Legendary “Queercore” pioneers Pansy Division are taking the road celebrating their first album Undressed 30 years on.
I have covered the band Pansy Division twice, and one of its spinoffs “The Dobermen“, as they are one of the quintessential pioneering musical acts for the LGBTQ movement. Playing Punk as openly gay men with enough “in your face” subject matter and plenty of humor, they are a favorite in the Punk world, and, in the queercore movement, very respected. Me, I just love ’em, cause, well, they are GREAT MUSICIANS.
Beginning in 1991 when Ginoli surveyed the rock scene and saw not only a dearth of openly queer musicians but also a complete lack of them, he formed Pansy Division as a response. Thirty years later, their trailblazing has never been more fully realized: the music scene has grown exponentially more accepting of LGBTQ+ artists to the point that it’s almost dizzying. “There is so much of it now that I can’t keep track of it, and that’s a far cry from when we were starting out,” he says. “If more people had been out then, especially in rock, we might not have felt the need to start this band in the first place. But there wasn’t, so we did, and being so open, unapologetic, blunt and fun about it means that it still resonates today.”
They toured with Rancid, and Green Day, and even did a recording with Rob Halford from Judas Priest , they have more street cred than many straight acts touring these days.
Last summer they played a handful of shows, and a couple of festivals, but not enough to really satisfy the interests of their fanbase, this year, we have a full scale tour (9 dates so far, and counting). If you are a longtime fan, or have never heard them before (as they found out recently a new generation of high school punk fans and queer kids have taken to streaming their music), you probably want to grab a ticket to one of these gigs.
I got to banter with Jon Ginoli about this album and the tour for a few minutes. Which can be seen here.
June 16 – Milwaukee, X-Ray Arcade
June 17 – Chicago, Beat Kitchen (Pride Weekend in Chicago)
September 28 – Portland, Mississippi Studios
September 29 – Vancouver, BC CANADA, Baltimore Cabaret
September 30 – Seattle, Clock-Out Lounge
November 16 – Philadelphia, Johnny Brenda’s
November 17 – Baltimore, Metro Cafe
November 18 – New York (Ridgewood, Queens), TV Eye
According to Jon Ginoli the singer, they have played 976 shows in their career and are hoping to break that mark of a thousand. So, let’s help the legends make that happen. And let’s get this out in the open, it is your humble authors opinion that the LGBTQ community needs more punk and metal in their diet.
Conceived as the first openly gay rock band featuring predominantly gay musicians.