Pussy Riot (Riot Days) at Future Yard

We’d call Birkenhead’s Future Yard a hidden gem – if that phrase wasn’t wheeled out for every venue with a postcode. But this place is the real deal, and it deserves more attention. The community-focused, artist-led venue has been quietly serving up some brilliant bills over the water in Birkenhead, with its flagship Future Now festival a prime example. This August, amid a packed line-up of rising bands, Riot Days – a live protest piece by Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina – takes over the Garden Stage.

Pussy Riot need little introduction. But here’s a little introduction. The Russian feminist art collective became globally notorious in 2012 when three members, including Alyokhina, were imprisoned for staging an anti-Putin performance inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The Russian state branded it “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred”, and the women were sentenced to two years – turning a spontaneous protest into a global flashpoint for artistic freedom and political dissent.

Future Now brings Pussy Riot and a fierce line-up of rising bands to one of the North West’s most forward-thinking venues.

Based on Alyokhina’s memoir of the same name, Riot Days fuses punk, theatre, documentary footage and spoken word into a searing live performance that also serves as a call to arms. Alyokhina, who escaped Russia in 2022 disguised as a food courier, performs alongside an international cast, channelling the raw energy of resistance into something that’s as much political act as stage show.

Framed within Future Now – the venue’s flagship summer festival – Riot Days lands at the sharp end of a tightly curated bill. Interestingly, the performance appears in the afternoon – an unconventional slot that marks it not as headliner, but as centrepiece. Around it you’ll find some of the UK’s most urgent voices in post-punk, queercore and noise-pop, including CLT DRP, Shelf Lives, Alien Chicks (do check them out, they’re great!) and Jodie Langford.

That kind of booking makes perfect sense when you understand what Future Yard actually is. More than just a venue, it’s a community-rooted, artist-driven operation that’s actively reshaping the region’s music scene – running artist development programmes, offering affordable rehearsal space, and training up the next generation of live music professionals. It’s one of the rare places that puts as much energy into the future as it does into the now.

So yes, go to this festival – it’s a cracking line-up. But also keep an eye on the venue. It’s doing something special.