|
Pussy Riot at Turf Club Poster
Tour Dates
3.18 - Mexico, MEX @ Vive Latino
3.20 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge 3.21 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge 3.22 - Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey 3.23 - Seattle, WA @ Vera Project 3.25 - Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre 3.27 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Atrium 3.28 - San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop 3.31 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo 4.01 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo 5.18/20 - Gulf Shores, AL @ Hangout Festival 5.25/27 - Boston, MA @ Boston Calling Read More
|
Pussy Riot (Nadya Tolokonnikova) is on their first North American tour, stopping by the Turf Club in St Paul last night (March 10th).
The sold-out show started with Nadya’s introduction of Sam Pree-Stinson, a Human and Civil Rights Activist, who read her essay on taking action now. At one point, when reciting all the names that’s been wrongful killed by police officers, she raised a first in the air, inspiring others in the audience to do the same.
The reading was only 15 minutes, and after a brief exit, Nadya came back on stage with a “Q&A With Pussy Riot”, moderated by activist film maker Tommy Franklin. The whole interview was recorded live for his Weapon of Choice Podcast and touched on imprisonment, Trump/Putin comparison, and civil rights.
While I felt the Q&A ran a little too long, some interesting things did come out in the answers. One funny thing was when Nadya played her first few shows in Chicago, some people asked her after the show, “Why didn’t you guitar?” and the truth is that Pussy Riot were “not musicians at all.”
When asked if Pussy Riot had to make concessions when they perform in the United States, Nadia didn’t understand what concession meant. Others in the audience tried to help explained what that word meant. Obviously, English was not Nadia’s first language, but her speaking and understand is far more superior than you would think of young Russians.
The main message you got out of this was that in some parts of the world, you could be murdered for being an activist or protester. Take for instance, two members of Pussy Riots were recently in Crimea and were detained by police. They basically disappeared for two days, and the fear was that they were killed. When they finally got the message out, it turned out that the police had destroyed their phones and computer equipment.
After a break, the main Pussy Riot show started. Nadya is joined on stage by another Pussy Riot member. Both, in their icon Pussy Riot homemade masks. Their show is more of an art performance, rather than a traditional rock show. There’s a custom video screen, pre-made music, and live singing. Most of the songs were in Russian, but a few English songs can be heard on stage: “Police State”, “Bad Apples”, and “Make America Great Again”.
Unlike most rock shows, there was five-minute break called Intermission between their set. Returning to the stage in a different outfit, the two continued their performance.
On the second part of their show, there was a video showcasing drawings from a prisoner in Russia. The drawings were used as part of their art-song. While we didn’t understand the lyrics, the art was a universal language.
Pussy Riot continues their North American tour this month. If you believe in freedom and in humanity, you need to attend one of these shows.
The sold-out show started with Nadya’s introduction of Sam Pree-Stinson, a Human and Civil Rights Activist, who read her essay on taking action now. At one point, when reciting all the names that’s been wrongful killed by police officers, she raised a first in the air, inspiring others in the audience to do the same.
The reading was only 15 minutes, and after a brief exit, Nadya came back on stage with a “Q&A With Pussy Riot”, moderated by activist film maker Tommy Franklin. The whole interview was recorded live for his Weapon of Choice Podcast and touched on imprisonment, Trump/Putin comparison, and civil rights.
While I felt the Q&A ran a little too long, some interesting things did come out in the answers. One funny thing was when Nadya played her first few shows in Chicago, some people asked her after the show, “Why didn’t you guitar?” and the truth is that Pussy Riot were “not musicians at all.”
When asked if Pussy Riot had to make concessions when they perform in the United States, Nadia didn’t understand what concession meant. Others in the audience tried to help explained what that word meant. Obviously, English was not Nadia’s first language, but her speaking and understand is far more superior than you would think of young Russians.
The main message you got out of this was that in some parts of the world, you could be murdered for being an activist or protester. Take for instance, two members of Pussy Riots were recently in Crimea and were detained by police. They basically disappeared for two days, and the fear was that they were killed. When they finally got the message out, it turned out that the police had destroyed their phones and computer equipment.
After a break, the main Pussy Riot show started. Nadya is joined on stage by another Pussy Riot member. Both, in their icon Pussy Riot homemade masks. Their show is more of an art performance, rather than a traditional rock show. There’s a custom video screen, pre-made music, and live singing. Most of the songs were in Russian, but a few English songs can be heard on stage: “Police State”, “Bad Apples”, and “Make America Great Again”.
Unlike most rock shows, there was five-minute break called Intermission between their set. Returning to the stage in a different outfit, the two continued their performance.
On the second part of their show, there was a video showcasing drawings from a prisoner in Russia. The drawings were used as part of their art-song. While we didn’t understand the lyrics, the art was a universal language.
Pussy Riot continues their North American tour this month. If you believe in freedom and in humanity, you need to attend one of these shows.
|
Pussy Riot |
|
|
Pussy Riot and Tommy Franklin |
Pussy Riot |
Pussy Riot |
Pussy Riot |
|
Pussy Riot at Turf Club, St Paul (10 Mar 2018) |
