Heaven’s Gate

Presented by Virtua94

February 12th, 2022

Heaven’s Gate Bill. Rayne 2022

It’s the weekend and if you’re in college and you're not at a bar or frat party - you’re probably at a house show. One popular category of house shows is DJ sets. 

To be completely honest, I’m a hyperpop fan newbie but that means I have a fresh appreciation for Sophie, Dylan, Laura, Charli, and many other giants in the genre. This night was a chance to honor these greats but also get into the local hyperpop ringleaders. This was especially true when a remix of “Haunted” by Laura Les as well as samples of Charli’s “Track 10,” were played.

There wasn’t a dry armpit or forehead in the place. The air was so thick in the basement venue from our hot breath and everyone dancing their asses off but that’s what created the vibe, alongside no one being afraid to be themselves. It was a beautifully queer space as the genre is heavily intertwined within the LGBTQIA+ community. 

With this in mind, the maximalist aesthetic is just as important, if not more, than the music generating an artform- a gesamtkunstwerk if you will. From the glowing neon fashion to the mindfuck visuals- all of the details are heavily invested in by the artist and in turn, appreciated by the community. For a large portion of the night, I was mesmerized by the various game consoles and monitors upstairs-including a monitor displaying a VCR of James webster’s VIRTUAL UTOPIA EXPERIENCE: The Movie. This piece exemplified my previous claim about the entirety of the artform.

Popular Online. Rayne 2022

The DJs of the night: AmericaLovesMe, Pumpfake, Angel Jelly, Popular Online, Hideyoshi, James Webster of Death’s Dynamic Shroud, Nineishuman, and Hayleyy Sparxx shared their addicting mixes and allowed me to put most of my worries at the top of the stairs and bang my head away in the show area. The only concerns that were in the back of my mind were the looming anxieties of the pandemic (even though, thankfully cases are dropping in Philadelphia) as well as the way that everyone was just casually hotboxing this tiny basement. Someone even lit some sort of incense next to me and I was so nervous that my hair was gonna catch on fire. However, we thankfully made it through the night as it was only a visit to Heaven’s gate (the keys drawn on our hands were only temporary) and we get to live another day to have more opportunities to experience the Philadelphia hyperpop scene.

Special thanks to Marie Vassallo for advising and revisions