Joyce D'Vision leads the mincers to Piccadilly Station.
Inspired by the recent "Slut Walk" movement, and the disappearance of the legendary Manchester character "The Market Street Mincer", last Friday a group of folk led by Manchester's first ladies of drag the Blige sisters came together in the heart of the Gay Village to hold the first ever "Mass Mince", reclaiming Canal St from the squares and hen parties and putting a dainty spring back into gay people's step. Held in conjunction with the promoters of the queer-alt-pop night Bollox, it were a right laff, as these videos will demonstrate:
Here are some more photos, taken by Benjamin Paynter, and featuring the fabulous Sheela and Isla Blige!
So what is "mincing"? For the ebenfit of those who don't know, mincing is to walk like a lady when one is in fact a man. Which ANY man hsould be able to do without fear of harassment. ME htinks Glasgow needs one of these mincing parades too. Here's local reporter Kate Hughes with more on mincing:
Bad Taste Barbies are a hi-nrg, uber-trashy, disco-rock gang-bang hailing from the depraved back alleys of "the San Francisco of the North", Manchester. Led by the twisted brain of Kurt Dirt (above) they take inspiration from Divine, Rob Zombie, Madonna, My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult, Sylvester, the Cramps, Marilyn Manson and the Divine David, and they have been tearing it up something rotten on the live scene. I had the unlucky job of going on after them at last Halloween's Zombie Pride, something I never want to do again as my one man show is no match for their moobs-out, gymnatic, in-yer-face. audience cavorting! Their nrg level is so hi you'd think they live on a mixture of crack and viagra.
Thankfully BTBs liked my style enough that they asked me to do a remix, which I gladly accepted. The track "Working Up A Sweat" was fast enough already, but I upped it by about 20bpm, bolted on some cheesy 80s synths, some cowbells (of course) and channeled the power of Madonna's "Burning Up" for a sordid trip to a cruisy new-wave gymnazium:
And get this - Angie Bowie liked the track so much that she retweeted it!! Wow, that means in the Kevin Bacon game I am now only 4 steps away from the God of Glam, king gender bender himself, David Bowie!!
For more Bad Taste Barbie action, check out their Myspace. All together now - Seig Heil, Jeremy Kyle!
ZSA ZSA NOIR is our live musical guest at tomorrow night's MENERGY. She also happens to be one of the hottest gender benders from the San Francisco of the south, Manchester. We sent her a few questions to get her lips around:
Who is Zsa Zsa Noir?
Zsa Zsa Noir is the seven foot tall, sorded incarnation of all my subversive kinks in musical, gender queer form.
When did you start performing? And why did you start?
I started performing when I realised I wanted to be a mermaid at the age of six. I've never looked back except now I can hold the attention of a whole crowd of freaks and scream obscene lyrics over polished electronic disco filth. I'm compelled.
You produce all your own tracks, so who/what are your main musical influences?
I loved Uffie and double rate Peaches. My voice was created from a love vibration emitted by David Bowie, Tina Turner and Marilyn Monroe. I have tonnes of influences but Miss Noir is an original.
And you style yourself too, talented girl, who are your fashion/design icons?
Shit loads.
What is the gay scene like in Manchester? How does it compare to other cities?
People sometimes see me as a 'gay' act. 'Queer' is correct and 'Queer Happenings' by and large exist outside of Manchester's gay scene for me. I'm part of the Queer Scene. Sorry that didn't answer your question.. You should ask someone who shops on the high street.
Bonus question! Asked by Midnight Growler: What does an octopus' arse taste like?
Octopus arse.. It fucking stinks beyond the capabilities of my vocabulary but tastes a delicate balance of salt and fish. Rather nice even when raw.
Here's a taste of what will be on offer tomorrow night - ZsaZsa's current single "Hey Lean Diggy Doggy" (available to buy from iTunes)
Pics are in! That took a while but it was worth the wait - yeah this year's TN was AMAZING! Good to see so many folk making an effort with their drag :-) Remember, drag queens get in free to this Sat's Menergy @ The Vic Bar...
