A bunch of Halifax musicians have decided to come together and help out Pussy Riot.

With the recent news of the trio being found guilty of hooliganism, Ashley Moran from Michael’s Bar & Grill wanted to do something. She was quoted in The Coast as saying:

“I’ve been watching the situation since March and have felt connected to
the girls—I work with musicians daily, and freedom of expression and
art are important to me,” says Moran. “I have never been the ‘protest’
type, but the heavy handedness of the sentences was shocking. The

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benefit was formed out of a knee-jerk reaction—not really something that
involved a lot of thought at the time, but something that had to happen
around the world—including Halifax.”

That benefit soon grew from a one-night to a two-night affair, with performances by Catholic Gaydar, Tara Thorne and Jack E Blue.

Down East spoke with Matt Packman from Catholic Gaydar about the event:

“Catholic Gaydar plays unassuming indie-pop tunes, so musically we don’t have a lot in common with Pussy Riot. However, their whole aesthetic is just so visceral and striking – we love their colourful outfits and the balaclavas used to hide their faces. Their music videos are full of kinetic energy and the actual music is straight-up catchy and contagious. This has definitely helped Pussy Riot’s protest message to resonate so fast and far, as well as their ability to connect with people in the digital world.

We all feel outraged about how sad it is for some punk rockers to go to jail for a little church concert, but it’s also important to realize the Pussy Riot spectacle is part of a larger movement of people that demand political freedom. In addition to raising funds for Pussy Riot, we’d love for local musicians to raise more awareness of the repression in Russia – it’s important to see the bigger picture.”

A little bit of Catholic Gaydar to get you in the mood: