A new queer rock festival is making its debut at Coney Island this May.
Frankie Fest is a one-night-only show that highlights queer artists. The festival was created in honor of Frankie Maddox Rex of the local band The FMs, who tragically passed away on May 11, 2022.
“It felt like a very obvious thing for us, this is such a big part of Frankie’s life and legacy,” said Matte Namer, Rex’s bandmate in The FMs. “I think many people have memorials for friends that have passed or funerals. This just feels like the best way to honor them.”
“Frankie Fest is something that I’ve wanted to do since I think 10 minutes after I found out that Frankie was gone. Frankie was like my best friend, I’m kind of the FM’s Fifth Beatle,” said local musician and Frankie Fest founder Miss Cherry Delight. “Frankie didn’t get to have a funeral at all. We didn’t get to say goodbye to him and it just sort of feels like he’s on this long road trip with no service, no way to call us, so there’s a little bit of an incomplete thing there. Frankie was so, so, so wildly special, so deeply talented. He had so much going for them and it’s a shame that not enough people know who he is, so I wanted to create something that brings people together with music, specifically a queer rock music festival.”
The lineup for Frankie Fest includes Miss Cherry Delight, The FMs, Pink Velvet Witch, Jordan Fiction, Villins, Llynks, and Frida Kill. The show will also serve as a launch party for The FMs album “Pink + Black”, an album with over 7 years worth of work featuring Rex.
This show is the first time in over four years that the FMs will take the stage, marking a bittersweet moment back into performing for the band.
“It’s really exciting, I think that performing feels really natural to me. I’m a little nervous about it, to be honest, because we haven’t played a show in over four years,” said Namer. “I have a new band lineup and we’re kind of jumping right into the fire. We have a duty to really honor Frankie by having it be a good performance. But mostly I’m just really excited.”
This is an 18+ show at Coney Island, where Namer and Delight say “anything goes.”
“If there’s any place to really have Matte let loose for the first time in four years, what better place than the freak show?” said Delight. “There’s so much love and appreciation for anything that’s out of the ordinary, That’s really the way that we prefer it in Coney.”
Tickets for Frankie Fest are $20 and are available at coneyisland.com/event/frankiefest. Proceeds from the show will go to benefit Chosen Family Law Center’s new “Frankie Maddox Rex Memorial Fund,” which supports low-income TNBGNC New Yorkers with free legal services.
“We wanted something to embody Frankie’s spirit and to create a festival that outlives us, so people hear the name Frankie and they know which Frankie. They say, oh Frankie Fest, that’s because of Frankie Maddox Rex,” said Delight. “We want to do this every year and we want this to really grow hopefully into an outdoor festival. We think about [Frankie] every day and I’m very excited to unleash this and for everyone to begin to recognize him and recognize his work as well through this festival.”
Check out the music videos for The FMs songs “Song X” and “Transformation Dreams,” both of which showcase Rex’s most recent work.
