The 30th anniversary reunion and celebration of Meow Mix continued last night at the Parkside Lounge, drawing another packed crowd to honor the legacy of the iconic lesbian bar that once thrived on the Lower East Side.
There were some surprise guests at the outset.
Justin Vivian Bond kicked off the evening, introducing Cynthia Nixon, who in turn welcomed Zohran Mamdani, the mayoral hopeful running against Republican Curtis Sliwa and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat running as an independent.
Bond joked about being called a socialist, saying they'd once confused it with being a socialite.
Nixon drew big laughs with the line, "Andrew Cuomo is not in a dyke bar tonight."
Mamdani spoke about early voting, affordable housing and the future of the city, calling on New Yorkers to keep fighting and organizing. He name-checked ACT UP and said leadership means saying goodbye to Mayor Adams and Cuomo — and showing President Trump "a city that's ready to fight him."
Though he'd never been to Meow Mix, he said he was thrilled to be part of the reunion, calling it a "vision of what New York should be." He added that queer and trans New Yorkers should not only be protected, but also cherished and celebrated.
Mamdani accepted a Meow Mix reunion T-shirt (and joked about the ethics rules on gift values) before heading out to more applause.
Here are more scenes from last night...
The Meow Mix reunion continues tonight and tomorrow at the Parkside Lounge, 317 Houston at Attorney. Visit this link for event info.
Meow Mix opened on the corner of Houston and Suffolk in 1996 and closed in 2004 — but its spirit clearly lives on.
The Meow Mix reunion gets underway tomorrow evening at the Parkside Lounge... the start of a four-day celebration of the classic Lower East Side venue.
Meow Mix opened on the SE corner of Houston and Suffolk (now the Mayfly) in 1996 (RIP 2004)... billed as a sex-positive lesbian club known for its live music (and appearance in Kevin Smith's 1997 film "Chasing Amy").
If you're looking for a show to hit tomorrow night... via the EVG inbox...
On May 29, Disturbed Furniture will be playing one of its rare shows (the last one was July 2024) as part of a four-band concert of women-fronted East Village rock bands taking over Parkside Lounge for the night.
Disturbed Furniture front-woman Alexa Hunter is in town for a visit to her East Village roots at the end of May and is getting the band back together for just one show, the first since the July 2024 Parkside show.
Alexa and Disturbed Furniture were part of the legendary Club 57 crowd ... and the band's 45-rpm record is in MoMa's permanent collection for its Club 57 exhibit. Alexa lives in LA now, so we don't get to see her often enough.
All four bands have been part of the East Village/downtown rock scene for many years. With the exception of Alexa, all the other frontwomen and many of the musicians still live here in the East Village.
It's time for the annual BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin) event at the Parkside Lounge tomorrow (Sunday!) evening from 6 to 11.
You bring a pumpkin and the bar provides the carving tools... it's free and for all ages (it's mostly outdoors, so kids are welcome). And there are prizes.
The Parkside is on the corner of Houston and Attorney.
Longtime East Village resident (and EVG reader) Sue Lashley shared information for the following post. Disclosure: She is married to Disturbed Furniture drummer Mick Oakleaf.
In the early 1980s, the art-rock band Disturbed Furniture made an impact on New York's downtown club scene at storied venues such as Club 57, Mudd Club and Peppermint Lounge. They shared stages with the likes of the Psychedelic Furs, Stranglers, The Waitresses, and The Go-Go's, toured regionally, and released well-received music and videos.
Their sound was born from the noir cabaret vibe of the East Village scene and the sensuality of contemporary urban sounds, merging the art world and punk sensibilities with grittier dance aesthetics.
They are back in the East Village for one of their rare shows at 8:45 p.m. on July 30 at the Parkside Lounge, 317 E. Houston St. at Attorney. Doors open at 7 p.m. The free show includes sets by Jennifer Blowdryer and The Bad Flowers, featuring Billy Ficca of Television.
Disturbed Furniture reunited in 2019 to record new music and perform several annual shows. The impetus to reactivate Disturbed Furniture came
from MoMA’s major 2017 retrospective, which documented the band's old stomping ground, "Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983."