Growler & Niallist are doing their own special tribute night in Manchester at the end of this week - not to Bowie but to PRINCE, the only other performer who could match Bowie step by step for classic tunes, outrageous performance and androgenous sexuality! There's a stellar line up of Manc queens involved, including Kurt Dirt as "MINCE"! Growler as "SHEENA BEASTON"! The Niallist as "MORRIS GAY"! Sheela Blige as "SHEELA E BLIGE"! And presenting the live debut of all star drag queen girl group "TRANITY 6"! Myte Bubbles will supply a non stop 5 hour Prince (and Prince related) soundtrack. This is gonna be a blast, so if you are in Manchester on Friday do drop by the Purple Pussycat. To get you in the mood, here's Apollonia 6 with "Sex Shooter":
This looks TOTES AMAZE! My fave is the Legend routine:
Trannyshack are pure LEGENDS of modern drag performance, with a monthly night in San Francisco hosted by the legendary queen Heklina. For more info go to the Trannyshack website.
That's right it's TRANNY NITE! Tonight at the Art School, in the Vic Bar, as a fundraiser for the GSA's printing department. Get tranned up! With DJ sets from The Niallist and Lock Up Your Daughters, and performance from Lady Munter and Vanity Von Glow! This is going to be ace :-)
And in the spirit of things, here's a clip sent to me by Steven from Arthur's Landing. This is by one of the biggest pop stars in Thailand (who is straight) and the chorus is "I'm A Lady Boy". Apparently they've got very progressive attitudes to gender roles in Thailand:
While we're waiting for the official photos from Saturday to come in, here's a clip of the gorgeous and talented Vanity Von Glow doing a bit of Rhianna:
Wow, that was fuckin fierce! Big thanks to everyone who came down, and to our all star performing queens - Nancy Lashes, Candi Latte, Peaches, Gazelle, Avon Starr, Vanity Von Glow and the one and only Lady M. Pics and vidz coming very soon, but in the meantime you can like Menergy on Facebook by going here: http://www.facebook.com/menergygaydanceparty
CHRISTINE VALE is one fucking fierce bitch and we are DELIGHTED to bring you an exclusive interview with one of the States' hottest genderfuck acts. She hails from Austin, Texas and has a NSFW style like no other. If you need more of an introduction, here's our previous post about Christeene. I shot over her her over some questions:
What's Christeene's story/history?
I CUM FROM NOWHERE.
What are your main musical influences? Any particular MCs?
I LIKE DA MUSIC DAT MAKE ME HIT IT HARD. DER AINT UH SPECIFIC PERSON IN MY BRAIN, JUZ DA MUSIC DAT HIT. I LIKE DA DUB STEP A HOLE BUNCH NOW AND DAT SOUND DAT VIBRATES YA HOLE BODY A LOT RIYEET NOW. What is the track "Bustin Brown" about?
DIZ IS WHUT MY FRIEND SAY ABOUT IT FERR SOME PRESS ....
" In “Bustin’ Brown”, the fourth installment of the CHRISTEENE Video Collection, CHRISTEENE confronts the ever-present bastardization of anal sex from mainstream bourgeois heterosexuals by returning “da buh-hole” to its rightful owners. "
You're getting a lot of gigs - how's it going?
WE RET TO HURT IT. WE RET TOO HURT IT REAL BAD. WE KEEP WAKIN UP IN DIFFRENT PLACES AND WE COME ALIVE AND KILL IT.
Who are the hot boys at the back?
T GRAVEL IZ DA HAIRY ONE, AND C BABY IS DA SMOOTH ONE. THEY MAKE MY LIFE GOOOOOD.
There's been some negative reactions to Christeene - what do you think of that? I'm especially interested in the issues of gender, class and race that are brought up a lot. How does Christeene herself feel about that and how it relates to her own background?
JUZ EAT IT WHOLE AN FINISH UR PLATE. IF YOU NOT HUNGRY KEEP WALKIN. I DONT LIKE MEAN PEOPLE.
Does Christeene have any kind of "message"?
HUH? If Christeene was to make me a fried breakfast, what would I get?
SOMETHIN DAT WOULD STAY IN YERR MOUTH ALL DAY LONG.
Aww yeah!
Menergy is paying Christeene the ultimate compliment this Saturday when LADY MUNTER will lip sync to Christeene's very own "Fix My Dick"! There will be live performances from VANITY VON GLOW and AVON STARR, bringing you some Nicky Minaj, MIA and Anthony & the Jonsons. But will Munter be ablt to top THIS?!
