Pussy Riot’s U.S. tour

Following Pussy Riot’s political backlash in Russia due to censoring their explicit lyricism and content for their protest in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour cathedral in 2012, two band members were charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and sentenced to two years imprisonment. The band members responded with a hunger strike and were eventually released after serving nearly two years. In February 2020, the group was again apprehended and encroached upon by the Russian police as they attempted to film their music video in  St. Petersburg — despite clear legal protections to do so. 

Pussy Riot exemplifies the concept of music as a vehicle for social change and political movements. The act of reviewing their show is an opportunity for the B-Side to stand in solidarity under the journalistic freedoms we have in the United States. The efforts Pussy Riot constantly pushes forward are not lost in youth all across our country. Our privilege to report on the efforts of Pussy Riot as an activist guerrilla group is often lost in the era of fake news. However, we must make use of our freedoms. Reporting on Pussy Riot’s provocative live performances will allow me to connect the global rebellion to our local community. Their music is referential to the likes of artists like Machine Girl, Death Grips, and The Runaways. Will Pussy Riot be for Russia what The Clash was for London? Do their live shows exemplify the revolutionary attitude which their personal lives uphold? I suppose we will all have to attend their shows to find out.

Music is an outlet for youth to release our frustration while still being encompassed within an overwhelming sense of community. Queer youth everywhere have felt the scars of systemic backlash against them. With the Russian government and police acting under the federal law “for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values,” or rather the “gay propaganda law” or the “anti-gay law,” the queer community cannot feel safe. It is with a heavy heart that the entire queer community must come together and support the efforts of artists who rebel against the law to ensure diverse voices and struggles are heard. Pussy Riot fights for equality of the sexes, as well. If it weren’t for the Russian government’s anti-womxn discriminatory rhetoric, their music and voice may not have ever been brought out.  Even while under the guise of soviet “democracy,” we still see the silencing of artists such as Pussy Riot.

The music Pussy Riot produces is a collection of singles charged with political agency and liberating lyricism that unites communities afflicted by the oppression of the culturally dominant. The rhythmic club atmospheric fosters a trance-like physical undulation. Individual voices mix together powerfully to unite a common message.  Each song is either accompanied by Russian or English lyrics commanding the attention of audiences, especially when paired with the depictions of violence in their music videos. Their visual attire both in videos and live are constructed of this resistance dress: masks covering their faces, tight skirts, bright clothes. The contrast of the hidden with the explicit is symbolized with the concealment of their identities yet pared with the clearly pointed political lyricism. 

Pussy Riot’s upcoming tour is set to perform in the following venues: 03/12 SANTA ANA, CA / CONSTELLATION ROOM, 03/13 LOS ANGELES, CA / 1720 LA *LOW TICKETS*, 03/14 BERKELEY, CA / UC THEATER, 03/15 SANTA CRUZ, CA / THE CATALYST ATRIUM, and 03/18 PORTLAND, OR / WONDER BALLROOM. These ground-breaking artists hopefully will attract similarly revolutionary fans. I anticipate that their tour will utilize concerts as a base where social change can converge and we can mobilize for the common good driven by the common struggle.