Queen! is getting the royal treatment for Pride month in June.
Every Sunday night since 2012, Queen! has turned Smart Bar, the basement club below Metro, into an old-school, underground house music party, with resident DJs including Derrick Carter, Michael Serafini and Garrett David (not to mention the great Frankie Knuckles before his passing) keeping the house music flame alive on the North Side, while also keeping it cute and queer—it’s among Chicago’s most inclusive dance parties as well as one of the city’s top LGBTQ nights.
Next month, Red Bull Music will give Queen! wings to fly upstairs for a Friday night Pride weekend megaparty, with special guests including producer Steve “Silk” Hurley and singer CeCe Peniston. Red Bull Music Presents: Queen! on Friday, June 22 turns up the volume, and not just because Metro’s 1,000-person capacity is two and a half times that of Smart Bar.
In addition to Peniston (who’s also slated to headline Navy Pier’s Pride celebration on Saturday, June 23) and Hurley, musical guests will include Joe Smooth, Dajae and Shaun Wright. Serafini and David will be on the decks along with guest DJ Rae Chardonnay. Regular Queen! hosts JoJo Baby and Lucy Stoole will be joined by more than a dozen guest drag queens and club personalities. And for the first time, Queen! will be 18-and-up. Tickets are just $5 in advance and $10 at the door, and you’ll have to sign up through Red Bull’s site to buy.
Signing up should get you early word on details for additional Red Bull Music events in Chicago this summer: Look for “an exclusive Q&A and after party with the Teklife crew and their footwork dancers” in July, and in August, Red Bull Music Presents: Round Robin, “a one-of-a-kind live performance that will happen once and only once, wherein 15 musicians from across musical genres collaborate round robin style for improvisational sessions.”
Image courtesy Red Bull Music