We may seem a little cranky, but us local gayfolk just love a parade, and we’re actually heartened by this annual influx of brothers and sisters from every state of New England and every letter of our ever-expanding acronym. It’s just that sometimes, we like to celebrate our pride by getting the hell away from . . . well, Pride.Absolutely no shade intended to the Parade, its marshals (departed and living), rainbows or rainbowy things, the pretty tree with the purple lights that are supposed to look pink, Alexis Arquette, or those awesome block parties (where I will return once again to lose another one of my favorite shirts) — but I’d like to take this year’s theme of “Riots to Rights” seriously, and prop some of the small-timer realness that’s happening below the official LGBTQ(etc.) gaydar.
Since you’re likely not invited to my buddy’s rad BBQ, your Pride kickoff options are two: first, the much-anticipated GUERILLA QUEER BAR event, to be thrown down the night of June 4 in a yet-to-be-revealed location. I include this Pride-sanctioned bash after all that Pride smack I just talked because, for the past few years, GQB has been providing desperately needed rager space to restless queers by simply borrowing it from unsuspecting heteros, and leaving only the faint aroma of Gaultier in its wake. Like a wild, pink tornado (that leaves piles of money at the doorsteps of worthy charities), GQB gets the nod, and their party will likely rule. Join their Facebook group right now for details.
Equally fabulous a fête that night will be MR. GOODBAR, a grand celebration of Boston’s burgeoning underground queer disco scene, helmed by the typically toweled boys of the Foxy Action Group: James Cerne, Joseph Colbourne, and Nathanael Bluhm. After nearly a year of steaming up the mirrored walls of ZuZu, Mr. Goodbar — which will stretch its legs in the spacious, 300-capacity, disco-ready digs of Club Oberon (2 Arrow Street, Harvard Square) — will be a well-deserved toast to an exciting, enlivened, underground dance scene that actually gets people laid.
For those who care not for dancing, but love the frequent confluence of gayness and music, Saturday night’s “Gay Pride” edition of THE COVER UP at the Lizard Lounge (1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge) could be right up your alley. Gene Dante and the Future Starlets, Larry Banilow, John Powhida International Airport, Coehlo Bravo, and Nate Rogers play a night of covers celebrating that little gay flame that burns in all of us — including that hot dude that does the windows at your office.
Since it’s nothing short of the greatest show that’s ever been on TV, my previous slag at Drag Race was also a trifle disingenuous. Raven’s appearance at A NIGHT AT THE BIRDCAGE on June 10 at Club Café (209 Columbus Avenue) and the duo of Nina Flowers spinning and Jujubee hosting PRIDE AT NIGHT parties at Pearl and Underbar (both 275 Tremont Street, Boston) to close Pride on June 13 are both as tempting as a second Tic-Tac; but don’t forget PERESTROIKA, the beloved drag show with Nicholle Pride, Becca D’Bus, and Frieda Fries on June 7 at Jacques’ Cabaret (79 Broadway). After all, it promises to be so good that “your boner gets a boner.”
Finally, if you want to feel what a real tight-knit Beantown queersplosion feels like, you’ll want to check out the glorious return of THE NEIGHBORHOOD to the Midway Cafe (3496 Washington Street, Jamaica Plain). DJs D’Hana, Sir Loins, and Stella destroy a perfectly good silence with a barrage of sick, crowd-pleasing jams — and it doesn’t matter who you do. It’s as real as Pride gets around here — and ditching the crowd never felt so much like coming together.
