MRG Live Presents: Pansy Division

Doors 7:00 Show 8:00 PM

Fashioning themselves as the first openly gay rock band, San Francisco's Pansy Division formed in 1991 around the music of singer/guitarist Jon Ginoli and bassist Chris Freeman. Seeking a musical outlet that reflected their own subcultures and views of gay life, the bandmembers drew influences from '60s pop and '70s punk, producing a heavy, but infectious pop-punk sound and establishing themselves at the forefront of the emerging queercore movement. After signing with Lookout! Records in 1993, Pansy Division began a wildly prolific run, releasing a new album each year over the next six years. Beginning with Undressed, they followed up in 1994 with Deflowered and gained mainstream exposure that year supporting Green Day on their Dookie tour. They continued to tour and record throughout the mid-'90s, at first as a trio with a rotating cast of drummers, then later with more permanent recruits Luis Illades (drums) and Patrick Goodwin (lead guitar). In the fall of 1998, the band released Absurd Pop Song Romance -- their last release for Lookout! -- and adopted a more serious tone than their previous albums.