A tale of gay pride and generational prejudice

Star X Lover Tour

Artist Website

Opener: Ivri

Cameos: Dua Saleh & SAIAH

Venue: Echoplex, Los Angeles, CA – May 14, 2025

Vibe Check: 🌈

Mic Check: 💃🏾

Brainrot

I had lost faith in the show-going youth.

In 2022, I had gone to see Chase Atlantic, not knowing at all what I was getting myself into. I was positively and unmistakably dressed like a cheug while teenagers and freshly minted legal drinkers were wearing bastardized versions of stereotypical 90s/2000s outfits. It was one of the first few shows I attended post-lockdown and it was at this show that I was brutally confronted with the realization that society collectively lost its mind. While it relearned how to perform its basic functions, it decided that teaching the youth about show etiquette was not required.

I witnessed TikTok-induced brainrot. It’s generally understood to be rude to watch the show through your camera phone, especially when it’s blocking the shorty behind you (please validate me?!). Now imagine someone holding a phone high above their head, blocking your view, so you can watch them scroll TikTok. And not just any ole doom scroll feed — they’re watching other people’s concert videos … of the band … that’s standing right in front of them.

The next day, I was still so baffled by it, that I called the one 20-year-old I knew to ask her what that was all about. She unsuccessfully defended her peers.

Fast forward to last week where I found myself out of my element again. The fashion looked like what we thought the year 2020 was supposed to look like when we imagined it in 1999, except a lot more porn-coded: ultra-micro mini skirts, garters, furry tails, and BDSM-style chains with teddy bears hanging.1

Anyone over the age of 30 was lining the back wall or seated, or holding an alcoholic beverage (another social signal that you’re an old head). I thought I was going to be in for another night of feeling like a dinosaur.

I left Dreamer Isioma’s show with a restoration of faith that the music-writing and show-going young adults do know how to deeply connect and participate in society and be present — they just need to see themselves in the art.

“It’s Cute Spreading Love”

The show opened up with Ivri (pronounced like a clipped version of “Ivory”), a shy-presenting, mighty performer. Her stage outfit mirrored that of the audience: mini-dress, a long furry tail, and a garter with a hanging pink teddy bear. She has a general “cute but psycho” energy about her: mousy voice, cutesy outfit, and will scream and kill you with an innocent smile. It was heartwarming to witness some of her first experiences as a performer: seeing attendees wear her merch and singing her songs back to her. The standout song for me was “Void Basket” which has jazz-style drums, R&B bass, and a delirious vocal melody that reminded me of being in Alice in Wonderland. I recommend her 2023 full-length the star factory especially if you enjoyed the official soundtrack of I Saw the TV Glow (2024).

⭐

Dreamer Isioma’s April 5 release Star X Lover begins with a banging “She Dance with the Devil”, lightning-fast one minute and forty-five seconds track. I bought tickets to see them live immediately after the song ended. I learn a lot more about an artist’s ethos being at a show than I ever could listening to the album alone on my couch. I had to see and feel this rowdy energy first-hand; I knew something special was afoot.

If I hadn’t made it abundantly clear, I showed up to this show completely blind. Outside of the album covers, I had no idea what Dreamer look like, no idea how old they are, or what audience their music attracts. After getting over the fashion culture shock, I learned quickly through their performance that Dreamer stands for inclusion and radical self-love.

I sometimes get blind to the fact that I live in a welcoming and liberal city; I take for granted how many safe queer spaces exist. I don’t blink an eye seeing the obvious queer signals (🏳️‍🌈) or even the subtle ones anymore. Creating and protecting these spaces — and, more importantly, the people that occupy them — is a critical responsibility of allies.

Between songs, Dreamer yelled out “IF YOU’RE GAY…!!” and were interrupted by a sustained applause and cheer. They couldn’t even finish their sentence as there was nothing more to say; they were among friends.

Dreamer and their band created an organic and joyful energy that I hadn’t witnessed since I was a teen myself. The record is heart-pounding and loud and challenging; the live performance of it is funky, messy, and raw. You probably wouldn’t hear it on the record, but their live band is clearly influenced by metal, ska(nk), rock-forward pop (included a kick-ass interpolation of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”), and the funky angry rock of Rage Against the Machine. The band’s inclusion of these styles provided a punk energy that inspired the crowd to all raise their middle fingers and yell “FUCK THE GOVERNMENT!” Any phobias were unwelcome and demanded to leave.

It may or may not have been the same moment that the bartenders behind us were clanking behind the bar shouting “Ugh! Help me find my earplugs!”

I don’t want to label them haters (it was definitely way too loud in there) but it did make me and my boyfriend laugh because (1) he and I always wear ear protection at concerts so we empathized with her struggle deeply; and (2) it was the perfect comedic juxtaposition of the old and new guard.

It suddenly clicked who this music was by and for.

What surprised me the most was how engaged this audience was. Though the loud outfits might make you think otherwise, they weren’t there doing “influency” things. Phones were few and far between, they were dead silent between sets to hear the performers speak, they actually danced (!!), and were using analog digital cameras.

Emphasizing the joy and purity of it all, Dreamer Isioma’s set concluded and was near instantly met with shouts for an encore. The band seemed surprised and moved by this, claiming they didn’t have a song prepared. It was at this moment, too, that I lit up. This was a genuine cry from the crowd to play “one more song”.2

⭐

This experience motivated me to intentionally explore more music by artists in this age group and to better understand what drives their creation of sad (and concerning) lyrics combined with an energetic, confrontational sound.