After meeting with the curators, lead singer Alexa Hunter agreed to contribute the group's music videos and their single cover art to the exhibition and appear in the accompanying catalog. MoMA not only acquired Disturbed Furniture's music videos proper but also a series of Hunter's super-8 films and other footage shot in 1979. Their 7-inch 45rpm record, Information/Alors Allez, is now sought after by record collectors. It was produced, engineered and mixed by Grammy winner Steve Remote, who runs Aura Sonic Ltd.
"I can't believe we’ve received big offers from collectors for an original pressing of our single of "Information/Alors Allez" in mint condition,” said Hunter, "and that was before it became part of MoMA's permanent collection. The cover photo was taken in my tiny East Village tenement two buildings down from the Hells Angels clubhouse."
In 2019, Disturbed Furniture released a new five-song EP, Continuous Pleasures, on Arevarc Records. Produced by the core group of Mateus, Hunter and Oakleaf, it was recorded at Mighty Toad Recording and The Honey Jar in Brooklyn, with additional tracks done at Blighty Music Studios in Los Angeles. Continuous Pleasures features new recordings of some of the group's 1980s material and several new songs. The cover art is by Hunter's friend, Kenny Scharf.
This year, German label Mad Butcher Classics reissued the single "Information/Alors Allez" using a reproduction of the original cover art. The band is currently recording new songs for future release.
Some local residents started a "Sunday Arts and Crafternoon Social" earlier this summer at the Parkside Lounge on Houston at Attorney.
Per the invite, every Sunday afternoon (5-8 p.m.), "we get together at Parkside Lounge and make art, crochet, write, and chat. We have free donated art supplies and it's free to get in. No drink minimum. All are welcome. Come make art and make friends."
The Parkside is at 317 E. Houston St.
Thanks to organizer Rufus Hickok for sharing these photos.
Afterward, Maya shared more with me about the first Unprofessional Variety Show, which took place on her birthday in February 2022. Jack Waters and Peter Cramer, two of the first performers, run Le Petite Versaille Garden on Second Street near Avenue C and Allied Productions.
"Allied Productions exemplifies one of the things I love about this neighborhood, which is the diverse legacy of experimental queer and radical art and performance," Maya said. "At the Unprofessional Variety Show, I try to make the programming truly intergenerational. I love introducing younger performers to the legendary performers from the neighborhood."
She continued....
"I moved to the neighborhood after being accepted into Umbrella House, and becoming part of the Lower East Side community has truly changed my life. My Umbrella House neighbors always come to my show and even perform, such as when musician Mamie Minch accompanied my ant character, who sang a folk song celebrating collectivity, and who could forget the cameo by Sibohan Meow, our local cat woman and caretaker of critters? I'm honored to have an opportunity to contribute to the rich creative history of this neighborhood."
The next Unprofessional Variety Show happens on May 18 at the Parkside.
This Sunday (Feb. 5!), the Parkside Lounge is hosting a rummage sale, featuring items that have been left in the bar's lost-and-found the past year as well as items from your "favorite staff."
The Parkside Lounge was the scene of a recent bring-your-own-pumpkin (BYOP) carving competition ... and as EVG contributor Stacie Joy witnessed, it was a spirited affair here at the bar on Houston and Attorney ... with competitors taking the proceedings quite seriously...
... we don't actually who took home the trophies... but they all look pretty good...
There's a memorial at the Parkside Lounge in honor of Maximiliano Contreras, a bartender here who died in a fall at the Delancey-Essex station early Sunday morning. Contreras was 24.
Parkside ownership said they are gutted by the loss. In an Instagram post, they described Contreras this way: "He was such a bright light, kind person and utterly unique."
At the bar on Wednesday, staff and patrons shared remembrances, including how funny Contreras was with snappy lines, how he handled patrons at the bar (a friend to everyone) and how universally adored he was.
Contreras, who lived in Ridgewood, was born in Mexico, where his family remains.
His friends have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help his family pay for funeral expenses.
According to published reports, Contreras died after hitting his head in a fall onto the J train tracks at 1:45 a.m. Sunday. Police believe he may have been drunk and lost his balance.
"There are very few people I look forward to knowing the rest of my life, and he was one of them," his longtime friend Angus Baigrie told the Daily News. "He was incredibly funny. Just a gorgeous human being who had this hilariously acidic tongue that was rarely unkind."
