Shelton Boyd-Griffith and Tre’von Griffith made a promise as they welcomed the colorful crowd into the pavilion area of Atomic by Jamo for the 7th Annual WerQfest. “It’s gonna be a vibe.” They kept their word. The married couple created the event as a safe space for Black queer joy. That joy permeated the Mangrove for more than six hours. The venue’s indoor and outdoor space was filled with the LGBTQIA+ community and allies who came to see national artists Infinite Coles, Onya Nurve and headliner JT.
But the true WerQfest magic was found in the St. Louis artists who the event provides a platform for – and how they held the party down and kept the energy going when JT’s performance was delayed. And for the audience who demonstrated grace as they waited for her to take the stage. Rico Steez got the party started with a pulsating set that seamlessly blended house and hip hop. Club bangers and ballroom anthems had the bass bumping through the speakers. Lala Ahmir was pretty in pink as the crowd cheered on her performance that included original material. Kris Lay displayed their agility as a rapper and singer. Meanwhile, MGM had the crowd on ten inside on the second WerQfest stage. The roster of featured talent didn’t take the opportunity WerQfest provided them for granted.
Their sets included fully choreographed routines, coordinated costumes and the type of stage presence seen at national or global music festivals. The audience was as entertaining as the mainstage attractions. It was clear that they felt that WerQfest was a place of freedom of expression through fashion. The clothing choices ran the gamut – oversized jeans, skin-tight catsuits, bikini tops and other barely there pieces typically worn as undergarments. It was a no-judgement zone and guests took full advantage of the opportunity to show up as the best version of how they see themselves.
Photo by Lawrence Bryant | St. Louis American
When Vanessa Frost took the stage to open her Frosty Revue as Cardi B, she commanded as much attention as the artist to whom she was paying tribute when she worked the entire stage – and a pole on the side of the stage – while performing hits like “Pretty and Petty” and “Up.” The Frosty Revue continued with Chyna Doll and her tribute to Rihanna and Khloe Frost’s nod to Chloe Bailey. Sativia Raye Frost’s take on Doechii was also a crowd pleaser. It closed out the Frosty Revue and set the tone for Infinite Coles.
The gender-fluid New York hip hop artist had the crowd’s attention from hello. As did St. Louis’ own DJ PBNJeffy, who had the crowd so hype that the shift from him to “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 17 winner Onya Nurve and her lip-sync performance to the 1940s jazz standard “Come Rain or Come Shine” was a stark contrast. Nurve demonstrated versatility and range by hopping from Barbra Streisand’s “Don’t Rain On My Parade” to Kehlani’s “Folded.” Tre Hitz was supposed to be the final act before rap star JT took the stage. She kept things high octane with her infectious mix.
Photo by Lawrence Bryant | St. Louis American
Vanessa Frost returned to the stage and kept the crowd entertained with her top-tier antics on the microphone. Earlier in the show, Vanessa Frost announced that she was the first transgender woman of color to have her own recurring drag revue in the Grove. She proved why as she carried on until JT hit the stage an hour after her anticipated set time. The Miami rapper’s set paled in comparison to the previous acts who kept WerQfest all the way live for hours, but she still received plenty of love during her brief performance – especially after she yielded the microphone to a pair who rapped every bar of her lyrics without missing a word or a beat – and then turned the microphone over to the creators of WerQfest. “We love y’all real hard,” Tre’von Griffith said when he addressed the crowd earlier in the night. The crowd proved that the feeling was mutual.