LadyLand Is A Celebration Of The Gays & The Gals
Brooklyn's premiere Pride music festival, starring Cardi B, FKA twigs, Pabllo Vittar and more, celebrated the whole LGBTQIA+ rainbow with plenty of style and camp to spare.
On Friday night of New York City's gayest weekend, I entered the city's premiere Pride music festival, LadyLand, in a still-industrial edge of Greenpoint, Brooklyn at Under the K Bridge park. (The Kosciuszko Bridge towered above and offered a shimmery urban nightscape behind the Resist stage at the furthest end of the park. A recycling center and semi-trucks sat nearby.) The sixth annual LadyLand Festival welcomed me in with a very gay dance pop mix of Britney Spears into Tate McRae's ridiculous earworm "Sports Car" into "Calabria 2007" from Enur and Natasja, courtesy of Alex Chapman.
Big name acts Cardi B and FKA twigs headlined NYC nightlife queen Ladyfag's two-day fest celebrating the brightest queer talent with an eclectic, diverse mix of pop, electronic, rap, drag and beyond. Last year marked the event's expansion to two days and partnership with AEG-Live-owned The Bowery Presents. This was their third year at Under the K Bridge Park, after moving from beleaguered megaclub Brooklyn Mirage. The energy was high and the love was present, and Ladyfag and performers made their support for the queer community known, at a harrowing time caused by the current admiration vehemently attacking and attempting to erase them, especially trans people.
Texas-based drag queen (and Them's It Girl of the Year!) Lushious Massacr spoke loudly for the LGBTQIA+ community, after lip syncing for her life to Donna Summer and Sonora Dinamita in a glittering silver wing-sleeved disco gown.
"There are some scary monsters out there," Massacr said after her performance. "I'm here to tell you you're beautiful and you're perfect the way you are. I'm here to set you motherfucking free!… If you believe in yourself, bitch I believe it!" she continued emphatically. "We are not going back in the closet… We are not going anywhere!”
Immediately after, winner of season 13 of RuPaul's Drag Race Symone kept Donna Summer summer alive and thriving in a white bodysuit and shoulder grazing curls, snatching an iconic 1977 on-stage look from the disco diva. She twirled to "Love to Love You Baby," "MacArthur Park" (Massacr also picked that campy disco classic) and "Bad Girls." LadyLand, which always features drag queens on stage and in its audience, partnered with RuPaul's Drag Race this year to bring Symone and Kerri Colby to the lineup.
LadyLand is also a place for discovery, as Ladyfag prides herself in booking up-and-coming queer and ally acts, alongside acts with niche gay fanbases. My dear friend and LadyLand buddy John Bethea and I were immediately hooked by the Y2K pop realness J-pop girl group f5ve delivered from the main "Fist" stage after Symone, complete with perfectly synchronized choreo. The Tokyo-based quintet performed their banging 2023 debut single "Firetruck" along with tunes from their May 2025 first album, SEQUENCE 01. They asked us to stream their new album, which included a dream collab of theirs, Kesha, on the delightfully saccharine and sassy "Sugar Free Venom" (which John texted me the next morning).
Afterwards, we caught a bit of NYC house OG Danny Tenaglia throwing down classic '90s house with ballroom-style vocals at the DJ-centric "Resist" stage. Ladyfag strutted through the crowd to pay her respects, donning her signature bouffant hair and a puffy sleeved black leather jacket over a bodysuit (I was trying to figure out which drag queen she was when I saw her walk by in VIP earlier). She called Tenaglia a "bucket list" win for this year's lineup, who was a new discovery for my friend John—there's always more room to celebrate the OG house and techno heroes, who can get lost in the sauce of the younger generations of big-name, more social-media-savvy DJs.
We also caught some of UNIIQU3's signature bouncy blend of Jersey club, hip-hop and pop, who mixed Black Eyed Peas "My Humps" into Missy Elliott and later closed with a her 2021 gem "Microdosing," which she rapped live. It's about damn time for this multi-hyphenate queen to blow up; I was happy to see her get a prime spot on the LadyLand lineup, on the Fist stage opening for Cardi B.
