Ian Dickson / Via commons.wikimedia.org
Hello live music fans,
This is The Deviant Dispatch. I’m Mo, your guide to the underground. On Wednesday I write about events. On Friday I write about gossip for paying subscribers (just $5 a month). If you can, please consider becoming a paying subscriber so I can devote myself to this grind full time. If you don’t have the coins, please share this with someone or hit the heart button at the top of this post.
Hello to all my shiny new subscribers! How was your weekend? I went to a store downtown where brands like Rick Owens and Off White were like 70 % off. I’d love to share where, but the model who showed me swore me to secrecy. If we hit 50 paying subs maybe he’ll let me share his secret (only 20 more subs y’all).
The not-so-secret accessory of the moment? The vaccine of course! There were more people lined up at the vaccine distribution center than all the sample sales in downtown combined. Joe Biden seems to think we’ll all be vaccinated by May. Sounds like it would be the wildest summer ever. Currently I’m having trouble doing anything but going to work, coming home and getting right into bed. Is there a vaccine for that?
Fortunately I didn’t let my newfound love of bed keep me from my grind. This week I had a conversation with Dorian Electra and Nadya from the band Pussy Riot for Paper Magazine. We talked about taking inspiration from Taylor Swift, liberation, censorship, and big tech companies.
My fave thing I learned doing this interview was that Pussy Riot and Slipknot share a vocal coach for guttural moans.
They’ll have the option to scream in an IRL in a New York concert venue soon enough! Today Cuomo said that arts, entertainment and events venues can reopen April 2 at 33 percent capacity, with a limit of 100 people indoors or 200 people outdoors, and a requirement that all attendees wear masks and be socially distanced. Those limits would be increased — to 150 people indoors or 500 people outdoors — if all attendees test negative before entering.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that we will be moshing at Elsewhere this spring. Per the New York Times
Michael Swier, the owner of the Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge, two of New York’s best-known rock clubs, said that the state’s order that venues require social distancing and mask-wearing means that the true capacity at many spaces may be much lower.
“Given that social distancing is still part of the metric, it brings us back down to an approximate 20 percent capacity, which is untenable,” Mr. Swier said.
Several promoters and venue operators said they were holding out to reopen at 100 percent capacity, which many hope can happen this summer.
So not the best news, but baby steps baby steps!
Xoxo,
Mo
The Drawing Center Gallery Hours
When: 12-6pm every day
Where: The Drawing Center
What: Nate Freedman shouted out this gallery’s David Hammons exhibit, but why look a serious prints when you could look at a giant naked woman spewing cartoon birds out of her mouth? That naked woman is the character Fatebe, the alter ego of the artist Ebecho Muslimova. The gallery had this to say about her work.
For Ebecho Muslimova’s first solo museum exhibition, the artist presents Scenes in the Sublevel, a site-specific installation that includes ten large-scale mixed-media drawings. Muslimova (b. 1984, Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia) is known for her pen-and-ink drawings and large-scale paintings that feature her bold and uninhibited cartoon alter ego, Fatebe. Her latest body of work uses The Drawing Center’s downstairs gallery as the stage for Fatebe’s intrepid misadventures.
Either way, head over to The Drawing Center to fulfill your art fix, or at least satiate your desire for adventure.
How much: Free but you have to schedule an appointment: https://drawingcenter.org/visit
Arlo Parks Live on Bandsintown Plus
When: Thursday, 7:00pm EST
Where: https://www.bandsintown.com/player
What: Arlo Parks is a singer songwriter and poet who’s on everyone’s lips right now. Her album Collapsed In Sunbeams is the kind of easy listening album you could put on while making dinner and forget about. It’s also the kind of album that will make you think of everyone you’ve ever loved as you ride the train home. She’s playing a livestream set, so tune in to see the artist me, Phoebe Bridgers, and Michelle Obama are all staninng.
How much: Free
Drag Queen of The Year - The Digital Pageant Livestream Experience
David Lopez for Instinct Magazine
When: Sunday, 5pm EST
Where: https://sessionslive.com/DQOY2021/tickets
What: Alaska’s second installation of her drag pageant. The competitors are @supercomplexdrag, @chiquitettas @dixiesurewood, @jakedupree, @tyislucystoole, @maureensandiego, @tenderoni88, @tito.so.to and are sure to wow. They’re a motley crew of drag kings, boylesque performers, comedy clowns, and divas. Tickets are pricey but are only going to get more expensive, so act now.
How much: $25
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 twice a week: once about upcoming worthy events (for free subscribers) and once about underground news and gossip (for paying members). You can send me tips about either 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 read The Deviant Dispatch.