Last time I saw Straight Girl they got the whole crowd to join a conga line. This time, they had us doing the Hokey Cokey, offered to adopt us, and burped into the microphone on demand. I’m truly gutted that there won’t be a third time.
Thursday night marked the end of an era for “grave rave” electro-pioneer Straight Girl (who is neither straight nor a girl, BTW), with their last-ever London show held at Dalston’s glitzy new queer venue, The Divine.
On entering the stage, opening act Liv Wynter announced: “Listen, I’m really hungover – let’s just get through this together.” You’d never be able to tell from their performance; a musical activist who fuses hip hop with punk, Liv needed no backing band. Instead, a montage of home video footage featuring their head tattoos, Monopoly houses, and shots of Liv skimming stones on Brighton Beach formed their backdrop. Their semi-spoken lyrics cut deep, covering everything from political rage to difficult parental relationships, interspersed with the odd softer number. In their own words, Liv wishes they could just write love songs about fisting – but they know they must take on the duty that they believe is the obligation of all stage musicians: to speak out on political matters. Between tracks, they launched into a list of actions that cis people should take to become better allies – in a nutshell: graffiti over adverts, hang trans flags in your workplace, and stop leaving it to trans people to organise counter-terf demos.
Remy Enceladus is a ball of energy with a MacBook, a DJ deck, and a dream: to make rave music a safe space for queer and trans people. In their six years under the Straight Girl alias, it’s safe to say they have achieved this; The Divine was bursting with queer joy. Everyone in the small-but-mighty crowd visibly relished the opportunity to let their hair down and celebrate their beautiful selves in a safe and welcoming environment.
The music is only part of Straight Girl’s explosive stage routine; while spinning out addictive beats and punchy rhythms, they hurled themselves around not just the stage but the whole room, interacting with fans (or “cunts” as they affectionately called them) and encouraging everyone to give 100% of their energy. They even guided us through tutorials of their signature Straight Girl moves, including a stylish head-flicked mastered by “pretending there’s a bee in your ear.” Tracks like ‘Limón’ and their own version of Dizzee Rascal‘s ‘Bonkers’ amped up the party spirit, while the more solemn ‘Look At Me’ saw Straight Girl offering to become a parent to anyone who had a “bad dad.”
Ever the self-deprecator, Straight Girl admitted that they “don’t have enough songs for a headline set” – but it was the opposite of a disappointment when they morphed into a Charli xcx tribute act, suddenly adopting sunglasses, a “365 Partygirl” tee, and a posh Southern accent complete with vocal fry. They rounded up the set with delightfully karaoke-esque covers of ‘360,’ ‘Guess,’ and ‘Girls Night Out,’ inviting the girls, fems, and “anyone who feels a bit f*ggy” to join them for a boogie on stage during the latter – which added up to a solid 90% of the crowd.
It may be the end of Straight Girl, but with such mixing talent and infectious performance style, Remy surely has something new tucked up their sleeve for us. I, for one, will be crossing my fingers for another jolly, sweaty, queer night on the dance floor.
Follow Straight Girl on spotify | apple music | youtube | instagram | facebook | tiktok | bandcamp | soundcloud
Follow Liv Wynter spotify | youtube | instagram | tiktok | bandcamp | soundcloud