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" &amp;quot;We sang a fun song at a church.&amp;quot; This is how Pussy Riot&amp;#039;s Maria Alyokhina described what got her and bandmate Nadezhda Tolokonnikova thrown in a Russian jail for nearly two years Tuesday night on The Colbert Report. It&amp;#039;s what triggered a newfound global awareness of just how oppressive Vladimir Putin can be when he&amp;#039;s not hang gliding or horse riding or flashing his pecs. There were mass protests. A guy sewed his lips shut, and later nailed his balls to Red Square. The elder statesmen and women of the music community came to the band&amp;#039;s defense and performed in their honor. In December, Putin finally released them from prison, a transparent gesture to garner sympathy in anticipation of the Sochi Olympics, the opening ceremony for which will take place on Friday. This week Pussy Riot is in New York for a series of awareness-raising speaking engagements. There have been TV appearances and press conferences, and on Wednesday night there was a little over 10 minutes of stage time in the middle of a bizarre, five-hour Amnesty International concert at Brooklyn&amp;#039;s Barclays Center that also featured a mishmash of popular musicians, actors, and activists. Pussy Riot were undoubtedly the Main Event, but their message&amp;#039;s forum, squeezed tightly into the center of a merry-go-round of arena rock, was curious. The evening began at eight o&amp;#039;clock and consisted of a seemingly endless procession of bands playing two- or three-song sets, divided by heartstring-tugging video montages and addresses by everyone from an Iranian activist speaking in English for the first time in public, to Bridget Moynihan (&amp;quot;From CBS&amp;#039;s Blue Bloods&amp;quot;). It was hard to follow. Some of these speakers, like Kerry Max Cook, who was wrongly convicted of murder in Texas and spent over 20 years fighting his way off death row, were truly inspiring, while others, like the guy from The Fray reading off a teleprompter, were less so. The musical performances were energetic and memorable, although it was egregious that smaller acts pumping new singles played before the Flaming Lips and Yoko Ono, who came on well after midnight in front of an audience a third of the size it was at the beginning of the night. Most attendees with floor seats stood and danced, every artist was greeted and seen off with hearty applause, and goddamn Blondie can still bring it. After Cake finished their set (remember Cake?), Madonna, one of the earliest and most vocal defenders of Pussy Riot following their arrest, strutted on stage, cane in hand and grill on teeth, which is apparently her look now. She gave a wheels-off but heartfelt speech about Pussy Riot&amp;#039;s importance and her own struggles with the Russian government before introducing Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova. The 25- and 24-year-old were the reason why an NYPD counterterrorism unit patrolled the plaza in front of Barclays before the doors opened, why both pro- and anti-Putin protesters lined the same plaza ranting and handing out pamphlets. They were the reason we were all there. Right? Their presence onstage felt important in a real and instantly recognizable way, but it was also surreal given the context of everything that had preceded it. Speaking through a translator, Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova thanked Madonna and Amnesty International before talking with passion about fighting for our freedom and standing up for the countless protesters Putin has unjustly sent to prison, just like they had been in 2012. &amp;quot;When we were behind bars, you gave us the voice that was taken away from us,&amp;quot; they said. &amp;quot;Now that we&amp;#039;re here, it is our duty to give a voice to those that are still behind bars in the dark.&amp;quot; They wanted specifically to raise awareness for a group of activists facing five to six years in prison, their February 21 sentencing date impending. Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova alternated reciting the protesters&amp;#039; closing statements in court, which were delivered earlier on Wednesday. The remarks echoed Pussy Riot&amp;#039;s sentiments and called attention to their helplessness in the face of the Russian government. When Pussy Riot took the stage, the crowd entered into a sort of sustained frenzy that ebbed and flowed haltingly, a little unsettled by the delay between Pussy Riot&amp;#039;s fiery Russian pronouncements and the spoken translations. There was a sense that cheering for the idea of Pussy Riot came before consideration of what they were actually saying. Almost all of the court statements read were responded to boisterously, regardless of what was conveyed. &amp;quot;People had to protect themselves in an engorged crowd of fascists in police uniforms.&amp;quot; Wild applause. &amp;quot;They&amp;#039;re taking revenge on us because we were there and we saw what really happened.&amp;quot; Wild applause. &amp;quot;I came to the square to take a stance as a citizen. I want to live in a country where human rights are observed.&amp;quot; Wild applause. Awareness is a good and necessary thing, but Pussy Riot are not calling for awareness. They are calling for action. For them and for the oppressed they are standing up for, action is what is necessary. Their words on stage were succinct, direct, specific, and gravid with urgency, but the rest of the night at Barclays was mostly filled with vague platitudes disseminated via Jumbotron. We were told that we can make a difference, and most of the long evening was a rock-fueled dance party congratulating ourselves for being there and hearing the message as we sipped on $10 beers and tweeted the proceedings. What happened at Barclays on Wednesday night was organized with the noblest of intentions and the tone of the arena was undeniably positive and uplifting. I&amp;#039;m just not so sure we should be celebrating something as abstract as awareness so triumphantly, with a band of handsome musicians furiously pounding on drums of various shapes and sizes as thousands dance and scream. If ever something deserved a moment for thoughtful consideration, it was what Pussy Riot said during their 10-plus minutes of speaking time. But exactly 10 seconds after they thanked the crowd and left, before their applause had even subsided: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IMAGINE DRAGONS Deafening applause. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a27187/pussy-riot-concert/>