Austin, It’s Time For the First Stargayzer Festival!
Sometimes you go to music festivals and you’ve already seen all the acts. You know exactly what to expect and it’s all a little…over.
This year’s Stargayer festival has a lot of new-to-me acts (highly recommended by my friends), topped off by a few acts I really LOVE.
Haven’t heard of the Stargayzer festival? Maybe that’s not too surprising, as this this is the festival’s first year. The festival takes place this weekend (September 12-14) at the Pine Street Station, (a.k.a. The spot where they hold Fader Fort during SXSW).
According to the festival’s website, “The Stargayzer Festival is a 3-day celebration of LGBTQIA music and performance.” I don’t think I fit anywhere on that spectrum, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t go and have a good time!
When I first saw the lineup, it was Canadian/ Latvian band Austra that REALLY caught my eye.
Austra is HUGE among my friends in Latvia, and Austra’s New Year’s Eve show in Riga was the talk of my friends there for months before it happened!
Austra is super-fun in a festival setting, as anyone who saw them at Fun Fun Fun Fest will remember!
Austra is playing Stargayzer on Sunday at 8:45.
Below are a couple of pictures of Austra playing Fun Fun Fun Fest in 2011.
At Stargayzer I’m also super-excited about seeing Peaches Christ, a San Francisco based drag-performer that one of my drag performer friends has been raving about for YEARS. Luckily Peaches Christ is scheduled to do shows EVERY DAY of the festival, though from what I’ve heard about her, each show at Stargayzer may be totally different. She’ll even be hosting on Sunday!
And then, of course, there is Big Freedia, who will be taking the Stargayzer stage Saturday at 9:30!
You can get an idea of what Big Freedia’s show is like from these pictures of her playing Fun Fun Fun Fest in 2013.
Known from her stint on reality television and for songs like “Azz Everywhere”, Freedia and her “bounce team” put on a show like no one else.
The video below is VERY NSFW, unless you work in a strip club.
More to come about the Stargayzer festival as the festival gets closer, as well as a closer look at the lineup!