Queer women rule pop, at All Things Go and in the current cultural zeitgeist
The All Things Go music festival made its way to New York City this weekend for the first time, featuring a lineup of predominantly women and queer women headliners like Boygenius’ Julien Baker, Ethel Cain, Muna, Janelle Monae and Reneé Rapp
NEW YORK — Venue staff wore rainbow heart-shaped stickers. LGBTQ+ pride flags doubled as capes. Pink cowboy hats, a calling card for Chappell Roan fans, reached critical mass at pop-ups like Dave’s Lesbian Bar. Nearby, at a stand for the online sexual healthcare company Wisp, attendees posed in front of a glittery vulva.
At New York's Forest Hills Stadium this weekend, thousands of concertgoers descended upon All Things Go, a Washington-area independent music festival that made its way to Queens for the first time, amid unyielding rain. But no matter: The dedicated trudged through puddles in Doc Martens and ponchos to see their favorite artists, a sonically cohesive lineup of mostly major label acts with indie pop sensibilities who were, perhaps remarkably, almost exclusively women.
All of the top-billed acts at the New York festival were women who identify as trans, queer, bisexual, pansexual, or lesbian, as well — Boygenius' Julien Baker, Ethel Cain, Muna, Janelle Monae, Reneé Rapp, and previously Chappell Roan, who dropped out of the fest on Friday. The point was made best by the pop band Muna, who flashed the phrase “LESBOPALOOZA” on LED screens before their performance Saturday night.
“It’s not unheard of or unusual, by any means, for a music festival to feature nothing but queer women musicians,” says Nadine Hubbs, professor of women’s and gender studies and music at the University of Michigan. “But the category of (this) music festival does make it groundbreaking.”
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