QueerCore Collaborative Presents Live at the Drake
RESIST. RECLAIM. REHUMANIZE
Amid escalating political attacks on queer, trans, BIPOC, and femme lives, "The QueerCore Collaborative Presents Live at the Drake" exists as a bold act of collective resistance. Our DIY basement show ethos unites hardcore punk music, art, and activism for a night of radical community care, catharsis, and a rallying point for queer, trans, gender-nonconforming, black, brown, femme and all other marginalized folks who face the systemic oppression and violence and our allies to gather together and affirm, nourish and resource our collective humanity.
LINEUP:
We are absolutely blown away and honored to have such an absolutely incredible lineup of trans, gender-nonconforming and BIPOC fronted bands joining us!! Thank you to the HIRS Collective, ABBATIA and Daisy Chain for making the trip out to us, and to local heroes Deathless Forever and Film and Gender for believing in these events with us!!
Lineup
HIRS Collective
The HIRS Collective exist to fight for, defend, and celebrate the survival of trans, queer, poc, black, women and any and all other folks who have to constantly face violence, marginalization, and oppression. We are a collective of freaks and faggots that will never stop existing. Infinite and never ending. No one is going to kill us, we are going to live forever.
Deathless Forever
Deathless Forever is an experimental project from South Windsor, Connecticut and Western Massachusetts unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before. They are truly one of the most artistically creative bands we know, deftly bending sound and dissonance into brilliant tension that will utterly hold captive your attention and emotion! They draw influence from noise rock, metal, jazz, avant-garde and New Music. They write songs about conflict, alienation, dysphoria, and belonging.
Film and Gender
Inspired by the defiant spirit of ‘90s and early 2000s hip hop, Film and Gender unleashes a raw and unruly strain of garage punk driven by bombastic rhythm and unapologetic social fury. And, the sonic wall they conjure as a two-piece hits harder than most five-piece bands could ever dream. Every Film and Gender show is a volley of energy passed back and forth between the band and the crowd—a shared pulse that drives the whole room. For the band, music isn’t just performance; it's something that is co-created by all who are sharing in that moment. It’s connection. It’s community. It's everything that they stand for… and everyone that they stand with.
ABBATIA
ABBATIA is an intense, ever-changing music project ripping through America’s northeast and beyond. Fronted by Jazz, Droogie, backed by Syd Solanke’s cutthroat production and vocals, and the relentless drumming of Peter Sukeena, ABBATIA shouts tortured poems through an unyielding sonic field. These multiple voices morph within and without each other, leaving their anthems a dense, varied world to be yanked into.
Daisy Chain
Daisy Chain’s 'Asteraceae' erupts in a cascade of splintered emotion—three tracks of raw, incandescent skramz that bleed sincerity through every serrated edge. The EP feels like a heartbeat caught mid-collapse, equal parts fury and fragility, where guitars crash and shimmer like collapsing glasswork and the drums sprint with a defiant, human pulse. Vocals are not sung so much as exorcised, a howling confession dragged through distortion and feedback, collapsing into moments of trembling quiet before detonating again. Asteraceae trades traditional polish and resolution for a portrait of catharsis rendered in noise and nerve with petals torn from the stem mid-bloom. Daisy Chain wrings meaning from the maelstrom—achingly beautiful, unflinchingly vulnerable, and as ephemeral as the flowers that name it.
More details
PARTNERS:
We are also thrilled to have several Five-College student-run organizing groups as partners in hosting this event, including: UMass SALT, Mount Holyoke College Students for Alternative Music (MHCALT), Mount Holyoke's Queer Action Collective, and Hampshire College's BIPOC Alternatives Club. Our hope for attendees is that not only will you have an unforgettable night surrounded by the other amazing human beings that will fill this space, but that you will get connected to the other people and spaces doing the incredible work of gathering together inclusive and nourishing community in our area all year long!
This program is funded in part by a grant from the Amherst Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. We are so grateful to both groups and our fiscal sponsor, Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity, for believing in the power of funding art as a form of community and human care!
Finally, we are so grateful to the Drake for being our host space, and Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity for being our fiscal sponsor!
PROCEEDS:
In resistance to the systemic violence and oppression experienced around the globe and in our communities, 25% of the proceeds of this event will be donated to Trans Asylum Seeker Support Network, a mutual aid collective providing direct aid to queer and trans asylum seekers. The remaining proceeds will support QueerCore Fest 2026, coming in September!!
EVENT DETAILS:
All ages event
Time: Doors, 7pm; Show 8pm
Sliding scale admission fees
N-95 masks are encouraged as a means of radical community care and solidarity (a limited quantity will be available at the door)
ACCESSIBILITY:
The venue is wheelchair accessible. The accessible entrance is on the lefthand side of the building. Please notify us of any accessibility needs you have so we can support you.
TICKET PRICING INFO:
We are using the power of the collective and sliding scale ticket prices to increase accessibility by offering a limited number of reduced price general admission tickets, which we call "Community Empowered Admission". These are offered on a first-come-first serve basis for $5-10/ticket. Please conscientiously consider how you can participate in this collective support of each other by self-selecting the ticket type and cost that meets your capacity at this moment, knowing that your participation is directly supporting the participation of others!
SPONSORS:
Thank you to CopyCat for supporting us with their printing services! CopyCat is a printing and marketing company in Greenfield, MA. They have been serving local businesses for more than 25 years!
Thank you to Protocol for feeding our artists!! Protocol serves an inventive menu with creative cocktails to savor with friends! A modern feel and farm to table menu that could be in NYC or Boston, but i located right in downtown Amherst!
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
