GAYLETTER

You know Ladyfag loves a good Friday night rager. At least, she told us that straight up, but her Friday night track record is lit: 11:11, Family Function, Clubber Down Disco — she knows how to turn up after the work week is over. It seems like Midtown is having some kind of gay-rage resurgence. There are a few parties that have just premiered above 35th Street, and while I’m naturally inclined to stay below 23rd, if someone’s hosting, I’m traveling. Trust and believe. Mouth Your Body is all tongue and cheek according to Lady. It’s at the old space that used to house Asseteria, so the dancefloor has a rich history. Lady said she brought the party back to a little Time Square underbelly street cause its dirty and that’s the way she likes it. There’s always a new generation of trans-kids, queer-clubbers, and flaming homos that are thirsty to take NYC nightlife by storm. I can’t keep up with the crowd that frequents Lady’s parties because they are all stars and I am Miss Congeniality. So, if you’re feeling like it’s your time to star-light, star-bright, the new Lady party is the place to start. Amanda Lepore will be there, Aquaria will be celebrating because Season 10 Ep. 1 is behind her, and the DJ line-up includes Lady staples like Michael Magnan (he’ll bring the techno), Just Dosha (she’ll bring the grime) and DiCap (he’ll bring you the pop). There’s more to the party, and GAYLETTER is sending a photographer. You know we love to make a bitch famous. Pay the cover and get your jush!  —Chris Stewart

My favorite invite-only underground techno party, Unter, is launching a new spin-off party aptly titled Unter SPINOFF. They take the idea of spinning off a new party, spinning out, and spinning into new directions and concepts seriously by shifting the timing, format, and vibe of the new party. In contrast to Unter’s dancing-focused, dark techno, and darkroom-style concepts; SPINOFF is a tool to “explore other genres of music and new and different formats of events.” Instead of being an afterhours party with Unter’s 2am-10am or later timeline, Unter SPINOFF is day party, running from 4:00pm to midnight. Even with my NYC nightlife and graduate school fueled sleep schedule, I appreciate a refreshing day party. You can have a hearty breakfast, rave to exhaustion, and still go to sleep at a reasonable hour. One of my favorite things to do in Berlin is sleep in, head to the club at midday, and arrive as the denizens of the night are at peak dance and drug induced hysteria, and fresh reinforcements of bright-eyed clubbers fill the dance floor to an energetic frenzy. Speaking of Berlin, the Berghain/Panorama Bar residents Boris and Roi Perez (also frequent performers at the infamous Snax fetish parties) are taking lead musical duties along with SPINOFF resident Rachel Noon. A beer and wine bar, comfortable seating, and sprawling yard will be provided; so expect less G zombies and K-hole kittens than your typical techno party, and more fan snapping acid garden queens kiki-ing about the queer utopian revolution. She’s feeling carnivalesque, psychedelic, and cute. Find tickets here. I’ll see you there!  —Patrick

Honey Dijon is unquestionably one of the funnest DJs to dance to. She really knows how to get a crowd moving. Which is saying something in the age of monotonous techno where songs blend from one to the other with little difference. Honey is about to release an album, which means we can listen to her when we’re washing the dishes or walking to meet a trick. Honey’s album is titled “The Best of Both Worlds” and we have it on good authority that she will be playing it “ALL NIGHT LONG!!!” This Friday. We’re told that two of the artists who did tracks on the album will also be performing live: Sam Sparro & Cakes Da Killa. “In the past year, Honey has spun fashion shows, major festivals and clubs internationally, and was named number two on Mixmag’s list of the top 20 DJs in the world... It may seem to many like Honey is an overnight success, but having watched her work so hard over the past decade, I can say that her recognition is both earned & well deserved... we’re so proud of you Miss Honey!!!!” We are too. Show some love for the queen bee this Friday, she deserves it!  —tom

