The Deviant Dispatch: In Defense of To-Go Cocktails
plus Princess Nokia, a virtual a emo night benefit, and the return of Vamp!
Photo by Issac Van Curen
Hello deviants,
Welcome to The Deviant Dispatch: your guide to culture that defies the norm. Currently the norm we’re all defying in BK is the stay home order. Why are we RiSkInG oUr LIvES in the coRONa CAPITAL??? To-go cocktails. The warm summer air and the ambient threat of death is inspiring New Yorker’s to blow off steam by buying frozen margs from their fave bars in plastic cups. Thanks to a recently passed measure saying bars are allowed to serve to-go drinks as long as they also do food, more bars than ever are slinging disposable drinks. This makes parts of the city seem like a dystopian Burbon Street: hordes sliding straws underneath face masks, throwing caution to the wind and looping masks underneath their chins to get a full gulp, and wandering the streets getting increasingly drunker.
This is not a shaming post, although there are plenty of people wringing their hands over the boldness of our public beer consumption. Perhaps people without a sense of control have turned to trying to control their neighbors. It certainly seems more attainable than controlling our Government! I’m in favor of partying in the face of death and economic downturn. If this turn of events around Corona has taught me anything is that people are really only out for themselves, and any fantasy of cooperation has become the pie-in-the-sky dreams of Disney Movies. You can only control the actions of yourself.
So fuck it! Maybe you’ll die from catching Miss Rona on the way to get a daiquiri, but you’ll be doing it on your terms instead of catching it during a panicked run to the grocery store (where it is impossible to maintain 6 feet of distance from people, at least here in Brooklyn). We can’t live in fear. If we’re going to be living without a stable future, at least let us have drinking in the street.
With that in mind, here’s a couple of my fave Brooklyn bars doing cocktails to-go.
The Rosemont: Friday, Sat, Sun, 3-9. Their frozen margs pack a wallop.
Boobie Trap: 2 to 8pm everyday. They’re offering 10 flavors of nutcrackers and other drinks as well.
Be sure to subscribe to the paid tier of my newsletter to get this Friday’s issue. It’s going to be a primer on queer cheerleader content :)
AND NOW, THIS WEEK’S ROUNDUP OF EVENTS
Princess Nokia Live on Pitchfork
When: Wednesday 7pm EST
Where: @pitchfork on Instagram
What: Before this whole Corona Spiral kicked into gear the rapper Princess Nokia released not one but two albums: Everything Sucks and Everything is Beautiful. One’s heavy and chaotic, the other is light and soulful. It’s a shame the live shows to promote these albums probably won’t happen this year, but Princess Nokia is going live on Pitchfork’s Instgram. She’ll def perform some songs, but she’ll probably also wax poetically about current events. For this concert she’s chosen to spotlight the Trevor Project, a national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ+ young people.
How Much: free but donate to the charity
Cabernet Caberet w/ Cat Cohen
When: 8pm EST
Where: Instagram at @catccohen
What: Last week I wrote about my hope that this show would provide me with a much needed laugh and sense of joy. I was anticipating getting it via Cat Cohen’s comedic chops. I wasn’t wrong , but the real treasure came from one of the guest performers. Silver Sphere is a DIY pop artist based in Chicago. The shy 20-year old hopped on to perform two songs, dancing dorkily as she sang along to a track. One of the songs, called Boys in Bands, has been on repeat for me all week. Just the sort of slightly silly sugar rush I was craving! Tune in to Cat Cohen’s show again this week to discover some fun of your own.
How Much: Free
Studio-19
When: Thursday 7-9pm EST
Where: twitch.tv/dj_babes
What: A disco party! Tune in for frothy tunes and a video stream of DJ Babes spinning while wearing mounds of tulle in a picturesque backyard. There also is going to be compilation of soul train and disco diva footage. Festival vibes! Summer isn’t dead! I feel love!
How Much: Free
Digital Drag Cyber 9
When: Friday 10pm EST
Where: twitch.tv/biqtchpuddin
What: The best place to go if you’ve never seen a modern drag show but you’ve always wanted to take a peak. Biqtch Puddin has made her one-off Twitch show a weekly affair. The Dragula winner is seamlessly mixing big names with well-deserving up and comers. This week BK’s very own Baby Love will be performing.
How Much: $10 Suggested Donation
Fishy Half Bday Party
When: Friday 6-12 EST
Where: twitch.tv/blisbigton
What: If you’re looking to dance to some juke and booty-poppin tunes head to this fish’s half-birthday! Hosted by the fab DJ Elise, there are also big names like Umfang on the lineup. Def check back with @elise555555555 on Insta as the date gets closer (rn the link to the stream isn’t working).
How Much: free
Home Like Noplace Is There: A Quarantine Emo Night
When: Friday, 8pm-1am EST
Where: ask an emo kid for the Zoom ID*
*(this is punkspeak for ask one of the performers or people running the show. Traditionally the message reads “ask a punk for the address”)
What: My buddy Tatiana has assembled a night of journalists, and music industry insiders to celebrate the joys of emo. On the lineup is Rolling Stone’s Suzy Exposito, who just wrote the mag’s Bad Bunny cover story. Lindsey Miller, who manages singer-songwriter Clara Joy and bedroom pop group MICHELLE, is also going to be playing. It’s a charity event for the org Girls Behind the Rock Show, an org who’s goal is to help more women succeed behind the scenes in the (still male dominated) music industry. Sure to be a goofy good time!
How Much: Technically free but venmo @melanie-grinberg to support girls behind the rock show.
Switch and Play’s VAMP: Zoom edition
When: Saturday
Where: Zoom link TBA. Follow @switchnplay on instagram for updates.
What: Switch n Play is a queer performance collective that’s been operating in BK since 2006. Originally a Drag King collective, it’s since morphed to include all manner of performers: non-binary burlesque performers, drag kings, and anything in between. The collective is soaked in 3rd-wave feminist thinking, and their shows frequently play with fictional characters that queer folks have identified with. That is, before we were inundated with Ryan Murphy shows and Queer Eye casts. This Saturday they’re airing a performance of their show Vamp, a show about vampires.
How Much: free but tip the performers
Cyber Punx
When: Sunday, 9pm EST
Where: twitch.tv/queeraspunk
What: a bi-weekly drag show with live music and drag performances, obviously informed by the punk aesthetic. This Sunday features the lovely Shanita Bump, Dragula’s Maxi Glamour, and king Clit Eastwood.
How Much: free but tip your queens
Club Quarantine
When: Every night, 9-12:00 EST
Where: Zoom, check @clubquarantine on Instagram at 9pm EST for the code
What: Let’s take a gander at what Zoom’s best club served us last week. Last Friday they through a party celebrating Charli XCX’s (amazing) new album, complete with miss XCX herself alongside collaborators Dijon, Pablo Vittar, Dylan Brady and Palmistry. Yesterday they hosted the party Fake and Gay and LIZ performed. Tonight pop star Tove Lo will be DJing. What else will they have in store this week? Check their Instagram everyday to find out.
How Much: Free
That’s it for this week’s dispatch. If you smiled or laughed while reading this please consider forwarding this email to a pal or subscribing to the paid tier of this newsletter. I write twice a week: once about upcoming worthy events and once about worthy subjects of my choosing. This Friday I’m going posting a primer on fictional queer cheerleaders.