Nightlife is Making Offices and Bibles Fun Again
plus did you hear what happened to Caroline Polachek?
DJ’s WhoGirl and Babes with comedian and party host Anya Volz
HEY YOU HIP HAPPENing BITCHES1,
It’s Mo AKA DJ Gay Panic and this(!) is The Deviant Dispatch. I keep a faggoty ear to the ground, delivering you the latest news on NYC’s greatest underground parties, rock shows, and ACTUAL raves- every fuckin’ week. Plus you’ll get it-girl gossip, cultural speculation, snark, typos, and lots of Charli XCX updates. To throw me some much-needed support, become a paying subscriber, share this with someone, or hit the heart button at the top of the post!
I’ve been personally stretched thin this week with moving into my boyfriend’s apartment (everybody say love!) but I’ve of course kept my ears to the ground and have a list of updates.
Charli XCX started her Crash tour, and from the massive Grecian set design, full choreography, and a set list past songs like “Gone” and “Visions” alongside her excellent new material, it appears she really is in her main pop girl era. She’s even got a top 10 album on the Billboard 100 to match, her first ever.
Alt pop girlie Caroline Polachek is having a worse time on tour. The “Bunny Is A Rider” singer took a bad fall down the stairs of her trailer and broke her ankle. This means she’ll no longer be able to open for pop star at large Dua Lipa, but she did get 25 tour dates under her belt.
The indie music scene descended on Baby’s All Right for Maneka’s record release show. Palehound’s Ellen Kempner was in attendance along with many many many publicists. One concert goer gushed over opener 13th Law, who only has 2 songs on Spotify but who’s genre bending music is matched by a reportedly formidable stage presence.
Local drag child Sterling painted Drag Race alumni Laganja for her show at 3 Dollar Bill, and Laurel Charleston and MTHR TRSA showed up to hang.
The Brooklyn DIY music scene is in fact limping along at The Econolodge, more commonly referred to as the Lodge. I went to a packed show there last weekend and the energy was high. The loft isn’t a legal venue, so you won’t find it on Google, just here at The Deviant Dispatch (or perhaps a punk’s flyer).
While there aren’t any juicy shows coming up at the Econolodge this week, there’s still plenty to do. Scroll on for your party plans, and if you have the coin please consider becoming a paying sub. If I reach 350 I could do the newsletter full time, and it’s only $5 a month! I’m currently doing a free trial of all my paid posts so you see what you’d be getting.
Toodles until next week!
Xoxo
Mo
Sir Babygirl LIVE
When: Thursday, doors 7:30
Where: Knitting Factory
What: This self-described gay clown put out one of the best pop albums of 2019, full of weirdo theatre kid energy and immaculate pop songwriting. Her new songs like the unreleased “Final Girl” serve a Katy Perry meets Karen O energy. Check her out this Thursday before she puts out a new album and blows all the way up. Opening is the similarly idiosyncratic Softee, who favors dollops of 80s synths instead of chugging guitars.
How much: $12
Bible Ball
When: Friday
Where: Purgatory
What: This cast of up and coming drag artists are exactly who you want to do a “dirty divine send up of all the Bible stories you know and love.” Expect classic beauty, raunchy sexuality, gender fuckery, and surrealist aesthetics that are fitting for the bonkers tales of the Lord. There’s also Special K DJing in between acts, who is possibly my fave DJ in Brooklyn right now.
How much: $10 in advance $15 at the door
Diet Zhuzh
When: Friday April 1st
Where: the Parkside Lounge
What: This queer party mocks corporate structures and language by throwing a hedonistic vision of a touch base meeting. DJs Babes and WhoGirl will be playing upbeat house songs about working it. Comedian/podcaster turned party host Anya Volz will be assigning partygoers name tags that read the Dept of Taste, the Dept. of Them/Thems, the Dept. of Carrying On, etc. The party was originally at The Woods, a very heterosexual venue 2 . The straight Williamsburg crowd there didn’t get the joke, thinking they had actually stumbled into an actual corporate party. The far sleazier Parkside Lounge in the LES has been home to gay parties like Hot For You and Rebecca Havemeyer’s Oscar night, so the stage is set for this to be Diet Zhuzh most successful quarter yet. Make sure to rock a neon office look: Tiny Tiger will be snapping photos and there’s a prize for best dressed.
How much : $5 pre sale, $15 night of
Oops! April Fools Edition
When: Friday 8pm early show, 11pm late show
Where: C'mon Everybody
What: This legendary party has moved on from the Rosemont (where the fees and the stages were too low) to C'mon Everybody for its long-awaited IRL return. Once a weekly drag show before Covid-19, over the pandemic Chiquitita, Magenta, and West Dakota broke the model of digital drag shows, before putting the party on hiatus.
Since then, the three castmates have all drifted in different directions. West Dakota almost exclusively models now. Chiquitita broke out on the national drag stage in a big way with Alaska’s pageant and has been a major force in C’mon Everybody’s rebranding as drag venue. Her themed shows (a Veneno tribute or nights devoted to Lady Gaga albums) have been so successful that a number of other drag artists now use the venue for their gigs.
For Oops’ return the cast is joined by X-Emma, whose authentically weird interpretation of club kid drag is some of the freshest in the scene. The whole caper is rounded out by the return of DJ P_A_T_ who’s star has risen from the Rosemont to clubs and bars across NYC. The only name missing from the pre-pandemic cast is Magenta, but Serena Tea is filling in.
How much: Early bird Show is 10$ online / 15$ at the door, Late show & dance party 15$ online / 20$ at the door
Boy Harsher LIVE
When: Thurs/Sat 8pm
Where: Music Hall of Williamsburg (yuck)
What: the best working goth band today is coming to Brooklyn for not one but TWO nights. Fans of synthpop, black, and the Pyramid Club please take notice!
UMRU’s Birthday Party
When: Saturday 8pm
Where: RASH
What: UMRU is a hyperpop producer who’s known for his heavy maximalist productions, frequently with dubstep drops or trap drums. He also is a fan of hardcore techno rhythms. Most notably he worked with Charli XCX on her songs “Click” and “I Got It.” For his birthday he’s going back to back3 will all his fave DJs at Bushwick’s newest hotspot for dance music. Plus, the venue shared on Instagram yesterday that there’s going to be an open bar.
How much: $10 before midnight
That’s it for this dispatch. If you liked it please consider forwarding this email post to a pal! If you’re the pal please subscribe. You can send me tips about worthy events, news & gossip, and shit about anything I mentioned by emailing thedeviantdispatch@gmail.com or responding to this email. Even just hitting the like button does tons to help this project!
Please read in the voice of Allison Wolfe, specifically from the Bratmobile song “Punk Rock Dream Come True.”
except on Wednesdays with Amber Valentine, where the Woods gets swarmed by lesbians.
a back-to-back DJ set, or B2B set, is when two or more DJs play at the same time. Mostly this means each DJ picking one or two songs each and going back and forth throughout the set. The DJs often don’t know exactly what the other people are going to pick, making the sets very unique and spontaneous.