mannequin pussy is right about everything

On Sunday, September 27, 2026 Mannequin Pussy played a one-night-only show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. That might seem strange since their last album I Got Heaven came out two years ago and they haven’t released much new music since. However, it does makes sense in context, the iconic venue is shutting down at the end of the year as first reported by Variety.

No one knows what will happen to the space post-2026, but what we do know is that it’s shutting down because New York City, and increasingly the entire world, is too expensive for anything except for mega corporations or anyone who isn’t phenomenally wealthy.

Towards the end of the set, the band’s lead, Marisa Dabice, went on a diatribe (positive connotation) that was basically right about everything. She went in on how we keep losing venues in NYC which will always come at the detriment of the larger culture in the city. This isn’t a random occurrence of nature, this is the result of the selfish hoarding of wealth to a level that’s been rare in modern history. This is something that’s being done to us.

But still there was hope in the room and in Dabice’s speech. A native New Yorker, she recounted her experience with Occupy Wall Street as a turning point where people began to wake up to how much power the ultra wealthy have. As she pointed out, even those who make 8 or 10 figure salaries are closer to having nothing than they are to the oligarchs. She remarked on how the recent election of Mayor Zohran Mamdani was another example of what people were waking up to. Ever the pragmatist and voice of the people, she reminded the crowd of their need to stay on him to fulfill his promises and, with equal fervor, to protect him from those that would love nothing more than to see him fail as an argument to maintain the status quo.

Dabice’s final plea was to embrace a life of passion. It’s in the wealthy’s best interest that we live passionless lives. They would much rather have a listless and pliable population than one who will fight for a right to a life of dignity for everyone. Perhaps the best way to sum up Dabice’s call is for everyone to not only have a loud bark but a deep bite in service of a better world.