Palehound: for the gays

“Where are all the gays?” This question from the opening act Adult Mom reverberated throughout the course of the evening as the queer performers on stage reflected the similarly queer audience uproaring in response. The venue, Cafe Du Nord, was a quick BART and Muni ride from Berkeley. As I descended the steps to the bar and music venue I was met with an assemblage of San Francisco queers. This historically gay city has microenvironments assembling in every subsection of the city, creating welcoming and accepting communities for all artists and fans. The lead singer of Palehound, Ellen Kempner, acknowledged her privilege as a headlining artist in being able to extend her platform to provide other queer artists the space to perform. 

The first artist King Willow is a local sister duet with two male musicians accompanying. Starting the show off with a soft exposé into their personal trials and tribulations set the tone for the event as one that would be extremely self-reflective. The set was quiet and the lead singer Julianna was overcome with emotion at times so intense her voice would crack if the words tinged with any sadness. Her lyricism soaked with relatable instances of selfishness, heartbreak, and the power in growing up. As an unsuspecting audience to a local up-and-coming artist, it was touching to have the call and response of their banter be with family and friends-turned-fans.

Following this act was Adult Mom, a regular opener for Palehound on their tour. The soft reflection in King Willow’s work was replaced by an overwhelming loss of innocence when identifying as queer for Adult Mom. Each song from start to finish had this bitter outlook on more of the realities at large in the queer community while gay. Some they touched upon were: the controversy in contemplating the validity of inquiries on people’s sexuality, familial disappointment/lack of support, and their ironic use of Billie Eilish’s cover of “wish you were gay” commenting on the casualness homophobia can have while in a position of power. 

Finally, the headliner Palehound appeared on stage. This artist has a beautiful fusion of Indie low-fi mixed with soft rock. Her live performance was exciting and upbeat with a mixture of dancing and pauses to take photos. The vocals from Kempner display the resurgence of womxn reclaiming space on stage without having their voice perceived as whiney. Palehound masters this in commenting on (at times complaining) about issues afflicting womxn in her songs. Female queer artists claiming space has been growing in cultural relevance. A part of Palehound’s importance is also in their stage presence not adhering to the popular representation of queers in performers like King Princess, whose success is expanding the platform for many other queer artists but also running the risk of homogenizing queer bodies and gender performances. Palehound stands tall in representing queer bodies and female voices, speaking her truth and blazing forward in these hectic times. 

Article by Paloma Macias