MOONCHILD SANELLY JOINS COVEN'S BLAXTRAVAGANZA AS SPECIAL GUEST

As next week’s eclipse approaches, Moonchild Sanelly joins COVEN’s BLAXTRAVAGANZA: NIGHT ONE as a surprise special guest on Thursday 6 August. Charles Moon also joins the bill.

They join Nakhane, LIE NING and Matthew Jacobs Morgan for the opening night of a new queer Black festival dedicated to Black queer sound, performance and possibility.

Curated by SCARBA, BLAXTRAVAGANZA is a Black-led queer music and arts festival centring Black artists and artists of colour.

Inspired by the style, attitude and refusal of Blaxploitation cinema, it takes over COVEN throughout August—reclaiming space in Soho through live music, art, performance and nightlife.

No neat categories. Just artists doing things on their own terms.

NIGHT ONE

Moonchild Sanelly makes  “future ghetto funk”: a collision of gqom, kwaito, electronic music, pop and rap. Unfiltered, physical and built for the room, her appearance at BLAXTRAVAGANZA brings an unexpected charge to the opening night while she is in the UK.

Charles Moon moves effortlessly between high energy and profound soulfulness, crafting deeply felt, highly danceable odysseys with an unparalleled ear for sound. A Grammy-nominated producer and sound engineer with a Gold-certified record, he has established himself as a distinctive voice in contemporary club culture.

Originally from Austin, Texas, Moon now splits his time between Mexico City, Tokyo and the rest of the world, working as a multifaceted artist, producer and curator. He is also one-third of playaplaya, a collaborative project with Damar Davis and dreamcastmoe.

Moon founded Thank You For Sweating (TYFS), a conceptual party series and record label through which he brings his singular sonic vision to dance floors around the globe. He is also the co-founder of ssagitari0, a new and exciting left-field experimental label born in Mexico City.

Somehow, he still finds time for everything else—but what that entails is best left to the imagination.

Nakhane is a South African musician, writer and actor whose work moves through soul, electronic pop and theatrical performance. Intimate, confrontational and impossible to separate from the body.

LIE NING is a Berlin native working between music, movement and image. Their sound moves through alternative R&B, soul, indie and art-pop, with vulnerability always close to the surface.

Matthew Jacobs Morgan, COVEN’s owner and founder, performs songs from his forthcoming album - bringing his own musical practice into the space he created.

The night takes place at COVEN, described as “London’s Best LGBTQ+ Club” by Time Out and “London’s New Queer It Club” by COLD Magazine.

BLAXTRAVAGANZA CONTINUES

Across August, the programme expands into different corners of Black queer life.

LES FLEURS is a night of sensual techno on Friday 7 August.

MODERN ANCESTRY, created by BLAXTRAVAGANZA curator SCARBA, takes place on Saturday 8 August and looks at lineage, ritual and the futures we build from what came before.

THE DATING GAME, an event for WLW led by Nikita and Ash from I Kissed a Girl, takes place on Sunday 9 August, creating space for something softer: flirting, connection and the possibility of being surprised.

Further programming will be announced, with BLAXTRAVAGANZA coming to a close on 31 August with a carnival weekender.

BLAXTRAVAGANZA: NIGHT ONE

Thursday 6 August
8pm–1am

Moonchild Sanelly
Charles Moon
Nakhane
LIE NING
Matthew Jacobs Morgan

COVEN
30 Old Compton Street
London

Tickets: worldwidecoven.net