Punk Legends PANSY DIVISION celebrate 30th Anniversary with Trio of Shows
“San Francisco’s Pansy Division became a quintessential “queercore” band, and by sharing the stage with Green Day, the Supersuckers, Mr. T Experience, and the Vandals, they exposed tons of people to a new musical subculture.” – Pitchfork
“Pansy Division’s punk beat smashes gay stereotype.” – Newsweek
“Queercore legends” – Rolling Stone
PUNK LEGENDS
CELEBRATE 30th ANNIVERSARY
WITH A TRIO OF WEST COAST SHOWS
Celebrating 30 years of openly flying the Queer Flag in music, iconic gay punk band PANSY DIVISION are celebrating their third decade appropriately with a trio of live shows. “It’s great to have lasted this long,” laughs Jon Ginoli, vocalist/rhythm guitarist and band founder. “It’s exciting to have people excited about wanting to see us play at this stage in the band’s career.”
TOUR DATES
June 30th – Palm Springs, CA @ The Alibi
July 1st – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
July 3rd – Oakland, CA @ Mosswood Meltdown Festival
Beginning in 1991 when Ginoli surveyed the rock scene and saw not only a dearth of openly queer musicians but a complete lack of them, he formed what would be the first openly gay rock band featuring predominantly gay musicians. Thirty years later, the music scene has grown more and more accepting of LGBTQ+ artists that it’s almost dizzying. “There is so much of it now that I can’t keep track of it, and that’s a far cry from when we were starting out,” he says. “If more people had been out then, especially in rock, we might not have felt the need to start this band in the first place. But there wasn’t, so we did, and being so open, unapologetic, blunt and fun about it means it still resonates today.”
Sidelined by the pandemic like nearly everyone in the music industry, Pansy Division is excited about the gradual return to live music… and with these three shows planned, it’ll be the first toe-dip in the live music pool. “I’m looking forward to these shows,” he says excited, especially happy to be back on stage instead playing a virtual “show” in front of an iPhone in his living room. “Playing solo shows over Zoom was fun, but it’s hardly the same as being in the same room with an amplified group.”
Releasing their seventh album Quite Contrary in 2016, Pansy Division has been challenging the often exclusionary music world for continued acceptance. Having been championed early on by Green Day who took them on their Dookie tour (1994) and talked up by Howard Stern on his radio show, they’ve broken through the mainstream without having to compromise. Injecting humor into their sometimes playful, sometimes serious punk pop songs tinged with elements of glam, folk-rock and Britpop without being caustic, they’ve kept their raunch and raucousness balanced in equal parts. “We tried to turn our alienation into something positive,” says Ginoli. “Instead of being depressed about it, we tried to make music that would make us—and our audience—happy. We could laugh about it, so we put that joy into the music.”
Bringing that joy back into the clubs where it (and they) belong, Pansy Division are excited to be back. “We have played 976 shows in our 30-year career and we want to get to a thousand,” he laughs. “Since we all have our own lives and careers and are geographically separated from one another, it may take a while, but we hope to get there.”
Pansy Division are Chris Freeman (bass, vocals), Jon Ginoli (rhythm guitar, vocals), Luis Illades (drums) and Joel Reader (lead guitar, vocals).
