UPDATE: The Doug Fir has added a second Pussy Riot show Wednesday, March 21. Tickets are still available, but I reckon it’ll sell out quick. Godspeed.
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After posting a cryptic message about an “epic, once-in-a-lifetime, historical opportunity” on social media, this morning the Doug Fir announced a show with Russian punk band and feminist protest collective Pussy Riot Tuesday, March 20.
Pussy Riot formed in response to Vladimir Putin’s return to presidency in 2011, and made international headlines following their “Punk Prayer” demonstration at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where they sang, “Virgin Mary, Mother of God, put Putin away” while thrashing by the alter in colorful balaclavas. Three members—Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich—were subsequently jailed for “hooliganism” motivated by religious hatred.
Alyokhina and Ksenia Zhivago came to the Crystal Ballroom in 2016 for a conversation and Q&A about the Pussy Riot documentary Act & Punishment, but the group hasn’t played a show in Portland. In fact, they played their first-ever US concert just last month in Los Angeles, and they’re slated to play the Hangout Festival and Boston Calling later this spring.
Tickets are on sale now for $25, but I’ve got a sneaky suspicion they won’t last long.