Welcome to Bushwick Nightly, our bi-weekly nightlife column!
It is officially summer. Dusk and dawn are now tinged with an almost-unearthly glow and warmth that make you reassess the need for sleep (especially when it may be taking place in a muggy apartment and you’re not quite sure that you can even handle the weight of your sheets).
Summer in full-swing means it’s going to be a rip-roaring two weeks, with World Pride this weekend and the long 4th of July weekend following that. Both day parties and all-nighters are on the agenda! There’s absolutely no reason to brave the crowds leaving town when you can just stay here in Bushwick.
Thursday, June 27
Agenda World Pride 101 at Bossa Nova Civic Club, 10 p.m.
Thursday is the new Friday (sort of), but especially when it’s Pride Weekend. To celebrate this momentous anniversary in LGBTQIA+ rights, AGENDA is launching their event series with this kick-off rager at Bushwick’s finest techno den of darkness, Bossa Nova Civic Club. The new event is focused not only on elevating LGBTQIA+ talent but also highlighting the history of club culture while also helping to bring it into the present and future.
Of course, the event will focus on hard-hitting club and rave culture, offering a selection of local DJs whose resumes read like a history of our own queer music scene of the recent past. WORDOFCOMMAND is a regular with the collective F.I.S.T (Fun Is Still Transgressive); Joey Quinones is a frequent player at the legendary Unter parties; Gooddroid comes from local techno label Loveless Records, and Kozlov represents the emerging AGENDA themselves.
Friday, June 28 and Saturday, June 29
Ladyland Festival at Brooklyn Mirage, at 5 p.m. both nights
If you thought world-famous outdoor venue Brooklyn Mirage would be left out of Pride Weekend you would be mistaken, to say the least. The event is a co-production with Ladyfag, a queer nightlife producer who has been called a “nightlife sorceress” and whose shows (Holy Mountain and Hot Rabbit) combine queer clubbing, performance, and fashion. These productions have helped her become as interesting as Susanne Bartsch in the annals of NYC queer nightlife history.
Ladyland is her foray into Pride Weekend and this year it is back with not one, but two days. This intentionally queer space and music festival is both a live concert and DJ event focusing on artists within the LGBTQIA+ community. Live music acts include the famous indie rock group Gossip (led by ce-lesbian Beth Ditto), synth-popper Allie X, local electro-punk group/performance artists Bottoms (think a queer Crystal Castles), and so many more.
DJ sets come from Chicago-based queer legend Honey Dijon, transgender techno queen Octo Octa, Ana Matronic (the only female member of the Scissor Sisters), harsh industrial from Brooklyn native Katie Rex, and oh, so many more. It’s a banquet of high octane sounds from and for the community. Show up in a look and prepare to dance to music from JD Samson (of the infamous queer Pat parties and also one third of Le Tigre).
SATURDAY, JUNe 29
All Night with Amelia Holt at The Sultan Room, 11 p.m.
You’ve waited long and hard. Or you just recently noticed the completely wacky façade, that looks like a 1940s Midwestern supper club, has landed on Starr Street in “downtown” Bushwick. Well, you wouldn’t be wrong about the landing part because, well, it kind of did almost like Auntie Em’s house landed from Kansas to Oz (yes, Bushwick is Oz in this analogy). The owners of the space on Starr Street were huge fans of the Turk’s Inn in Wisconsin, a supper club that had been open since the early ‘30s, and purchased a huge portion of its decorations, as well as its sign, at an auction after the venue closed in 2014.
Now they’re opening it up again as a multi-level space with a recreation of the supper club, a Doner Kebab restaurant, plus The Sultan Room, a retro-kitchy space meant to be over-the-top and with forward-thinking nightlife with trendy acts accompanies with both live bands and DJ nights. Saturday night, in what is only their third official night of programming, they’re hosting three local female talents for a nightlong foray into Brooklyn techno. Amelia Holt takes time off from her twice-monthly radio show, Despacito on N10.AS, to headline the event with her Latin rhythm-inspired electronic music. Also on the bill are Alejandra Sabillon and DJ Lita.
Saturday, JunE 29
Barba Party at 3 Dollar Bill, 10 p.m.
Barba party is an import from the Australian queer theme who is landing at our noted queer-owned massive venue, 3 Dollar Bill, for a World Pride Party. As an Australian event, they’re really working on bringing putting the world in World Pride: They’re an Australian crew throwing a Berlin-themed party here at the self-coined largest queer venue Brooklyn.
