QX Magazine

We didn’t think it was possible for Lovebox to top itself once more, but the tenth annual Lovebox absolutely blew last year out of the water!

Probably helped by the fact that this time around there was very little water after 2011’s downpour! This year’s ‘gay day’ stayed gorgeously bright and served up a smorgasbord of big name artists, clubs, DJs and drags for the fags, hags and lushes on the lash.  

For those who were lured into the NYC Downlow den, there was no chance of escape. Penned in and loving it, the regular cavalcade of mad trannies and eclectic trashbags in retina–searing outfits poured out of the ever-impressive brick façade, whilst inside a throng of barely-vested hotties gurned and grinded their way through hours of heart-pumping tuneage.

The house of Horse Meat Disco was a haven for a very different kind of queen and the catwalk had it all. The electro-pop-cum-disco beats were blaring, while every tranny this seedy city has seen came tearing down the stage.

Dalston Superstore pumped in a double dose of uber-cool, with both a stage and a tent. Azari & III tore it up whilst a raft of ‘Superstore spinners simultaneously showed us why this venue goes from strength to strength. Not forgetting, of course, the immense Trailer Trash v GutterSlut co-mingling; ice cool as a dip in the Arctic Sea and just as refreshing, showing there’s room for more than one durty disco in this metropolis.

Last but by no means least, the immense Circus stage – proudly presented in association with QX magazine (that’s us) – saw Jodie Harsh serve up another eclectic big top brimming with fabulousness, as an up-for-it Mika falsetto’d and minced his way across the stage and Kris Di Angelis put any big name artists entourage in the shade with his own fucking orchestra! Amazing!

On to the main stage, and first, let’s salute some of the finest members of the alternative cabaret scene: Jonny Woo, Scottee, Le Gateaux Chocolat, Bourgeois & Maurice, Russella, our old friends Sink The Pink and many more. As bonkers as a sack of bats at Halloween, Jonny Woo turned up the gaudy factor, as a chic looking Scottee screeched demands at the “women who looked like men dressed as women!”

As for the live performances, Chic featuring Nile Rodgers served up some top disco classics and cheesy pop tunes, and Lana Del Rey was probably a beautiful moment for those of an emotional persuasion (ahem) but may have been a little too maudlin for many party-lovin’ Loveboxers.

So it was left to two legendary divas to turn up the noise, bring on the funk and get the crowds literally running from the other side of the park. Chaka Khan looked UH-MAZING, cutting a trim figure and belting out more than a few classics from her impressive archive, whilst the extraordinary Grace Jones still puts performers half her age to shame with an energetic show full of sass, attitude and a colossal rendition of ‘Slave to the Rhythm’, whilst her hula-hoop of love saw Mz Jones belly winding her way into everyone’s affection.

An absolutely rip-roaring, extraordinary gem of a day. Roll on 2013!

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• 17/06/12: Victoria Park

• Words by Lee Dalloway (with a lil’ help from Will Bond)
• Photos by wwwChrisJepson.com
• www.joel-ryder.com & Mark Store