Hands Off Our Fest is back! The music festival celebrating the women, femmes and thems of the Chicago punk scene features a mix of live music, stand-up comedy, drag performances, queer expression and joy, and feminine rage, all washed down with plenty of beer.
This year the fest will take place on October 11th at the Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb, Illinois. We talked to some of the awesome bands about H.O.O.F., check it out!
First things first…introduce yourselves!
Hello !!!!! We are PINKSQUEEZE!! We are a GAY rock n roll band from Chicago and we are tryin to be gay have fun and that’s what we want to share with our community as well.
What made you want to participate in HOOF?
We were very excited to participate in HOOF this year bc we basically live for opportunities to rock with other queer, women, trans, and non-binary people. It feels so special and so important to have spaces like this for our community and we are grateful to join 💕
Why should people go to HOOF?
People should go to HOOF bc the bands ROCK and everyone is NICE and also HOT. But fr, times are feeling dystopian right now with all of the evil attacks by our government on our neighbors and trans people- getting together with community and imagining a better world wherever and whenever you can is really important.
Anything else you want people to know? New music/show announcements?
Why yes, there is new music and shows on the Pinksqueeze horizon… Go to www.pinksqueeze.com to sign up for our email list to keep up with all of our upcoming announcements 🙂
“Hi! We’re Faerie Dream. The band consists of Ana Hinojosa on vocals, Joy Rhodes on bass, Jose Bedoya on drums and me, Kurt Uy, on the guitar.
We wanted to participate in HOOF because want to support femmes in punk. We were approached by Sweetie and it seemed like a lot of fun!
People should go to HOOF to support local music , and most importantly, femmes in local music.
We currently recording a project, stay tuned with us!”
“Hi! We’re Girlrot, an alt-rock teen band from Chicago.
We wanted to participate in HOOF because we wanted to play with more musicians like us. We play a lot of shows with dudes, and this is a really nice change of pace.
Y’all should come to HOOF for the environment! It’s amazing to play and listen to and support music by Queer and femme people. Especially in such a male-dominated industry. In a time like this, having a safe space for Queer people like us is vital.
We are also releasing music soon! Any support to us will go back into the band to help us get studio time.”
“We are Won’t Stay Dead, Chicago’s premier grrrl-fronted, horror-themed punk band.
Birdy is a close friend of ours, and we were lucky enough to play the first HOOF. We had a blast, and we’re so excited to be playing again at a beautiful (and haunted??) new venue.
You’ll hear some killer bands, witness fabulous drag and comedy, and build community, all while uplifting femme, queer, and nonbinary voices that sometimes get drowned out in the scene.
We’re playing FEST in Gainesville, FL at the end of October, and hitting Nashville, TN & Louisville, KY on our way down. We’re heading up to Kenosha, WI in November, and we have an album coming out with some comrades in the near future.”
“I’m Birdy Vee, frontwoman of Chicago lipstick-punk band, Sweetie, and organizer and founder of Hands Off Our Fest (HOOF). My bandmates are Joe Soldati (bass) and Ryan Gowdy (drums). Sweetie has been around since 2019 and HOOF is going into its third year!
I wanted to participate in HOOF because I created it! HOOF is my baby! I started the festival back in 2023 after finally becoming fed up with the misogyny in the punk scene and deciding I wanted to do something about it. HOOF was created to help the women, femmes, thems and queer folks of the Chicago punk scene to collaborate, socialize, and build community.
HOOF is an event that is both joyous and healing! It’s got SO many great bands, EXCELLENT drag performers, and one of the funniest stand up comedians I’ve ever seen. It’s going to be an event that’s full of positive energy and an excellent place to connect and make new friends! Also, this year it will be at the historic Egyptian Theatre in downtown Dekalb, IL, and is apparently haunted. So, the vibes of a slumber party with your besties AND there might be ghosts? I mean c’mon, you GOTTA go.
We released our new album back in June! It’s called La Vie en Rouge and it’s FABULOUS. Also, Sweetie will be back at the Egyptian Theatre on Halloween to open up for the Rocky Horror Picture Show!”
Check out all the fun from last year’s HOOF and catch it again October 11th!
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