Having Cardi headline LadyLand was a celebratory full-circle moment in several ways. Back in February 2017, four months before GRAMMY-winning Bronx rapper would skyrocket to fame with her confident breakout hit "Bodak Yellow," Ladyfag booked her as a surprise guest at her then-monthly Holy Mountain party. It was then that the storied promoter set her sights on creating a queer music festival where she could bring together live acts and DJs to create unforgettable moments for today's queer scene, ala Grace Jones at Studio 54. The first LadyLand debuted the following year with legendary rapper Eve and the late hyperpop innovator SOPHIE. Now it was Cardi's turn to come back for a victory lap and share her love for the queer community.
"I started this festival to give you the best queer talent I could find, especially young queer talent," Ladyfag said from the stage to introduce the night's big star, telling the story of spotlighting an up-and-coming Cardi at Holy Mountain. Given their limited budget, Cardi was only set to do a few songs, but she wanted to keep going. "I’m gonna do it for the gays!” Ladyfag recalled Cardi telling her. "She always remembered that [moment] and remembered you."
As if Cardi wasn't enough, she topped it with a reference to a viral meme amongst the gays. During Drag Race All Stars season six, Scarlet Envy questioned: "Am I the drama?," a phrase that burrowed its way into the wider culture and inspired the title of Cardi's upcoming sophomore album. As the DJ had already begun to hype the crowd, Scarlet Envy briefly took the spotlight in a sparkly red getup to declare "I am the drama" and welcome the kindred diva to the stage.
While we only got 30 minutes of Cardi, her set was packed to the brim with energy, love and bad-assery. She opened with "Bongos," a silly song about butts with Megan Thee Stallion, but hearing her rap it live gave it fresh energy. "Oh my god, there’s so many people!" she shouted enthusiastically from the stage, although she's surely had larger crowds (this is her third time headlining a music fest).
She kept her look classic in a laid-back Miu Miu look; a brown plaid school girl skirt and a brown striped polo shirt caplet and tube top combo, with her hair pulled into a sleek high pony with side-swept bangs. Three songs in, our short queen (according to the internet, she's 5'3") took off her heels so she could really get down. Misty sideways rain came down between the K Bridge for added affect.
By the time Cardi got to hype-mode bop "Up," everyone was fully going off, singing along and sending her back so much energy. She then went into her new single, "Outside," followed by her breakout "Bodack Yellow," both of which showcase her unbridled bad bitch, put-up-with-no-shit persona. She ended on a party note with "I Like It," after which she made her love for the queer community known, if it wasn't already clear in everything she gave the last 30 minutes. "Thank you so much I love you!" she shouted before running off stage. Let it be known: Cardi loves the gays and the gays love Cardi! (Also, Cardi is part of the community as an openly bisexual woman, who has had to remind the internet time and time again that she can still be queer even if she's married to a man.)
People tend to party at music festivals, so you always have to deal with annoying people who have gone too hard. LadyLand is no exception, but it's one of the friendliest, gayest crowds, where people come to serve looks and appreciate each other's. The best parties are always gay parties, and what makes LadyLand special is the breadth of queer people, with many more queer and lesbian women, trans people, drag queens and everyone in-between than your average gay party.
"I love LadyLand because it's a celebration of femme identities. There's lots of spaces for gay cis-gendered men and LadyLand offers a space for more of the spectrum of identities," my friend John shared, who has lived in Brooklyn since fall 2021 and was back for his second LadyLand.
"I always love the acts they have at LadyLand, the talent that Ladyfag brings. I also love the people that come. It's a really great atmosphere and always a good vibe. Like I was saying, it's a safe space for the entire spectrum on the rainbow. It feels like a celebration of people being their authentic selves; that's what pride really is about."
My heart was truly warmed from the admiration I received from several handsome gay men, including a young one who said hello outside of the portapotties, declaring it was fate that he saw me again after noticing me dancing (how freaking cute?). It was his first LadyLand; he had to come this year after he had FOMO from his friends getting to see Madonna gag us all as a surprise judge during the ballroom competition in 2024. I was also showered with complements from head to Samba-ed toe by Michael, who introduced me to his equally handsome French husband Pierre Amor(!) and was living for my sporty day one look. LadyLand is about love and community, and I deeply felt that.
