Miles from Zilker Park, eight independent artists drew tourists and locals alike from the stomping grounds of Austin City Limit Music Festival, for a festival of their own.
Story by Carys Anderson
Photo courtesy of Blakchyl: Bandcamp
GAyCL is exactly what it sounds like. Now in its eighth year, local bar Cheer Up Charlies hosted the showcase of queer, majority Texan artists specializing in everything from rock to rap to cabaret. The evening resulted in a deliberate showcase of care-free dancing and a community of artists who were given less opportunities to shred on those huge national stages.
The host of the evening, drag queen Grandma Steven, put on a comical performance of “I Make Money Moves” to kick off the night. Shelly Webster took the stage next. The crowd remained seated but attentive as she performed her own metal music.
Wielding a hot pink guitar against her all-black ensemble, the performance of a solo guitar and vocal with electric beats stood out. Webster finger-tapped the fretboard and laid the whammy bar on heavy in all her metal glory, which earned the approval of at least one man in the audience who head-banged along.
The sight of a MacBook on stage, playing the digital drums that anchored Webster’s riffing, became a recurring theme that evening. It served as a reminder that independent artists of all genres take matters into their own hands in order to create and perform the sounds in their heads.
Throughout the night, the intermissions and set tear-downs was soundtracked by DJ Girlfriend —who founded GAyCL and spun queer classics like ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” —and Fat Bottom Cabaret, described by Grandma Steven as “Texas’ only POC burlesque production.”
Fat Bottom Cabaret performed as the night went on. When they graced the stage after Shelly Webster, they sent a memo to the crowd that it was time to dance. Leaving their seats for the stage, the audience cheered the ladies on as they danced to Beyonce, Nicki Minaj and more. Grandma Steven said the dance troupe was “changing the world one curve at a time;” the crowd’s dancing and recording was a thank you to the ladies for their service.
Austin’s own Fat Bottom Cabaret seemed to be the stars of the show Saturday evening. Photo by Steve Dement Photography.
Third act and real-life couple BAIJ calmed the crowd a bit, but their synth-pop music kept the dance floor packed. Lauren Sanders coupled synths, electric beats and the occasional guitar with Ilaina Espinaco’s ethereal vocals to create their pop sound. Their set even included a cover of PJ Harvey’s “A Place Called Home,” an understated song with jangly guitar that fit nice among BAIJ’s own catalogue. “If you listen to the words, it applies to our queer community,” Sanders prefaced the cover.
As the couple’s voices interlocked to sing the back-and-forth tale of finding peace and acceptance, Espinaco got visually emotional repeating the line “one day they’ll be a place for us.”
Real-life couple BAIJ brought the synth-pop to Cheer Up’s, and even played a PJ Harvey deep cut. Photo courtesy of Kelly Quarles.
Real-life couple BAIJ brought the synth-pop to Cheer Up’s, and even played a PJ Harvey deep cut.
Beyond the wide range of races and ages seen in the audience and the lineup, GAyCL was meant to mirror the broad spectrum of the LGBTQ community. Before Grandma Steven’s own performance and introduction of transgender artist Shelly Webster, she joked that most drag queens can’t sing and therefore choose to lip sync. Later, however, she was proven wrong by drag queen Belladonna, a rapper ready to perform her original music.
Dressed to the nines in black and red, Belladonna hyped up the now-packed club and even invited a few audience members to dance on stage with her. By this point in the evening, it was clear that those in attendance were there for the music, giving artists like Belladonna more leeway to have fun with the crowd.
GAyCL continued until last call with something for everyone, with music from rapper Blakchyl, Jacksonville, Florida band Tomboi and DJs Jeva and Dr. Beard. The festival definitely piqued attendee Bleu Waters’ interest.
Waters said that after ‘stumbling’ upon the event about two years ago, the range of artists on the bill keeps her coming back, even now that she’s moved away from Austin.
“I like the diversity that they offer in these performances,” Waters said. “You’re gonna find people from everywhere doing all types of music. I think it’s a very unique event in Austin and it really shows what Austin has to offer.”
