēriks Ķiģelis Igo Ingrida Pavitola Jānis Grodums Juris pavītols Laimis Rācenājs Māris Zīlmanis Mārtiņš Bērtulis Modris Šterns Regīna Sieka Tālis Pusbarnieks Tomass Kleins Valdis Štarks Vilnis Krieviņš

[1] The band was founded by Ēriks Ķiģelis and Juris Pavītols in Liepāja in the USSR, in the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1976.

[3] After the death of Ķiģelis in 1986, Ainars Virga joined the band, leading to a new era of anthemic ballads, heavy rock, and rebellious themes.

[10] The band played small-time gigs in their early years, mostly performing sad songs written by Pavītols and sung by his wife.

[15] The Soviet regime saw a potential enemy in the rebellious Latvian rockers, and in 1981 it banned Līvi from playing any concerts.

"[17] In 1984, Līvi was featured in Riga Film Studio's musical comedy, Vajadzīga soliste (Soloist Needed), performing the song Amors Superstars on stage.

[20] Pusbarnieks, Fomins, Šterns, and Kreiviņš left the band in 1984 in order to pursue their own musical projects.

[21] Ķiģelis saved the band by hiring vocalist Aivars Brīze (later to become known as "the voice of Latvian rock"),[22] keyboardist Guntars Mucenieks, and drummer Valdis Štarks.

Virga was a fan of heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath, Scorpions, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin, so he set out to make Līvi more like them, with a harder sound, more guitar solos, and rebellious attitudes.

In 1987 Štarks was replaced by Ainars' younger brother Dainis, and in 1989, Tomass Kleins joined the band as a regular guitarist.

In 1997, Līvi recorded their bestselling album Bailes par ziņģēm (Fear about Songs), and dedicated it to the memory of Ķiģelis.

The band had big plans, but on the 26th of July, 2003, while driving back from the festival Oldies Rock from Daugavpils, the car driven by Virga was involved in an accident.

[29] Līvi subsequently recorded a new album, called Pāri visam (Over everything), and dedicated it to all rock musicians who have died in accidents.