Walking out, I had to deliver praise to the man wearing a tank top reading "Hetero shame weekend." It was John Mollet, wearing a (modified) shirt from his organization Mother Daughter Holy Spirit, which works with artists to make cheeky tees to raise money for the Trans Justice Funding Project. (That genius one came from the late trans artist Pippa Garner.) They were hawking their wares at the fest, including one with Chase Strangio that read "Our hotness is a threat to your certainty" and "Pretty like a transgender" from JT of City Girls.
"To me, pride is queer people experiencing joy together. Pride is also about resistance too; resisting forces that want people to shun away from who they really are. Pride is a celebration of people expressing exactly who they are, being authentic, which should be celebrated," Bethea continued.
On Saturday, I made sure to arrive earlier so I could experience the original cunty queen Kevin Aviance, who made a surprise appearance at the fest's second edition. He's a certified NYC gay icon, a staple of the '90s and '00s ball scene responsible for iconic late-90s house bops including "Din Da Da," "Rhythm is My Bitch," and "Cunty," which Beyoncé prominently sampled on "Pure/Honey." Aviance was serving up a delightful blend of classic house and live vocal sass from behind the decks in knee-high black boots, a loud printed bodysuit and his signature ultra-fluttery eyelashes. His look was "pulled from the gods" to celebrate overcoming a recent health scare. He seamlessly mixed a buoyant Afro house tune into classic Chicago house from Mike Dunn, which got Kevin grooving. He playfully looped Diana Ross' timeless "Upside Down," pausing, stretching and repeating her lyrics for effect, closing with Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman," an apt LadyLand theme song.
"Ladyfag curates with such intention, and it shows. Unlike circuit parties, this isn't just about a beat — it’s about art, community and freedom," Aviance recently told Billboard. "It feels like church for the children, honey. A safe, fierce space where you're seen, heard and celebrated. I’ve been to a lot of parties in my time, but LadyLand is truly one of the best.”
Immediately afterwards, LadyLand reminded us of our power to standup for and protect each other with a poignant, pithy presentation from Right To Be and L'Oreal on how to intervene during situations of harassment. They taught us to use the four Ds: Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay and Direct if we witness verbal or physical harassment. They gave the mini-class both days, as well as last year, a truly vital training at a time when anti-trans violence and vitriol is increasing in the U.S.
Up next was my new discovery of the day, the fantastically campy Honduran neoperreo princess Isabella Lovestory. Dressed as a slutty off-brand Alice in Wonderland, she created a deranged kid's birthday party, complete with dancers in inflatable unicorn costumes, her makeup in the style of butterfly face-paint, pink party balloons, and cartoons on the screen behind her. (Her artist project is inspired by memories of her 13-year-old-self dancing in her bedroom to reggaetón.) The energetic fetê was filled with infectious bops—including "Eurotrash" and "Puchica"—from her sophomore album, Vanity, which dropped the day before her set, along with a Soulja Boy-sampling tune. She later took off her cake-like skirt to reveal denim micro-shorts bedazzled with her album title, and even offered some Spanish 101: "Castígame: That means punish me in Spanish."
The Fist stage was jam packed with global queer talent on Saturday. Next, NYC-based electronic experimentalist Eartheater delivered a creepy, gorgeous DJ set for the end of the world: she opened with harp music, soon mixing in a dance remix of Britney Spears' heart-wrenching "Everytime," and also served up glitchy edits of Aaliyah, Daddy Yankee and Shygirl. It gave me images of a scorched planet where a few boomboxes survived in a bunker, screeching out distorted sonic memories.
Brazil's premiere drag queen pop star Pabllo Vittar brought the party energy up as she danced and sang her heart out with a gaggle of cute male dancers. She donned a sporty crop top, bikini bottoms and diva-worthy wavy bailage hair and moto boots to deliver her awe-inducing dance moves for 45-minutes of her dance pop bops. A Brazilian guy next to me literally screamed along to "Follow Me," her collab with Rina Sawayama. She sang directly to lucky fans during "Amor de Que," and serendipitously said "I'm so happy to be here!" as the clock struck 11:11 p.m. She closed with a ballad, which the entire crowd sung along to.
