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Here's What We Learned From Pussy Riot's Glastonbury Talks

Why did Pussy Riot come to Glastonbury? Because "We need more riots!” apparently.

Why did Pussy Riot come to Glastonbury? Because "We need more riots!” apparently. Oh, and "because we like music," jokes Nadya Tolokonnikova, one of the dissident punk band’s best-known members. The vibe here at the Left Field stage isn’t really a “riot” and there’s definitely no music – just people mopping up stodgy looking Hari Krishna curries and drinking $5 tea. It is only half one in the afternoon, though, and these are the people who didn’t want to see James Bay, god bless them. I always wondered what kind of crowd comes to talks at festivals, but looking around, it seemed there was no one “type”.

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Pussy Riot inspire all kinds of followers. Since their release from jail in 2014 (they were famously arrested for “hooliganism” after a protest in a Moscow cathedral) they’re regularly booked to speak rather than perform at public events around the globe. Today they’re on the bill for not one but two panels at Glastonbury, and tomorrow they're off to Toronto pride to give a talk and "marshall" the event. It seemed pretty clear their chat would involve some anti-Putin rhetoric, which I was well up for as an angry lesbian on her second Stella of the day, but I was also keen to see what else I could learn.

The first talk was on the Park Stage, and hosted by ultimate lad-of-the-left, Charlotte Church. First, there was a strange bit of am’ dram’ – a masked bloke in camo climbed on top of an army truck, declared himself a “representative of the Glastonbury People's Republic”, and shouted some anti-LGBT propaganda and right-wing garbage while waving a fake Kalashnikov in the air. Then, Nadya and Maria from Pussy Riot climbed aboard the tank and pushed him over. It wasn’t really very punk, and it definitely made me cringe a little bit.

Next, Charlotte climbed aboard. The Welsh singer has been coming out with some great anti-conservative rants lately, emerging as a powerful female figure of opposition to the current UK government. Also, once I smoked a roll up with her in the rain and she was well mouthy and slagged off everyone from Simon Cowell to Tony Blaire to Jordan. These facts combined, I was hoping for a more exciting discussion between her and Pussy Riot, but tbh it was a bit stifled and fragmented, maybe because of the language barrier, or maybe because Charlotte got too wrecked last night, who knows.

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“Can anyone be in Pussy Riot?” she asked them. After a pause, the answer was a meek “yes”. Genderqueer people are more than welcome, said Nadya, and even men. Not Putin though, obvs. Chazza then went on to ask them about the future of protest: how do we move forward? “Protest depends on you” said Maria. “In this country it’s likely that you weren’t go to prison cause of actions so we want to see more. Inspire Russian people.” And with that, just as it started to get a bit rousing, the talk was over, and the three women pretended to drag the limp body of the bloke in the balaclava off stage, before giving up and disappearing into the wings.

Over to Left Field an hour later, and conversation had picked up a bit. Nadya and Maria discussed their time in prison to a packed tent and everyone was listening diligently. At the penal colony she was in, said Maria, it was minus 35 degrees and she was kept in solitary confinement. Nadya was ill, and couldn't get medication. Apparently you still can't get proper medication in Russian prisons if you’re HIV positive, so they’re essentially leaving you to die. This was a bit heavy for a couple of the crowd and they presumably fucked off to get a burger or something.

The talk went on for another hour, but here are the main things we learned, so that you can feel like a good human if you decided to go see James fucking Bay…

Was it a hard decision to become active again after their prison release?
“It wasn’t a decision at all. We didn’t stop becoming active in prison.”

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Does Russia still have echoes of Soviet Union?
Yep, it’s absurd. "They're not changing so we should change."

What are Pussy Riot up to now?
They’ve started an NGO called Zona prava and have a consultation hotline for people wanting info on the Russian prison system. There’s also a branch called Media Zona, which gathered a team of professional journalists prepared to tell the truth and tackle the way things are reported in the country.

Are they still as passionate about music as other activity?
“Yes, we feel passion, but we’re doing a music video and that’s why it’s so slow. But it’s coming.”

They made a weird cameo in House of Cards, have they got any more plans for film or TV work?
They want to work with Sasha Baron Cohen, apparently.

How can you tackle political apathy?
“Politicians can start out as small Putins and turn into real Putins.” There’s no such thing as paradise, there’s always action to be taken.

Is there a generational divide when it comes to sympathy towards their cause in Russia?
“Where is the border between young and old?” said Maria. “I’m 27 and one of our politicians said I was not young. But I feel completely young!”

Overall, what emerged from the second panel – which was a bit more elucidating than the first – was that, as bad as prison was for Pussy Riot, it really wasn’t that different to reality in Russia: in both situations they were forced to live a life they didn’t choose. In many ways, Putin’s Russia is a prison if you don’t agree with the State. Pussy Riot’s talks didn’t tell us much we don’t know (or can’t already read on Wikipedia), but hey, it was still riling, they’re still inspirational women, and it was a nice thing to do at a festival at lunchtime. It’s just a shame everyone’s probably going to go get drunk now and forgot what they said, including me and probably Charlotte.

If you’re a fan of Pussy Riot, read their VICE new column here.

Follow Amelia and Carys on Twitter.