Sex, Drags & Rock 'n Roll

Slam-dancing trannies, go-go boys with Mohawks, guitar-wielding drag queens. Throw in Deborah Harry, John Waters and Johnny Knoxville, and it’s just another Friday night at SqueezeBox! The legendary downtown NYC club comes raging back to life (the last shot was downed in May 2001) in a raucous documentary now showing at NYC’s Tribeca Film Festival.

Directed with obvious affection by first-time filmmakers Zach Shaffer and Steven Saporito, the movie mixes archival footage of nightlife legends Misstress Formika (SqueezeBox!’s hellacious drag queen hostess), Miss Guy (its resident DJ), Justin Bond and Jackie Beat rocking out with interviews from the club’s creators and devotees. The party, launched in 1994, was the first to crank rock-and-roll from a full-on queer perspective, managing to rage on through the Giuliani era as a skanky haven for homos, rockers and misfits, while launching bands like The Toilet Boys, Psychotica and a certain East German drag phenomenon named Hedwig. (John Cameron Mitchell debuted and workshopped his creation at SqueezeBox!)

Crammed with madly messy performances (Hello, transgender punk legend Jayne County) and raw banter, SqueezeBox! celebrates a part of New York that’s drawn queers and outcasts for decades: It’s dangerous, glamorous, creative, horny.... Aw, hell, it’s home!


SqueezeBox! is currently playing at the Tribeca Film Festival. It will screen this summer at NewFest, OutFest and the Philadelphia Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. A US theatrical release is not yet scheduled.