If ever there was a band we needed to hear right now, it’s punk collective Pussy Riot. Their antics in Russia for over a decade made headline news, their protest-happenings leading to court proceedings and scorn from their country’s leaders. Within the context of this year’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia is seen as a dartboard and Pussy Riot are happy to provide us the dart at Llais 2022.
Entitled Riot Days, we get to hear the absorbing story: their protest in Moscow in both outdoor and sacred settings, leading to their ambush and litigation against them. Perhaps most moving of all was some band members actual time spent in prison, an old gulag in Siberia. I’ll confess to knowing little of the court and prison sentencing and was deeply moved by these ladies who rose above the tyranny within their own country and are now doing an international tour.

Not so much songs, the hour-long show is rather a retelling of the book written about the experience through tableaux, with near-rap, shouting, flute music and rampant drum pounding. There was also looking back to the ancient music of Russia, the well known religious music featuring ecstatic choirs also got some airtime here. Sexualised dance moves and their now-famous coloured balaclavas were just some of the highlights. Though I did question the amount of wasted bottles of water used to make one singer look wet, the rest flung at the audience at this time of war and potential restrictions.

Most of the show was in Russian and we did have to go along with a translation above the rose-tinted video work. At moments, we were not able to read with enough time the full lines of screen, leading to catch up every so often. The mood was very charged in the space, as you’d expect, and it was extremely cathartic to hear them speak about Putin in such a scathing manner. The final flourish was a touching lament about Ukraine, their fundraising efforts include a Kiev children’s hospice. This will go down as a special concert for me: these whipped-up revolutionaries have our hearts and minds.
Llais: Pussy Riot, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Fri 28 Oct
words JAMES ELLIS photos SIMON AYRE