Kickstand Productions Presents Pussy Riot: Riot Days “An Activist Multimedia Experience” with Liza Anne

Friday, November 3 - Doors 7pm - $30 adv. - All Ages

Described by the international press as:

• "New primal revolutionary electronic punk opera…"
• "Powerful and exhilarating… poetic, razor-sharp and disarmingly witty…"
• "Far from being a conventional gig, it is instead a hard-hitting, punk spirited and encapsulating piece of art theatre…"
• "Stunning audio-visual experience…"
• "The best punk rock show…"

Riot Days showcases Pussy Riot's innovative combination of live music, theatre, and video.

The first Riot Days international tour commenced in the USA in March 2017. By May 2023, Pussy Riot was honored with the Woody Guthrie Prize and celebrated this achievement with a riveting performance of Riot Days in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Now, a major North America tour beckons.

About Pussy Riot:

A Russian feminist protest and performance art group, they are best known for their provocative activist punk performances. On their name's significance, they stated, "We called ourselves Pussy Riot because the first word denotes a sexist attitude towards women. Our 'riot' is our reply to that attitude."

Founded in 2011, the group gained global prominence after a performance at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour led to the imprisonment of three of its members - Maria (Masha) Alyokhina, Nadezhda (Nadya) Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina (Katya) Samutsevich.

Some perceived their actions as too radical. Today, these perceptions are being re-evaluated, especially as the alliance between the Russian Orthodox Church and Putin's Kremlin strengthens. It's becoming evident as Orthodox priests sanctify soldiers, tanks, and weaponry meant for the invasion of Ukraine.

In February 2014, Masha, Nadya, and other members showcased as Pussy Riot during the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Their performance was interrupted by Cossacks, serving as security, who assaulted them with whips and pepper spray.

After prison, Masha and Nadya emerged as the most identifiable faces of Pussy Riot. Many affiliate the group with them. However, despite their shared history, various joint protest actions, and belonging to the same Pussy Riot political activist collective, their individual on-stage performances are distinct.

Riot Days Project:

Maria Alyokhina, along with music producer Alexander Cheparukhin, initiated Riot Days based on Alyokhina's book. The show chronicles Alyokhina's experiences with Pussy Riot, from their iconic protests to their court trials and prison sentences. The content evolves, reflecting current events like political prosecutions and the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

With over 400 performances globally, "Riot Days" has garnered prestigious awards like the Herald Angel Award, Total Theatre Award of Edinburgh Festivals, the annual anti-fascist award in Germany, the Woody Guthrie Prize in the USA, and more. Just recently four ladies of Riot Days have got the honorary degrees of the Doctor of Letters of the University of Kent, and celebrated this with an impromptu performance in the historical Canterbury Cathedral.

Maria Alyokhina's 1.5-year detention and house arrest in 2021-2022, for a single social media post supporting Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, exemplifies the climate. Despite these hurdles, she managed to escape Russia in May 2022, disguised as a food courier. Without her Russian passport, she still successfully crossed borders. This escape allowed "Riot Days" to spread its message globally, particularly in support of Ukraine. Significant part of the projects' income goes to support Ukrainian Okhmatdyt children's hospital and foundation.

Current "Riot Days" Team:

• Maria (Masha) Alyokhina:
• Role: Text author, voice.

• Diana Burkot:
• Role: Voice, electronic programming, keyboards, drums.
• Bio: Moscow-born drummer, singer, and electronic musician. Founding member of Pussy Riot since 2011. Participated in the Punk Prayer in the Cathedral in 2012, but escaped arrest.

• Olga Borisova:
• Role: Voice.
• Bio: Joined Pussy Riot in 2016. Former policewoman from St.Petersburg. Contributed to the Riot Days book as a creative editor and involved in various protest actions with Masha.

• Alina Petrova:
• Role: Electric violin, drums, keyboards, voice.
• Bio: Recognized musician in Russia and Europe. Graduated from Moscow Tchaikovsky conservatory (viola). Participated in various experimental music projects (post-minimalism, electronic music, sound art, improvisational music etc) as a composer and instrumentalist

• Vasily Bogatov:
• Role: Video.

Indie rock sensation Liza Anne discovered songwriting as a young girl at summer camp, during a guitar lesson workshop. Inspired, from that moment forward she added melodies for her poetry and prose. As a teenager, she followed the thread of her love for music from quiet Saint Simons Island, GA, where she was raised, to Nashville to attend Belmont University, during which time she self-released two albums that now boast over

50 million streams. In 2018, her sound and talents came to maturity with groundbreaking Fine But Dying. Liza Anne's songwriting reached its zenith thus far with lyrics that reckoned starkly with womanhood and mental health. It was wry, sensitive, vulnerable and resolute. For two years she toured the record, and experienced highs and lows that inspired her to slow down for the first time. She captivated and fascinated crowds while opening for Kacey Musgraves, making her television debut on Conan, playing at Paramore's Art + Friends Festival, Shaky Knees Festival, and sold-out venues across the U.S. and Europe. She also ended an intensive relationship, spent time in therapy and meditated on who she wanted to see in the mirror moving forward.

After reflecting on these events, she penned a collection of songs about the ideal self-love she wanted to achieve, messages to herself that she needed to hear, which became Bad Vacation. Produced by Micah Tawlks (Louis Prince, COIN) and Kyle Ryan (Kacey Musgraves, Natalie Prass) and co-produced by Liza Anne [with the exception to the first singles "Devotion" and "Desire" that were produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen (M83, Beck)], arrangements are poised and fierce to match, fueled by muscular guitar hooks, retro synthesizers, and insightful lyrics. It's Liza Anne at her most confident– both polished and punk rock, evoking St. Vincent's raw power, Kate Bush's tender theatricality and Talking Heads' high energy. It was released in 2020 during the pandemic, and received much critical acclaim from outlets such as NPR, Stereogum and Paper Magazine. Though live shows had to take a backseat to the lockdown and

the record never made its live debut, Liza Anne made the most of the time off from touring during the past two years to write and record another album. [Now, she will finally perform Bad Vacation live and preview songs from her upcoming record. On this tour, over 14 nights at select venues with a specially curated roster of guests, fans will get an opportunity to hear the album that taught Liza Anne to love herself and self-prophesied her into the woman she is today, in full, in an intimate setting that's only fitting for such material.]