OK ya’ll, the time has come for something we have all been waiting for — at least, that I’ve been waiting for — a new monthly party is ruvealing her gorgeous Latina face. Her name: Techno Cumbia. Even though this would make a pretty fab drag name, she’s not a new queen; rather, she’s the move this weekend. Created by Joey LaBeija and his boyfriend Spooky Bauhaus, this party has a few “strictly enforced” ground rules. No phones. No social media. No photos. Yasss. Now your date can actually pay attention to your ass. We’re leaving 2018 and going back to 1994 mama, the year the party’s namesake song came out, Techno Cumbia by our reina favorita Selena Quintanilla. Regarding these rules that, by today’s standards are quite radical, LaBeija said, “We decided to have a phone and social media policy because we both don’t go out because parties are boring, everyone’s on their phones, we’re even guilty of it. Everything is so public right now, like everything people wanna upload when they’re taking a crap so like, lets make something sacred and private again. It’s a venue that hasn’t been used before, we worked really hard on finding a space that we could use exclusively.” The space he’s referring to is El Manaba, an Ecuadorian restaurant in Ridgewood. This premiere of Techno Cumbia will be hosted by Sunny Valdez and features Bbymutha, DonChristian (both featured in GAYLETTER Issue 2), Mischa Mafia, LSDXOXO, Larry B, and Byrell the Great. “Baila, baila sin parar, No hay tiempo para descansar!”  —Connor Atkins

When I turned 21 I was really excited to start going to Amber Valentine & JD Samson’s party PAT. This was mostly because I wasn’t really familiar with any other DJ’s and Union Pool — where they’ve thrown the monthly shindig — had a taco truck in the summer, and I was a fan of anywhere you could smoke, meet cute people and have a taco on a Thursday night. Lauren Flax I got into when I had gone out a bit more (like after a month) and saw her name pop up among the usual LGBTQ+ nights I was frequenting. I quickly learned she was cunt. (I can recommend her Good Room podcast on Soundcloud.) Reading all three names on one flyer is not totally unheard of, but it always feels good because it’s suuuch a power-lesbian line-up. And I’m here for that. Le Bain, if you ask me, presents itself three ways: straight, gays who look straight, and boobs. You’re probably thinking: Boobs? But the Le Bain branding is so one-trick-design that when the club’s pool is open I mostly just see flyers with a bikini, a martini and sun-kissed skin. That said, JD Samson, Lauren Flax & Amber Valentine all fit the Le Bain mold albiet for very different reasons. They’ve all DJ’d the space before, so I suspect it’ll be a cozy Friday evening with bold textures coming from the soundsystem and plenty of beautiful women and queer femmes traipsing about the luxurious space. Not much more detail for this party on the event listing page, which is how you know it’s going to be cunt. Only the people that are in the know will show up, and those are the kind of folks that twirl all damn night long.  —Chris Stewart

I used to see Leo Gugu (pictured) often when he used to host a weekly party at the former bar Eastern Bloc (now Club Cumming). It was so enjoyable to watch him have so much fun — I used to think “that’s how you host a party!” The energy was very contagious. I just recently had a brief Facebook group chat with Leo and Ben Manzone who both created this new party at a new club space in Bushwick called Rose Gold. Ben told me about the name of the party: ““On & On” was the name of the first known house music track/record released in 1984, so the name is in tribute…” He even sent me a link to a video on YouTube title Jesse Sauders On and On for me to listen to as reference. Here I am writing this post and listening to this track, It’s keeping me going, I can probably keep typing all night, it’s making me so productive right now, it’s past midnight and this song has taken my mind to the perfect warehouse party and everything is feeling just right... It’s making me want more. Where was I? DJs for On & On are Sean B (Powerhouse, Xanadude, Spank), A Village Raid (Dreamhouse, Spectrum) and Ben who I mentioned earlier. Now I am listening to Ben’s Souncloud, looking forward to spending some time with it. Hosts for the night are Dylan Born (Macri Park), Lady Simon and of course Leo Gugu, I told you that queen can host! Glad there’s a new party like this at a new club space...  —Abi