Chicago

Biss to Share Stage With Pussy Riot

What does an international feminist punk rock protest band have in common with Illinois’ self-proclaimed middle class candidate for governor?

They’ll share a stage Tuesday, according to state Sen. Daniel Biss’s campaign.

Pussy Riot is sweeping through North America this year for its first ever tour on this side of the Atlantic with its first stop in Chicago. The band gained international recognition in 2012 after three of its members were imprisoned by the Russian government for “hooliganism.”

The Biss campaign, for its part, says it plans to “rock the vote” — a strategy where political campaigns team up with musicians to encourage their audiences to vote ahead of elections. According to campaign spokesperson Tom Elliott, Pussy Riot will introduce the state senator before he addresses the concert.

Elliot said the pairing was thanks to Reclaim Chicago, a progressive group of grassroots organizers who endorsed Biss for governor in January. While Elliot said he didn’t believe Pussy Riot had an official endorsement process, they were “very interested in this narrative of combatting big money in politics.”

This week, Biss’s campaign rival J.B Pritzker dropped another $7 million of his own money into his campaign, bringing his self-funded total up to nearly $63 million.

“The only reason to vote for J.B. Pritzker is because he has the money,” Biss said in an interview with NBC 5 on Monday. “That’s what he tells us.”

Biss will not be playing with the Russian musicians Tuesday night, but he does come from a family a musicians. His brother Jonathan is a pianist, while his parents Miriam Fried and Paul Biss are both violinists. Biss plays the piano as well.

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