Clockwise from bottom left: Showponii, Heaven Ender, Sherry Poppins, Jay Kay, Qhrist Almighty. Photo by AJ Jordan via Qhrist’s instagram.
Hi fellow fashion skeptics,
This is The Deviant Dispatch. I’m Mo, your guide to the underground. I write about NYC-based events, gay shit, and cool kid gossip. There will be snark, typos, and lots of Charli XCX updates. If you like what you see, become a paying subscriber, share this with someone, or hit the heart button at the top of the post.
Fashion week is such a fickle beast. My day job is in luxury e-commerce (admin reveal!) but even for me the week sneaks up. Once it arrives, I feel a vague sense of duty to care before it falls away. The parties are very insular. Underground figures like Eartheater pop up to perform or walk a runway, but often the brands are the ones doing the organizing. The shows themselves have little appeal. Sure I could look at the schedule and arrive to crane my neck at some clothes I couldn’t afford, but I’d rather spend the weekend seeing Babii’s first concert in Elsewhere1 or watch God Complex get dipped into a giant fabric butthole at the House of Yes2.
The one thing I was excited to check out was a block party and fashion show by boutique VersBK. Made up of designers operating outside of the corperate fashion system with models from We Speak, the whole affair showed promise. I was so excited to go, I promise…. but then it started snowing. 🙃 We’ll always have Vouge Runway dot com! If you really are looking for my picks I’ll say this: the Saint Sintra show had multiple people on my timeline in attendance.
Before we get into the events this week, a brief list of non-fashion things that happened
Kim Petras put out an EP called Slut Pop and the gays are obsessed.
Doja Cat put out a cover of Hole’s “Celebrity Skin” that sounds like Kidz Bop. Courtney Love still approves.
Best Coast’s cat Snacks, immortalized on the Crazy For You album cover, has died. Head to Pitchfork for the full obituary.
Shamir Bailey put out an excellent industrial-inspired album called Heterosexuality that’s rage personified.
Mark Hunter AKA The Cobrasnake is back to doing party photos, and he’s got plenty from NYFW on his website.
Charli XCX announced that she’ll be performing at the Afterparty NFT-Gated Arts & Music Festival in Las Vegas, making her the latest public figure to align themselves with NFTs.
Charli and Rina put out a video for “Beg For You” and a bland Vouge Diary about filming it.
Aspiring downtown it-girl and blogger Meg Superstar Princess got covered by The Cut.
Scroll all the way to the bottom for the first ever bLiNd ItEm on the Deviant Dispatch.
XOXO,
Mo
Body Hack
When: Wednesday, 8-11pm
Where: Nowadays
What: This popular happy hour for a for trans and non-binary cuties and the squirrels that ride for them takes place at frequent rave destination Nowadays. The venue is known for their sprawling outdoors as well as the way the sun peaks through the high windows during an all night rager, shining on the plants and illuminating the sweaty bodies below. This edition of Body Hack has the lovely Sailor Malice behind the decks, a favorite of the alt drag scene. 100% of donations and 20% of the bar will go to support Edwin & CiCi Faulkner, two queer and trans sex workers who were wrongfully incarcerated after a trick died during a kink session.
How much: Free
Ducks LTD, 2nd Grade LIVE
When: Wednesday, doors @ 9:30, show @ 10:00
Where: Baby’s All Right
What: 2nd Grade and DucksLTD make indie pop that’s ripe to blow up now that Twee is having a revival on Tik Tok. Go to this show if you loved the Juno Soundtrack or are a true head who loves Tullycraft and Tiger Trap.
How much : $20
CLUB CARRY & Xcakes presents: Puke World
When: Thursday, 10 pm
Where: Knockdown Center
What: Fresh from throwing a party at a Hookah Lounge off Myrtle Broadway, Club Carry comes together to throw a massive rave at the Knockdown center. This one is for Ava AKA Ant Puke’s Birthday. She’s the founder of Club Carry and is a pillar of the local rave scene.
How much: $10-20
Acid Dad with Zero Point Energy
When: Friday
Where: The Sultan Room
What: Ok Acid Dad’s band name is comically bro-ish true, but they somehow manage to wring some life out of the psychedelic garage rock movement. The true intrigue on this bill is Zero Point Energy. The duo is made up of the chief songwriters in the Atlanta post-punk band Wharehouse, and thus I’m excited to see what this new dou brings to the table.
How much: $15
NEED4SPEED Collision Shop
When: Friday
Where: Mi Sabor Cafe
What: the most epic DJs in the scene playing b2b AKA with each DJ playing just 1 or 2 tracks before turning it over to their partner. This party is happening at Mi Sabor Cafe, a longtime Spanish restaurant and Hookah Lounge. It’s quickly becoming a favorite of Pauli Cakes and Ant Puke: they threw a party there last week.
How much: $15-25
MORE (MAHNHATTAN)
When: Saturday
Where: a secret Manhattan location, follow MORE’s Instagram for updates.
What: This is the secretive party More’s second shindig. Originally cancelled because of the surprise snowstorm, this lineup is packed with the chicest DJs of the moment. We have the resident DJ and co-founder of Papi Juice Oscar Nñ, Stylist of stars (Kim Petras and Julia Fox!) Mazurbate, model Memphy, aforementioned rave children Ant Puke + Pauli Cakes, and more!
How much: ????
Vault of Baphomet
When: Sunday, 8pm-1am
Where: Purgatory
What: Sunday has long been referred to as “industry night” when the people who live outside the corporate 9-5 lifestyle really let loose, when the bars aren’t filled with yuppies like they are on the weekends. For the forever ravers, check out this dance moment at Purgatory. The venue is vibey and intimate, the DJs serve punishingly fast BPMS, and the party is named after the devil! What’s not to love.
How much: $10 Online and at the door before 9:30, $20 after
BLIND ITEM
This slutty pop artist allegedly sided with her boyfriend when a collaborator accused him of assault. Not surprising when you see who she works with.
That’s it for this dispatch. If you liked it please consider hitting the heart button on this post or forwarding this email to a pal! If you’re the pal please subscribe. I write once a week about upcoming worthy events underground, news & gossip, and gay shit. You can send me tips about those things by emailing thedeviantdispatch@gmail.com. If you care about drag queens, illegal parties, independent music/art/film/fashion, Charli XCX, and rebellion, you need to support The Deviant Dispatch.
Babii played with Igloo Ghost. Both acts performed with projections mapped onto them, but the futuristic vibe didn’t stop there.The venue also debuted a new system for buying drinks. After entering you were encouraged to connect a credit card to your wristband and then pay for drinks with a simple tap of the wrist. Combined with the alien noises of Igloo Ghost (accompanied by a improv violinist) the whole scene made me feel like I was in the 5th Element.
Your reaction to House of Yes is a good litmus test for how jaded you are. The venue is objectively gorgeous in a maximalist way. Blinking robotic eyeballs hanging over the bar, disco balls coating the hallway to the bathroom, random polar bear stuffed animals. In the context of slick corporate advertising, it can all seem like something a brand would make for Instagram. Except this brand is just a nightclub whose mission is a sort of inclusivity that girl bosses would love to put on tee shirts and sell.
I went to the show Absolutely there this past weekend and it was predictably off the wall. Richard did an actually funny ventriloquist act, La Zavaleta descended from the ceiling, Mini Horrorwitz dressed as a dinosaur and destroyed a city. When God Complex wasn’t getting lowered into a giant fabric butthole from the celling, he was flexing his hosting muscles and collecting tips in a giant bottle of poppers.