Contributed by kidecono, Posted by

This week, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz DJ-ed at a Brooklyn benefit for Pussy Riot, the feminist punk collective jailed by Vladamir Putin for protesting the Russian leader's reign. The show was his first performance since the passing of his longtime bandmate and friend Adam "MCA" Yaunch and Ad-Rock played a riot-girl heavy set including songs by his wife - Kathleen Hanna's - influential punk outfit Bikini Kill. A review from Spin Magazine commented on the night:

The show had all the vibes of a late-'90s West Coast punk basement show, with the aesthetics to match, and appropriately riot grrrl was in the air. Held by national feminist artist/musician organization Permanent Wave, the night's spirit dovetailed with the year's resurgence in protest, both physically and artistically. […]

[Adam] launched into one of the best-ever riot grrrl DJ sets, blending Bikini Kill's "Alien She" into Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me," Bratmobile's "The Real Janelle" into Girl Unit's "Wut," and dropping in tracks like Kid Sister's "Switch," Rasheeda's "Bubblegum," and Skrillex's "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites." The crowd pogo'd, though their allegiances were obvious: they never got crunker than when Ad-Rock played tracks led by his wife. [He] dropped Le Tigre's "Deceptacon" for his closing track, with its appropriate lyric "See you later," the vibe was less "ski mask way" and more slumber party.

The event was a fundraiser to raise money for Pussy Riot and high profile feminist/punk supporters spoke out in support of the band including Bikini Kill's Tobi Vail and Alice Bag.

Jessica Valenti recently commented favorably on MCA and the Beastie Boys strong support of the feminist movements and women in general on Hanna's website. It's worth checking out here.