Mike Brooks
Audio By Carbonatix
The locally founded Instant Film Society is gearing up for the 9th Annual PolaCon, a Denton festival celebrating the art of analog instant photography. The weekend-long photography workshop programming runs from Friday, Sept. 27. through Sunday, Sept. 29, and this year’s accompanying nighttime live entertainment offerings will be going on for the entire week at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios in Denton.
The lineup is stacked with local heavy hitters, and tickets are on sale now.
Kicking off the event on Monday, Sept. 23, on Rubber Gloves’ patio stage is Austin-based synth-pop group TC Superstar, who will bring their unique blend of dance, music and visuals to opening night attendees. Opening acts include Denton band Darling Farm and singer-songwriter Honin.
On Tuesday, Sept. 24, patrons will be able to take in free patio film screenings of the 2019 horror flick Polaroid, and an experimental found footage collection called The Movie Orgy.
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At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25, longtime local music staple Bryce Avary (aka The Rocket Summer) will take the patio stage. On his Instagram, Avary gives details on what to expect from his set: “I plan to dance, I plan to scream. Might even bust out one or two of ‘The Early Years’ songs for the first time in a few moons. This will be rad.”
Also on Wednesday, Denton’s Memory Terminal Records will host a showcase of bands on its roster on Rubber Gloves’ main stage. The Rubber Room will throw a special PolaCon 9 edition of DFW’s favorite indie-sleaze dance party, Reblog. So break out those colored tights and V-neck tees hiding in the back of your closet from 2008.
On Thursday, Sept. 26, North Texas podcast WTFemme!? will present a live burlesque show featuring performers Bela Von Gosi and Buck Wylde.
On Friday, Sept. 27, the party continues with “PolaCon Potpourri,” with DJ Douggpound, Fat Tony, Johnny Pemberton, RM Brown, Sudie and Fishboy. The thick lineup of Texas favorites will start off the conference’s first day of photography programming with a bang.
This year’s PolaCon event comes with a week of live entertainment programming at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio.
Courtesy of Instant Film Society
On Saturday, Sept. 28, guests should break out the costume couture, because Rubber Gloves will transform into a masquerade ballroom offering performances by Panic (a tribute to The Smiths) and Oatmeal Pizza (a tribute to Nirvana), and a dance-a-thon with expert ’80s hits selector DJG.
Wrapping up the week’s events on Sunday, Sept. 29, is a free daytime zine fest featuring DIY publishers, artists, a zine-making station and DJs from Denton-based nonprofit radio station KUZU 92.9 FM.
There are many ticketing options for this week-long slew of PolaCon 9 nighttime events. If you plan to attend the Instant Film Society’s annual conference programming, the $100 tier PolaCon admission provides access to all of the Rubber Gloves shows. But if you’d like to pick and choose which ones to go to, separate ticket options are available for each night on the venue website.
