Halloween has ended, and a new season emerges (hello leggings under our pants… again!). But, perhaps, an era in underground raving has surfaced due to some unseemly events that took place over the past weekend.
As a community member I want to encourage you to continue to support queer/defiant/othered/grassroots/communal spaces, places, and makers. Without engaged, excited, respectful, and open participants, all raving would cease to exist.
Remember: A rave is not something you can just buy. A rave is something that you help to create.
Thursday, November 7
The New Deal Presents: Pelada at Brooklyn Bazaar, 8pm
We’re taking a journey to Greenpoint to say goodbye to a longtime venue: Brooklyn Bazaar. The venue has been an essential stop for both concerts and nightlife since it moved into the landmarked Polonaise Terrace banquet hall space. The space is, in a classic tale of late-2010s nightlife woes, out-leased. Brooklyn Bazaar was home to concerts by legendary members of the underground — from punk legends like Black Flag to Hardcore Hell music festival to late night electronica wonders in their many-roomed space. Before they leave at what is now-slated for an end of the month closing, pay your respects to an independent venue with roots in DIY, noise, and community.
Check out this Thursday night ditty with Pelada, a visiting synth-acid-techno-punk group straight from the Montreal rave scene (that brought us Essaie Pas, with whom they also record). Their liberal ethos combines accepting subcultures of all sorts to party together under one roof. Pelada, whose vocalist Chris Vargas writes (and semi-screams) solely in Spanish, offers a rare sound with urgency, and a high-octane delivery that somehow makes 10pm seem like the height of the party. They’re joined by a live set from local artist Bergsonist and a DJ set from Synthicide resident Andi Harriman.
Pro Tip: Come by after opening night of the Other Art Fair at nearby Brooklyn Expo Center.
Saturday, November 8
Cxema Backstage at Basement, 10pm
Cxema is a Ukranian-based, independent culture organization steeped in DIY ethos, post-Soviet unrest, and a natural growth from dystopian attitudes. The party highlights local techno musicians, as well as avant-garde leaning noise, with an emphasis on brutalism. While the group normally stays in its home country and relies on it’s own name to draw crowds, they’re making a rare stateside appearance. Visiting from Cxema’s home is Voin Oruwu, an experimental futurist playing a live set. Joining for DJ sets are Venezuelan-native (Berlin-residing) Hyperaktivist, who focuses on old school techno and DIY culture that highlights women and trans artists. Rounding out the bill is Relaxer, a Brooklyn local. Support the underground in a real way and be inspired by those overcoming odds to create something cathartic, creative, and collective.
Friday, November 15
Half Moon at Bossa Nova Civic Club, 10pm
If you’ve been keeping up with us at Bushwick Nightly (which you all have, right?!) you’ll know that we’re huge fans of Half Moon. That’s mostly (read: entirely) because they stand for everything we believe in: Creating a space for femme/queer/POC artists to enjoy expression, visibility, and space while also espousing a underground ethics and aesthetics that both operates outside of the commercialization inherent in so much electronic music. They’re all grassroots and defiance. Oh, and techno. All this not to mention they’re super Bushwick.
Tonight they’ll celebrate their monthly residency at Bossa with sets from local artists they love, including PlayPlay, who mixes DnB with 90s rave, jungle, breakbeat, and hardcore. It’s like nostalgia on speed. Topping the night is DJ Mike Q, famous for headlining and running the House of Vogue events (see this past Wednesday) at House of Yes.
Mike Q has been a long-term part of the latent — now-reemerging — ballroom scene that has travelled the city searching for a home, and may be finding it in our northeastern Brooklyn territories. Mike Q is a legend of classic house, hip-hop, and R&B as well as a capital-P Professional who will not disappoint. Thanks Half Moon!
TR/ST at Knockdown Center, 8pm
TR/ST is a project with humble goth beginnings. Robert Alfons began as a part of the neo-Victorian gothic group Austra before breaking off on his own for this project with a stronger push towards industrial grit, sensuality, darkness, and ultimately redemption through desire. The music itself recalls a German subculture of the early 90s and warehouse raves with live music that sounds like Nick Cave had a fight with a malevolent synthesizer (and lost).
Alfons is bringing it to one of the aesthetically on-point spaces in our hood — the massive, former glass factory that is no stranger to dystopian machine noise in its various iterations. TR/ST is a gift to our culture today, as an honest-to-goodness iteration of neo-punk, neo-goth, neo-coldwave, neo-darkwave intensity that we are lucky to see the in the space that demands this quality with the community that knows how to enjoy it. Joined by local post-punk band Light Asylum and newly-local genderfuckery queen Christeene.
Sunday, November 17
Sintastic Static Music with The Carry Nation at ???
We can’t say much about this party – it starts late, it ends late, we don’t know where it is (and if we did we couldn’t say). But it’s sure to be rowdy, wacky and, as their marginal messaging states, “pure underground”. While this collective runs frequent late night events (*cough* morning *cough*) this one is lucky enough to boast local power house The Carry Nation, a DJ duo whose reputation precedes them through their core fanbase: from the gay parties that made them like- Ladyfag’s Battle Hymn – and whose sound hearkens back to the early house era of a bygone New York City era. While they’re still playing more traditional places like Good Room and Nowadays on the regular, they’re holding it down old school style with the nefariousness of a late, late night to see what it brings to the front. Pull into the Garage.
Cover image courtesy of Pelada.
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