When Joanna Brown and Mark Freitas booked Toronto’s infamous queer punk band Fifth Column at the now-defunct Czar Bar in November of 1992, they had no idea they were embarking on a long-term project. As Brown concedes, “A big reason we started doing it was just to entertain ourselves. I just wanted to go somewhere where I could be with a bunch of queers and still listen to punk rock.”
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The pair met back in 1991 at Randolph Street Gallery during the SPEW festival, a queer zine convention that they claim galvanized the underground queer community. A year later the opportunity to present the Fifth Column show arose, and they acted on it. Freitas in particular had been interested in putting on a queer punk night in a gay bar.
Following the successful debut of Homocore Chicago–the term “homocore” was cooked up in the legendary Toronto queer zine J.D.s, published by filmmakers G.B. Jones and Bruce LaBruce–they presented a couple of nights featuring various deejays, but their audience kept pressing for live bands. They complied with the local hardcore band No Empathy, and a pattern of booking aggressive live music began.
The zine and record festival, organized with the help of Quimby’s Queer Store, is free and takes place Saturday between 1 and 5 PM at the Hook Torture Gallery, 1136 N. Milwaukee. The all-ages Team Dresch show, with God Is My Co-Pilot, Glen Meadmore, Room 13, and Heterocide, begins at 7 PM at the Fireside Bowl, 2648 W. Fullerton. Sunday’s concert, the reunion of Pedro, Muriel and Esther, a combo featuring Meadmore and Vaginal Creme Davis, takes place at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western. Robespierre and several other bands open. Preceding the show is a $5 buffet served next door at Bite at 7 PM. Advance tickets are recommended, and are available at Quimby’s, 1328 N. Damen (342-0919), and Ajax Records, 2156 W. Chicago (772-4783). For more information call the Homocore Chicago hotline at 384-6437.
