do you like to party?
these two events showed me that when everything is a dumpster fire, having fun is not only okay -- it's necessary.
Josh Johnson (my current fave comedian ) shared a familiar moment:
“I just wanted to know the time… and now…
HUH. Uh oh.”
He’s talking about waking up in the morning and reaching for his phone to check the time. Boom — it’s a jumpscare of news headlines — serious stuff you can’t just shake off. 1
We’re living in the least violent era of human history. For us who enjoy this luxury, it comes with a trade-off: information overwhelm.
Like in Josh’s story, any time we pick up our phone (yes - even just to check the time) we risk getting pulled into the vortex. Our attention is particularly vulnerable to unsettling news. We can’t just look away: even when the screen turns off, our minds don’t.
This instinct means we have empathy. But can we juggle painful scenes in our head and bear the burden of global crises indefinitely?
The urge to stand up for what’s right is invaluable to progress, yet constantly carrying this weight weakens our ability to persist.
What does this have to do with parties?
I went to two events — 3000 km apart — and both were intentional about navigating this meta of despair.
In autumn of ‘25, I spent nearly a month at my sister’s place in Minneapolis. Before heading home, I stopped for a quick two nights in Chicago.2
October 17th was warm and the skyline was sparkling as the dusk turned to night.
I scanned every poster on the busy Milwaukee Ave, looking for where I might spend my last bit of urban freedom. A crackling wheat-pasted post-y2k flyer (picture above) caught my eye. It asked me if I liked to party.
So I went to Book Club to check out the release show for their new track.3
Silent Hype mixing Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ and ppl playing console games. Camera shot is not stable due to dancing:)
The lower level of the club was a bath of sound and colour. There were TVs with Xbox and Nintendo (I played a lottt of Halo 2), DJs mixing pop and EDM, and a guy in front of me on the dancefloor with incredible house footwork.
Part-way though, Guesst (the organizer and featured artist) got on the mic to share the inspiration for ‘Do you Like to Party’: the question of how to feel free to have fun while so much bad is happening in the world.
Clip of Guesst. Not the title track (that’s linked in the footnotes)
Their discovery? Coming together for the sake of joyful release is part of the solution.
Fast forward: I’m back home in BC. It’s January 6th 2026, the 4th anniversary of the “storming of the capitol” at the White House and the day before Renée Nicole Good’s life was taken by ICE.
I was washing dishes while Succession played on my laptop beside me. My phone buzzed — I got a text from my drag mentor Lbee. It said “Hi! Want to do a Moonflower barn show Feb 6?”
It was a fundraiser show called “PLUR vol.2.”, and I said yes.
P.L.U.R.
peace, love, unity, and respect - a long-standing slogan from the rave community
From the Greater Groove’s Instagram4 where they announced the show:
We’re feeling like we could all use a bit more peace, love, unity, and respect in our world, and want this party to truly embody these principles in the vibe, the music, the energy, how we carry ourselves, and how we carry this energy out into the world.
Reading this, the colourful lights at Book Club flashed into my mind. Guesst’s message at ‘Do you Like to Party’ was a rallying cry to have fun and say F-you to oppressive forces at the same time.
Here in Nelson, the Greater Groove shares that POV. And when they put on shows, they often (always?) raise funds for social causes5.
The P.L.U.R. Vol.2 lineup was stacked with with DJs, aerial silk, drag, and a closing acoustic set.
My crew showed up just before 10pm. The bass was booming and a massive crowd was dancing. The DJs were just finishing up and the barn was so full of people that we barely had room to stand or put our bags down.
Even in chilly February, past the pitch-black roads that lead to this grassroots property, the place was filled with supporters.
As my drag persona 'algorerhythm’, I often splice different sounds and songs together to craft a storyline. This time, I did a spin on ‘Breathe’ by The Prodigy, with a few samples of Deee-Lite’s ‘Groove is in the Heart’ sprinkled in.
I channeled a mad Keith Flint6, and had Emily Ryan play my Lady Miss Kier-esque party girl/handler.
The Moonflower crowd is made of sensitive and creative people. Many of them are artists and activists themselves, eager to stand for marginalized voices. They are always a super supportive audience and PLUR Vol.2 was no exception.
Being so empathetic (I’m including myself here) can mean that big emotions are just under the surface. When upsetting news piles onto us, our passion for justice risks being chanelled as aggression.
I’m not here to tell anyone how to manifest their activism. Some folks gravitate toward confrontation while others act methodically out of the spotlight.
What I can say is that when it feels like so much is out of our hands, we still have powerful tools. Sharing art and culture with each other builds community. Music, games, performance, and a spirit of openness help to unite us.
We come together, ultimately, because we like to party. ■
Extras:
The track I remixed/spliced together, called “Breathe is in the Heart”
Footnotes:
The “I just wanted to know the time” Josh Johnson segment on YouTube
A personal note:
When I was leaving Minneapolis, it was Chicago that was in the headlines for heavy ICE patrolling/harassment. Little did I know that the peaceful city I just left would be next.
Minneapolis still hasn’t recovered from George Floyd’s murder in 2020. And just before I arrived in 2025, two tragedies occurred back-to-back (the murder of the Hortmans and the Annunciation school shooting). The DHS came less than 3 months later to start their operations.
Do you like to Party by Guesst on Soundcloud
Nearly $2k was raised for advocacy org Queer Momentum thanks to the Greater Groove and supporters at PLUR Vol.2
Keith Flint pics. I recommend checking out his Wikipedia page too, he was an interesting guy and gone too soon.