Review: Fierce Femmes

When I heard about the latest Familyyy Fierce event, via Rarely Wears Lipstick columnist Rubyyy Jones, I knew I simply had to go along. Sadly, my diary was not my friend on this occasion and I couldn’t make it, so I got in touch with one of the most fierce femmes I know to ask if she’d like to review the night. Sarah agreed and it sounds like she had a lot of fun! You can find Fierce Femmes on Facebook where they’ll be revealing details of their next event in a few weeks.

On Saturday night I found myself channeling Lana Del Rey. I put my little red party dress on and sipped Bourbon, and scuttled up to the deepest darkest depths of North London (I’m joking, I went to Camden).

The Black Cap is notoriously one of London’s oldest and most cherished Gay Pubs, and is now more commonly known, thanks to Drag Queens of London, as the home of The Familyyy Fierce, The Meth Lab and Riot!, to mention a few. Its most recent dragged-up baby bundle is in the form of Fierce Femmes, which is exactly what it says on the tin, in both senses. It is the night curated by and comprising of The Familyyy Fierce’s cherished femme-identified members, and it is a night dedicated to all things fierce, and, of course, all things femme.

To identify as a Femme, one must not feel obliged to feed society’s need to conform to the gender binary. Femme isn’t all tits and hips and nails and lips but those things and a symphony more. Something that Fierce Femmes is persistent in expressing is that you need not be a woman but an all-woman, an un-woman, a female impersonator, a female appreciator, a soul possessed or obsessed by femininity, any combination of any trait assigned (or not) to any gender ever, as long as you believe in your own femme fierceness and that which others possess. This is something I, for one, can fully get on board with.

This evening was empowering as it was entertaining. From frisky performances from The Familyyy Fierce’s own Rubyyy Jones (regular readers of Rarely Wears Lipstick will certainly recognise her!), Lolo Brow, Lily SnatchDragon and newest member Scarlett O’Hora to guest DJ TeTe Bang, there was never a dull moment. There are a lot of hyper-sexual, hyper-dragged, hyper-jealousy-inducing looks going on yet never an air of pretension, never an air of intimidation. In fact, the members of the Fierce Femmes and The Familyyy Fierce themselves are wholly charming, mysterious and elusive. The members that weren’t performing were certainly spotted hanging around the bar and dance floor so if you’ve ever seen Drag Queens Of London and fancy a glimpse at UK’s Drag Royalty, you know where they’ll be.

To be part of this group, this gathering, even for one night, is something special. There’s something about these women that can’t be described, but what you are presented with is strong, confident, effervescent and infinitely demanding – your eyes, your attention, your thoughts. Their performances are slick, thick, oozing in sexuality, ferociously engaging and igniting your inner Goddess – there’s one in everyone awaiting permission to be let loose. They’re here to give it to ya. They’ll give you it and so much more. Wimpy wet blankets can take their glitter and unicorns and scurry off with their tails between their legs because these queens take the queer crown, again and again.

To quote Rubyyy Jones’ captivating lip-sync remixing her own voice (’cause duh, you would if you could): ‘You’re welcome. You’re so welcome.’

This post was written by a RWL Guest Blogger – Sarah Moore actually frequently wears lipstick and spends time musing about that, queerness, queens and other life happenings over at FEMMENISM. Otherwise, she tweets at @sarahmoorexo. First image via Sarah Moore, all other photography © FD Photo 2014.