Ladyfest Las Vegas

Ladyfest Las Vegas is one of the most inspirational events I've heard about in a good, long time. Taking the Ladyfest model to a new level by carefully defining a pro-trans politic within the festival - Ladyfest Las Vegas is about creating space for those who don't benefit from the gender/sex binary - including anyone who identifies as female or trans... This excites me because it consciously comes out of a rich history, moving a powerful identity politic to a new place with new possibilities. As someone who came up playing Riot Grrrl conventions at age 13, it was heartening to see what appears to be a healthy outgrowth of that era. Despite protests (including threats of "DudeFest") and great adversity, the LFLV organizers pulled off a totally hot event that we're proud to have been a part of. They even received a full page picture in a section of the local paper that we were told has never previously pictured women wearing clothes. Mazel tov all around LFLV!

It was everyone's first time in Vegas and *wow* was it surreal. We stayed at the FABULOUS TROPICANA and I would say the band's mood oscillated wildly between fascination and deep despair as we cruised the strip and were forced to eat $10 veggie burgers at the hotel's 24/7 restaraunt "Calypso," b/c the idea of leaving the hotel and entering the hot chaos somehow seemed utterly unbearable. And remember - we live in NYC! We thrive on the hot chaos! But this was, well, something else. Below is a photo of eli that pretty much sums it all up.


That same night, out of the dire need to escape from the 24-hour neon glow of the strip, we made a plan to drive into the desert so that we could see the massively open sky. As it happened, we planned to do this as a massive summer thunderstorm rolled into the city, so we drove out anyway to park and watch an astounding lightening show. The pictures we took don't do it justice but they're pretty awesome.