Queer Central
A melting pot of queers, trannies and whores has birthed the city's most bent performance night. Andrew Georgiou pulls up to Queer Central
When queer performer Sexy Galexy's underground night, Kinky Kingdom,
came to an end with the icon's departure from Sydney in 2005, there was
a gap in the market for a queer night where performers and DJs looking
to blow their load of creative juices could freely express themselves.
"Sexy really inspired an entire generation of drag kings," says
Galexy's co-convenor, DJ Sveta. "When she moved abroad, the scene which
she spearheaded simply dried out."
Fortunately for queer
Sydney, Galexy left her legacy in the capable hands of Sveta to secure
the future of unearthing bent performers in a scene which at times has
suffered an identity crisis. DJ Sveta earned her stripes as a woman in
an industry which sees more men than women behind the decks. Heralded
by Scissor Sisters' touring DJ Sammy Jo as one of Australia's finest
spinners, Sveta committed herself to creating a phoenix from the ashes
of Kinky Kingdom and christened the night Queer Central.
"We
wanted to draw in a crowd which best reflected our diverse community,"
explains Sveta. "From queers and trannies through to student activists
and whores, Queer Central has become a hub for the city's most
expressive and experimental crowd."
Between its round-up of
regulars and those looking to have their performance cherry-popped,
this weekly gig is a steamy brothel of live entertainment where every
genre of ‘showqueership' is served up hard, fast and unapologetically
raw.
"Our Easter celebration inspired queer performance duo
Fancy Piece to create a show that was erotically charged with images of
Christ and a bent crucifixion to boot," says Sveta.
Other
memorable moments in the night's history include a fully-loaded death
metal performance by trans rocker Jade Starr who had audiences gender
guessing due to her deep and powerful voice. For Sveta, seeing local
talent develop through QC is incredibly rewarding. First timers have
exploded onto the scene through a QC gig, as is the case with queer
rock duo Ghetto Pussy [see right], whose debut performance immediately
earned them a legion of devoted fans. "We have had a number of
performers perform at Queer Central who we now look at as local stars,
such as Y, Lillian Star and Fancy Piece," Sveta relays as only a proud
mother could.
Six years and counting, Queer Central has gone the distance.
Unlike
the majority of regular nights, this artistic lair needs little if any
advertising to spread the good word of its twisted testament. A balance
of remaining underground while pulling in just the right crowd has
sealed the success of this jewel in our city's queer crown.
Queer Central is on every Wed night from 9pm at the Sly Fox, 199 Enmore Rd, Enmore 2042. (02 9557 1016).