AUG 15 PUNK BAND PUSSY RIOT TAKES ON VLADIMIR PUTIN

AUG 15 PUNK BAND PUSSY RIOT TAKES ON VLAD PUTIN

This week's blog reminds us how something really small can morph into something completely global.   It all began on a frozen February night in Moscow.  Suddenly, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova got an idea.  She told her band-mates: "Rather than sit around, swilling vodka, and complaining about how horrible Putin is...we should do something!"  So the gals in the punk rock outfit Pussy Riot decided to stage an impromptu concert at a Moscow church.  The plan was to let the rhythm of a bass guitar solo get their message across.  They screamed lyrics that asked the Virgin Mary to save them from the tyrant leader.

Oh...we left something out.  It wasn't just a church.  Actually, they chose the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Храм Христа Спасителя) for their publicity stunt.  You know...that big, colorful, onion-domed building across the street from the Kremlin?  In fact, it's the tallest Orthodox church in the world. The iconic structure was built by Czar Alexander the First to celebrate the Russian victory over Napoleon.   Heck, even Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture was debuted there, led by Peter himself.  Get it?  It's a very important monument, and shouldn't be the site of any political rally...especially one by a crazy, costumed alternative punk band called PuSsy RiOt.  (The girls want us to spell it that way.)

Not surprisingly, the band members were arrested less than a minute into their performance.  (We made the part up about the bass solo!)  Anyhow, here's where the things get dicey.  In most other world cities, the gals would be jailed, charged, fined and released and no one would care that some crazy punks burst into a cathedral for thirty seconds.  Not so in murky Moscow.  Under their "judicial system," the three band members are still in jail today, 175 days later.  A 2,800 page indictment was handed down, charging them with hooliganism and a seven-year sentence. Nyet!

All of which comes at an interesting time for the current czar of Russia, Vladimir Putin.  No friend of human rights, he has never tried show the world that he is a democracy-loving friend of the West.  However, he tries not to provoke.  But placing three silly girls in prison for seven years for a poorly thought-out 45-second protest provides the perfect vehicle for opposition.   It went global last week because Madonna just so happened to be in Moscow for a concert.  She wrote "PuSsY RiOt" on her back.  That must've peeved off Vladimir for sure!

The whole mess all comes to a conclusion this Friday, when the court in Moscow announces the verdict.  From Russia to Rwanda to Reykjavik, there will be "PuSsy RiOt" candlelight vigils.  Be sure to go online and find one in your town.  You might even run into a favorite celeb!  Not only is Madonna involved but also such pop icons as Pete Townsend, Yoko Ono and Lady Gaga.  Stay tuned, readers...the verdict will be read at precisely 2:00 pm Moscow time!  NOTE: They sound about as good as they look.







Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich