This Friday, the three members of Russian punk trio Pussy Riot will receive their verdict after standing trial for "hooliganism" after performing a "punk prayer" calling for the removal of President Vladimir Putin, and could spend up to three years in prison. A number of artists, musicians and activists have advocated for their release, including Madonna at a Moscow concert, Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna expressing solidarity on her blog and suggesting a riot grrrl revival and the Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock, to name a few.
And they are hardly alone—Peaches has put together a petition calling for the trio’s release, a blistering new track and a video featuring crowds dancing and donning the band’s trademark brightly-colored balaclavas. Some other familar musical (though often obscured) faces appear in the video, including The Knife, Lykke Li, Miike Snow, Peter Bjorn and John, Kate Nash, Peaches collaborator JD Samson (also of Le Tigre and MEN), MC5’s Wayne Kramer, Margaret Cho, Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears, Bonaparte, Margaret Saadi Kramer, The Hives, Light Asylum, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner, Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos, Dave Catching of Queens of the Stone Age and Eagles of Death Metal, Elastica’s Sheila Chipperfield and more.
A number of Pussy Riot advocacy and solidarity events are happening all over the world over the next several days, from Moscow to Melbourne. Thursday night, at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan, Liberty Hall presents a reading and performance of Pussy Riot’s inspired courtroom statements, featuring an impressive roster of readers, including Chloë Sevigny, performance artist Karen Finley, poet and journalist Eileen Myles and avant-garde icon Justin Vivian Bond. The performance is co-sponsored by Amnesty International and will be live-streamed, and a similar reading will take place in London with actors from the Royal Court as part of Friday’s international Day of Action. NYC-based supporters who can’t make the Ace Hotel reading can participate in the Day of Action on Friday with a series of demonstrations, beginning with a musical masquerade at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church and moving on to the Russian Consulate, and later a demo in Times Square. The events are BYOB—Bring Your Own Balaclava.
Watch Peaches and Co.’s video below.
Free Pussy Riot! #freepussyriot from Peaches on Vimeo.