Russian musical collective and activists Pussy Riot will be joined by some high-profile guests for their forthcoming concert at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theater on Wednesday: comic Sarah Silverman will be performing a “pop-up” set, while Big Freedia — fresh from her prominent guest spot on Beyonce’s “Break My Soul” — Salem Ilese, Josiah, Boyfriend and Eva Elfie will be making special guest appearances, along with previously announced artist Rei Ami.
The appearance is a rare high-profile slot for Silverman, who has been keeping a relatively low profile in recent months. Big Freedia and Salem Ilese both appear on Pussy Riot’s “Matriarchy Now” mixtape, which dropped on Friday. Ilese also released the viral hit “Crypto Boy,” and for which the group’s Nadya Tolokonnikova created the single artwork. The pair sold the song as NFTs to raise $180,000 for reproductive rights organizations.
Next month, the group will be releasing a new song called “Plaything” featuring Rei Ami and Kito, along with production by Hudson Mohawke. The group is also performing in Victoria, BC on Sept. 16, in Las Vegas on Sept. 18 and New York’s Le Poisson Rouge on Sept. 22.
The show comes at an active time for Pussy Riot: The collective played San Francisco’s Outside Lands festival this past weekend. Tolokonnikova’s Web3 efforts have helped to raise over $500,000 for reproductive rights non-profits, including Planned Parenthood and the National Center for Reproductive Rights. In February, at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she was instrumental in raising $7 million via UkraineDAO.
On Gender Equality Day / International Women’s Day, she announced UnicornDAO, which has so far raised over $4.5 million to collect and showcase art from women-identified and lgbtq+ artists. Besides Yuga Labs (Bored Apes), these people and companies are part of the DAO: Guy Oseary, MoonPay, World of Women, Beeple, Jen Stark, Ppl Pleaser, Trippy, IX Shells, Justin Aversano, Grimes, Sia and Gary Vee etc.
