Pussy Riot’s message got them jailed in Russia. Now they’re bringing it to the U.S. | The Sacramento Bee

Pussy Riot’s message is coming to North America for the first time.

The Russian feminist punk band will open its “live music performance art” tour March 6 in Chicago, Pitchfork reports. Over the next few months, they will perform in a handful of U.S. cities, including two shows each in Portland, Seattle and Los Angeles, two other California stops (San Francisco and Santa Cruz), and performances across each border (Vancouver and Mexico City) before ending in Boston on May 25, pending the addition of shows.

The group is no stranger to controversy. Three of its members – Maria Alyokhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova – were arrested on hooliganism charges in 2012 after the band’s prayer at a Moscow cathedral took aim at Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was seeking re-election for president. They were sentenced to two years in prison on Aug. 17 of that year, but all were released early.

The tour supports their “xxx” EP released in 2016 and is said to be against U.S. President Donald Trump. It even includes a song called “Make America Great Again,” Trump’s presidential campaign slogan.

The band also released the video “Police State” a year after Trump’s election victory, which band member Tolokonnikova called a “sad anniversary” in a story about the video by The New York Times.

Pussy Riot’s full tour schedule is below:

▪ March 6: Chicago

▪ March 10: St. Paul, Minn.

▪ March 18: Mexico City

▪ March 20, 21: Portland, Ore.

▪ March 22, 23: Seattle

▪ March 25: Vancouver, British Columbia

▪ March 27: Santa Cruz

▪ March 28: San Francisco

▪ March 31, April 1: Los Angeles

▪ May 18: Gulf Shores, Ala.

▪ May 25: Boston