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Alexander Cheparukhin,\u00a0producer and video director of the Riot Days\u2019 visual elements introduced the group. \u201cThey have never been a punk band,\u201d he said to the crowd, \u201cthey were never a band at all.\u201d
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You could feel the uncertainty from some members of the audience as to what to expect from the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Codes to donate to Ukrainian children\u2019s hospitals were scattered everywhere. The members of Pussy Riot never lost focus on the realities of the war and the situation in Russia during their performance.
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The show began with a performance by Liza Anne, a perfect opener who set the odd activism tone of the night.\u00a0It was both beautiful and emotional as she talked about coming out at 30 and how now she\u2019s, \u201csober, in love, and it all makes sense.\u201d In almost the same breath she broke out into a deliciously confusing choreographed number about how much she loves Shania Twain.
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That combination of beauty, emotion, chaos, confusion, and humour was the common thread of the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pussy Riot\u2019s performance put us on an intended high alert. At one point, Alyokhina stood in the centre of the stage pouring water bottle after water bottle on her head while Borisova showered the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The now-drenched leader lit a cigarette, and the entire group began doing laps of the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each element of the performance needed the other. As a non-Russian speaker, the text on the screen made the narrative element of the performance clear. This also led to incredible parts of the show where in all-caps giant letters it read, \u201cPutin peed his pants.\u201d There were videos of Pussy Riot at the time of their arrest and content from their infamous punk prayer that really put the audience in the context of Russia at that time. Every book should be accompanied by an hour-and-a-half retelling yelled at you in Russian while you are being doused in water. Though it was unclear if this was what the audience signed up for, they were certainly engaged and no one could look away.\u00a0The show really picked up speed after the water bottle dousing. Unfortunately, the sound was a bit funky. Occasionally, the mic and DJ setup would cut out.\u00a0 But the show was so synchronized and choreographed that the show blared on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pussy Riot has put out a lot of new music in the past couple of years with some really cool features but we didn\u2019t hear any of those hits at this show. The music was mostly a tool to keep you engaged with Masha\u2019s story. It was neither their old raw punk sound nor did it sound like their newer more accessible electronic pop music. It was an experimental almost industrial soundtrack to the show. This was not a concert. Pussy Riot is not a band. They are a political activism group that has spread their message through music. But their feminist anti-Putin message is more important than ever. And if between the water in your eyes and the sensory overload happening on stage, perhaps the succinct takeaway message was \u201cPutin peed his pants.\u201d If members of the audience thought they were going to see a Pussy Riot concert then they might have been a little disappointed by their sold-out show Wednesday night at Theatre Rialto. Those who were completely prepared for a\u00a0 multimedia activism experience, an absurd but moving and poignant piece of performance art\u2014then they delivered. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1454,"featured_media":110163,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":""},"categories":[8152,5194],"tags":[],"genre":[3078,3159],"salle":[],"ville":[],"class_list":["post-110162","gig_review","type-gig_review","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-critiques-de-concerts-en","category-events-overviews","genre-art-punk-2","genre-experimental-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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Photos by: Sarah O’ Driscoll\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"