Barba is known for, and advertises as, being two things: sweaty and queer. Very Pride. Headlining is Casey Spooner, a gay artist and icon most famous for his work as one half of the legendary ‘90s electroclash group Fischerspooner. Joining him will be Achtung B. from the Swiss and European queer and gay scene, and other DJs who know their way around a sweat and drag pit. Nightlife performer and costume queen extraordinaire Darrel Thorne is one of the many queens set to host alongside Rify Royalty, and even porn actor Dirk Caber. The crew is encouraging looks meant to impress, but also meant for longevity on and off the dancefloor.
SATURDAY, JUNE 29
Hot Rabbit: Bad Habit Pride Party at Lot 45, 10 p.m.
Hot Rabbit is one of the only parties this entire weekend more directly focused on female-identifying revelers and their queer friends and allies. Luckily for Bushwick it is headed to Lot 45 this Saturday night for a post-Dyke March blow out that will feature the usual shenanigans of live performers (including vogue from the Houses of Labeija and Olympus) as well as queer DJs like Citizen Jane and DJ Joanna X.
The music at Hot Rabbit is often high-octane with notes of pop and trap rap and — because this is World Pride after all — the event will feature a top secret Top 40 artist who will come out to headline the bill. Our money lands somewhere between Lizzo and Janelle Monae (note: this is complete editorial conjecture). The event has been an NYC mainstay since its inception in 2011, probably because most femme & queer parties and bars have fallen by the wayside in the past decade. Come dance it out and continue to support a party so essential to the queer nightlife landscape of NYC.
SUNDAY, JUNE 30
Proud: Pride March Afterparty at House of Yes, 8 p.m.
House of Yes can be as gay as they come and we mean that in the classical sense of lighthearted, carefree, exuberant, and joyful. Of course, the venue itself is incredibly focused on creating a queer-friendly and queer-supportive space, with tons of parties geared towards the queer community and with a huge amount of queer talent in their resident artist repertoire.
So it’s no surprise that they’re hosting one of the biggest Pride March (or Queer Liberation March) after-parties, so you can keep partying into the night with your queer family at the center. The theme is (not-so-shockingly) Rainbow Realness/Glitter Glam, some HOY costume mainstays that are essentially the uniform of the Pride March. Get ready to dance your tail off with “babes of all flavors and orientations.”
Wednesday, July 3
Tony Humphries at Nowadays, 10 p.m.
Some could argue that Tony Humphries actually is New York. Some could also argue that Tony Humphries actually is house music. Born in Brooklyn, he rose to acclaim by hosting a Friday and Saturday night mix show on KISS-FM beginning in 1981 (and which carried on to 1994). His early and long-lasting residency at Club Zanzibar in New Jersey (of all places) is cited as a birthplace of garage house alongside Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage. So it’s safe to say he is history and royalty.
Recordings of his music made their way to the UK, paving the way for that country’s house rave renaissance (note: where were you in ‘92?). Humphries has since boasted residencies at the heart of the nascent acid house scene in London, Shoom, and then at the once-essential Ministry of Sound club, also in London. The man has been in constant demand ever since and has made his mark as a “lifer” in the business, continuing to record music and DJ worldwide for over 35 years. The man made his mark playing 10+ hour sets in the early days of the scene so he’ll have no problem playing all night in this corner of Bushwick & Ridgewood, so you make sure that you can make the most of your pre-Thursday off for the 4th of July (without having to wear too much red, white, or blue).
Saturday, July 6
Fourth World at Basement, 6 p.m.
Music from New York City, by New Yorkers, and for New Yorkers. It is music that makes our “sound” an internationally recognized and revered one on the global circuit that ties us all together when we’re here at home partying our asses off. Fourth World, now in its second year, is a complete and utter celebration of that New York Sound as it is in shown in our underground-style electronic music community.
Now hosted by Basement, the new literally underground venue at the Knockdown Center, the event is a 12 hour extravaganza featuring huge names like Joey Beltram (famous for his indisputable classics “Energy Flash” and “Mentasm” and generally creating a electro-acid-techno rave sound that defined a generation) as well as Ridgewood-based Fluxwork, chillout raptronica artist Galcher Lustwerk, and disco-house gay party duo The Carry Nation are just three of over 35 local artists. If you’re interested in a) partying all day and night and b) learning more about your local sound and scene c) check out one of the neighb’s newer rave spots, then this is the party for you to round out your long weekend with a perfectly long night.
Cover image courtesy of Hot Rabbit.
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