Pussy Riot debuts U.S. Tour in Chicago
DORIAN ELECTRA
Pussy Riot is a female collective from Russia that started gaining online recognition in 2012 after protesting against the Russian Government led by Vladimir Putin. Some of the group’s members have been jailed for said protests but that has not kept them quiet. The group started making appearances in the media again in 2016 protesting against then U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and the ties with Russia. The group is more of an activist group that uses interpretative performances and music as their outlet than an actual music group. This makes their “concerts” different as they are not really concerts but instead they are political protests. Pussy Riot’s music career started as a punk rock outfit taking some inspiration in older punk bands such as Bikini Kill. What started as a Punk Rock group has evolved with their more recent music into something more pop and electronic, but even though they have changed musical styles their rage is still the same and their punk ideals have not changed a bit.
NIKKY LYNETTE
The band debuted their first U.S. tour by playing three sold-out nights at The Subterranean in Chicago. The shows featured two opening acts by Dorian Electra and Nikki Lynette. Dorian’s set was entertaining and provocative and she advocated for the LGBT community. Her pop songs target themes more complicated than what normal pop songs do and that makes it interesting. Nikki Lynnette’s set had some ire in it and was more hip-hop and R&B oriented as she talked about social issues in Chicago and across the country. Just when Nikki finished her set and the audience thought it was time for the Russian group to hit the stage, there were a couple of guest speakers from different organizations including Reclaim Chicago which is an organization seeking to bring equality to the city and also an unexpected appearance from Daniel Biss who is running for governor.
PUSSY RIOT
After the unexpected but well-received speeches, the two Russians climbed down the spiral stairway making their way into the stage, the two wearing sporty clothing and the iconic balaclavas that have become synonymous to Pussy Riot. Nadya Tolokonnikova one of the group’s main members wore a pink balaclava while the DJ wore a green one. Nadya led the performance as she sang and jumped around the stage while the DJ stayed mostly behind the deck spinning the tracks with. Another important element in their performance was the projector screen showing some of the group’s videos from their protest and their songs. The set list stood cleared from the group’s punk rock beginnings and consisted entirely of recent songs instead. Nadya would occasionally talk about how scary the situation is in Russia and urged the members of the audience to take action and use the democracy in their favor. Nearly towards the end of the hour-long set, Pussy Riot brought their opening acts back on stage all of them wearing neon colored balaclavas as the group also passed around some balaclavas to a few members from the audience and invited them on stage too.
The show was full of people that had taken interest in the group’s controversial actions and were all excited to see what the performance would be like. Some people traveled from out of state to see the group as they are only playing nine shows in the United States. It was interesting seeing them play in a “normal” concert environment as their typical concerts are usually a song long and done while protesting. The setting was more calmed that what one can see in their videos. This show proved that Pussy Riot and politics always come together as they strive to give everyone a better understanding of the political situation in Russia while also fighting for social justice.
Coverage by Jorge Sierra
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