In the heart of downtown Madison, from post to post, from Espresso Royale near to Espresso Royale far, anyone walking by can see the vibrant flyer advertising the next iQ Discotech Party. Some may not know what iQ is and try to think of their grades. Some may equate discotheque to their parents’ ’70s-inspired parties where all they do is “The Hustle” and reminisce about old times.
But iQ is none of those things. iQ, instead, stands for indieQueer, and Discotech is the hugest dance party in Madison. It’s like Girl Talk, only the tickets aren’t sold out. It’s like the parties your parents used to go to back when they were cool and didn’t dance poorly. It’s Madison’s golden nugget of gay pride in a city that’s oddly lacking.
iQ has made a noticeable splash in Madison in the last nine months. With the lack of a diverse night scene, iQ nights were welcomed by the LGBT community at large. iQ nights began in December 2006 as parties at bars or venues where people in the gay community gathered and socialized. In the beginning, news about an iQ night would float around Facebook and result in a respectable turnout. But with the evolution of iQ to iQ Discotech, MySpace and Facebook groups have been created, fliers have been distributed and hundreds of people pack venues in Madison’s downtown area.
Although this event debuted at Mickey’s Tavern, its early home was the former King Club. When the King Club closed in 2008, indieQueer began holding their events at other Madison establishments like its current home, The Majestic, but also at Caf? Montemarte, High Noon Saloon, Genna’s, The Cardinal Bar and WOOFS.
But iQ isn’t just for the gay community — everyone’s welcome. It’s definitely a cool party, a time to see and be seen while dancing your heart out. Even DJs — Diamonds, VDRK, Designer Drugs and Tizzy to name a few — come out for these parties to show their stuff.
Discotech parties are the most popular events, but iQ has much more to offer. iQ also puts on Girl Parties at Caf? Montmartre, musicals — such as August 26’s Gay’d In America with the Ginger Devils — and even spoken word.
The first discotheque of the new school year, iQ’s very own Back To School Bash, will have already come and gone, but for those of you who are a little iQ curious can go to a one and only free iQ Discotech (with student ID) on Friday, Sept. 5. Coming up this year also will be bimonthly Old School iQ parties, where iQ founder, Liz Tymus, hopes to bring iQ back to its roots.
indieQueer will continue to revolutionize Madison’s queer scene. But non-indieQueers, have no fear, the idea of iQ is to bring people together and to spread love, free and openness.
indieQueer events and dance parties will take place all year. For more information, visit their Facebook or MySpace page, or refer to www.indiequeer.wordpress.com.
