Hugh Laurie, the star of “Doctor House”, is coming to St. Petersburg with his band.

British actor Hugh Laurie, star of the TV series “Doctor House”, will come to St. Petersburg on June 24th with a performance of his debut album “Let Them Talk.” The performance will take place at October Concert Hall (BKZ Oktyabr'sky). 

Laurie was first to arrive in Russia to present his first album, which he recorded with his band last year. Laurie, who is the vocalist and keyboardist in the group, is scheduled to perform in eight major European cities on his tour. Before coming to Russia on June 24th, Laurie will play in Kiev on June 20th, and in Minsk on June 22nd. Warner Music Company released the debut blues album. Within a week after the record was released, the record appeared on the British national music charts, as well as in Billboard magazine.

Just like any other country, Russian names have full names and their short equivalents. So one may hear sometimes something like “Hey Dima, come over here”, and wonder, “Who is Dima”? But in fact, this is just a short name for Dmitry or Dimitry (pronounced with the letter “i” as it is difficult for an English speaking person to pronouce Russian consonant clusters) . 

So it is very common to call your friends or acquaintances by their short names in Russia. This makes you sound less formal and means that you are on familiar terms with the person you are addressing by his/her short name. In fact, this is not just common but is almost an unwritten rule to address your friends by either their nicknames or their short names.