Before FKA twigs could douse us in Eusexua, Ladyfag reminded us that Pride is a motherfucking protest. She passionately recited Zoe Leonard's powerful and unfortunately still very pertinent 1992 "I want a president" poem: "I want a dyke for president… I want someone who has been in love and been hurt, who respects sex, who made mistakes and learned from them. I want a Black woman for president… I want someone who has committed civil disobedience. And I want to know why this isn't possible. I want to know why we started learning somewhere down the line that a president is always a clown: always a john and never a hooker. Always a boss and never a worker, always a liar, and always a thief and never caught."
"I just wanted to bring you all some queer joy this Pride because we fucking deserve it,” Ladyfag shouted in closing. Amen, sis.
Eusexua is a perfect, cathartic trance-inspired dance pop record, and I was incredibly excited to see her live for the first time on this tour. It was a triumphant moment for twigs, after having to cancel her Coachella gig and reschedule and ultimately cancel multiple dates on her Eusexua tour, including her NYC date at Knockdown Center (the former factory turned club would've been a perfect venue). Her rectangular metal rave cage was efficiently erected on the LadyLand stage, and around 1 a.m. her world-class dancers warmed things up with a rave sequence as we entered "Act 1: The Practice." Twigs soon emerged to launch into "Perfect Stranger," a smoky ode to the bliss of dance floor romance, into another tribute to good club energy, "Room Of Fools." Glitchy LP1 "Hours" cut seamlessly snuck its way into the mix, perfectly setting things up for "Striptease," during which twigs cocooned herself within a red mesh cloth, eventually wearing it as a wrap dress.
For "Act 2: State of Being," twigs reemerged ready for the club in a belted black leather lace-up mini-dress, huge rimless sunglasses and shaggy fur caplet. She had aptly prepped us to transcend into a state of" Eusexua," extended with a glitchy breakdown and a ravey new unreleased tune, "Perfectly," where she sings "In my head I had the best time" over a banging beat. Instead of singing the minimal, glitchy lyrics to "Drums of Death," she delivered a jaw-dropping chair dancing sequence, before diving into a delightful Caprisongs segment featuring "oh my love," "honda" and "papi bones."
She reminded us that she is every woman, rocking a long wavy brown wig, ala Tinashe's "Nasty" era—my friend John aptly called this her "pop star persona." During a mash-up of Madonna's "Vogue" and Tronco Traxx's ball classic "Walk 4 Me," she playfully yanked off her wig, bringing us back to the club to deliver a new song fans call "Margarita." (Girl, when do we get to hear these for real; on-demand, so we can submerge our souls into them like EUSEXUA?) Yes indeed, the "Girl Feels Good" as one of her dancers shreded on guitar and the others twirled around her.
"Act III: The Pinnacle" did not disappoint. She opened with the gut-wrenching MAGDALENE cut "home with you:" "I've never seen someone like me in a sci-fi" she sang as one of the dancers played a wind instrument. Two people in front of me made out hard through several songs. EUSEXUA is powerful stuff. The angry heartbreak of "Numbers" was the perfect next track, during which she danced with a sword—you fucked with the wrong woman, honey. She saved her sultry-as-fuck breakout single, "Two Weeks," also from LP1, for second-to-last, letting the energy and desire swell before closing with a stunningly powerful performance of "Cellophane," where you could feel "Why didn't I do it for you?" in your bones. Her dancers sat atop the metal contraption, looking down at her with admiration as we looked up.
Yet she rebutted her lyrics:" They're waiting / And hoping / I'm not enough," exclaiming, "but I’m enough! You’re enough" in closing. I believe her.
For China-born Downtown Brooklyn resident Hao, FKA twigs was a cathartic experience, after recently finding out his now-ex-boyfriend had been cheating on him months. He cried during "Cellophane," relating deeply to the lyrics.
"I love that LadyLand really makes it a queer space. I like Ladyfag's speech every year. It's so unexpected and cute, where everybody's getting intoxicated, nobody sees this coming, but [after] I feel educated. I see hope. This is a space where we still have hope, we still have each other, we still can have fun, no matter what's going on out there," Hao said.