Punk Icon Alice Bag Joins Queer Benefit For Puerto Rico & Mexico Relief

Tonight will be a cultural crossroads in Los Angeles at the "TURN IT UP!" fundraising event for victims of the recent natural disasters in Mexico and Puerto Rico. Notable Chicanx figures Alice Bag, Lysa Flores, and Rudy Bleu have united with friends and collaborators across the Chicanx, Latinx, and queer communities to raise money for those affected.

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"It feels like this natural disaster hit very close to home and I wanted to do something about it," said Bag, who's Mexican and helped birth the U.S. punk movement of the late '70s and early '80s. "I'm female, queer [and] Chicanx, so these are members of my communities. I wanted to engage my friends in doing something productive together for somebody else."

Flores has been traveling to and from Mexico City and performing there for a decade, having befriended artists, poets, musicians, and troubadours she feels a deep creative connection to the people there. "It's hard to imagine how the city will begin to rebuild and heal from so many losses," she said, "I knew I had to be a part of something to help in whatever way I can."

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The two performers have teamed with producer extraordinaire Rudy Bleu (RuPaul's Drag Con) and reached out to their friends to guarantee the event has an impressive lineup. AB Soto, Dorian Wood, Irene Diaz, Jessica Wild, La Victoria, Maya Jupiter, and Monica Palacios & Teri Gender Bender (Les Buterettes) are all slated to perform along with Bag and Flores. "For me being a punk, the natural thing to do is organize and try to raise funds when someone needs our help," said Bleu. "These are all friends and people in our community," he added of the performers, emphasizing that it was importantthey had some tie to Mexico or Puerto Rico, ensuring a personal connection to the event and its beneficiaries.

"TURN IT UP!" takes place at the Echoplex on October 12 at 8 PM PT. A portion of proceeds will go to Direct Relief.