Haggerston – Pussy Riot Fundraiser, Power Lunches

Once belittled for their musical ability and scorned for their lively love liaisons with current male stars on the scene, Riot Grrrl wasn’t always so readily received. No longer were we hearing the considered fret play and timely solos of days of yore but these girls were kicking and screaming a new sound onto your stereo with might. Banshee cries and visceral feedback, over here in the UK, Huggy Bear was calling this the boy-girl revolution. Yet, with no small thanks to the sheer press coverage surrounding Pussy Riot, it seems thoughts on Riot Grrrl and feminism as we know it are all set to change…

Shows like this, at trendy Power Lunches, are happening everywhere but whilst the dingy, beer stained floors and throng of punk enthusiasts eager to hear some sloppy strings are no new thing to any East end venue, there’s punk sentiment hanging in the air tonight. A fine [largely] femme elite have gathered here to show their support for Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist collective imprisoned for rallying against political corruption within their country.

It’s no surprise to hear then that similarly punk-making, noise-wielding London girl band, Savages are hosting the event in order to show solidarity to their sound sisters. Fitting then to have the Free Wheeling Troubadour compering this evening’s musical efforts; delivering sharp prose with wit and mirth, he urges us to consider knowledge sharing as a form of protest. In light of this recent new wave of, not only, feminism but defiance; this certainly seems to be the case.

There’s a sense of empowerment within tonight’s line up from the predominantly female cast to theshow of support for the cause from notable music scene figure heads. Like a veritable indie Comic Relief, Friends’ front woman Sam Urbani, Mika Levi and Savages, Jehnny Beth have all come down to the hip Haggerston haunt to spin some records and to stand united over such defiance.

Local London trio, Throwing Up bring this evening’s righteous cause to a close with their scrappy and exuberant grunge tinged squall. Lead singer and ice blonde upstart, Camille Bennett is like a beautiful mix of the nonchalance of the 90s with the snarl of Love herself. It’s a shame not everyone in the crowd could appreciate the band or the [hardly coerced] members of their line up*.

Ultimately though, as Danny Boyle’s Opening Ceremony worked to drum up pride in us Brits and swelled a new feeling of patriotism in one and all, Pussy Riot and events like this seem to have drummed up a new ardent following for feminism and human rights everywhere.

Or maybe we’ve been here all along, it just took some masked matriarchs to bring the message home and, for that, they deserve all the funds we can send them.

*Freedom of speech and all that but to the chump with all the sexist slurs and no concept of musical
capability, it’s not a question of boys vs girls in the drummer stakes and when did we ever decide
that was a qualitative measure of talent? [N.B Even if it was, I see your simpleton ignorance and
raise you Patti Schemel, Janet Weiss and Carla Azar]. #rantover