PHOTOGRAPHY Victoria Hussey
Taking the “wild party girl” persona to new planes, horsegiirL’s Hayfever Tour is where sex appeal and style meet 21st-century internet-fuelled absurdity. The Berlin-based producer and DJ, also known as Stella Stallion, is a horse-human hybrid changing the game of dance music with her lighthearted approach to performance. After accomplishing new feats at huge venues in LA, NYC and across Europe, the artist ended her tour by performing at her biggest UK headline show yet – in the heart of central London on Saturday night.
Taking over HERE at Outernet, a new four-storey basement venue next to Tottenham Court Rd, horsegiirL’s untamed energy filled this much-needed queer safe space, inspiring self-expression, friendship, and unabashed silliness. As animal fur, vintage leather, and studded denim adorned the venue, the crowd’s anticipation for horsegiirL rose against the backdrop of a hyperpop and techno fusion. Wearing her famous hyper-realistic horse head, paired with a 2000s blinged-out club fit, the DJ trotted onto the stage at midnight to an uproar of her adoring ‘farmies’.
While she proclaims her persona as a tamed animal, her set was undoubtedly wild from start to finish. Warming up the crowds with her 2023 hit song ‘My Barn, My Rules,’ the artist opened her set with this equestrian-specific self-love anthem. From thereon, the dancefloor was flooded with a series of club classics and queer culture favourites merged and reimagined as EDM tracks over 140bpm. Her song ‘F0rbiidden l0ve$tory’ made a lasting impression after its satirical narrative was blown up on the big screens, bringing to life the imagined tale of her parents’ cross-species affair.
The cutting-edge videography and memeable graphics used throughout horsegiirL’s set matched her persona perfectly. Switching from live cinematic montages of the crowd to playful stock images and horse-themed home videos, the stage backdrop reinforced the silliness and carefree attitude commanding the DJ’s artistry. In an increasingly digital age, where the influence of technology can be overwhelming and scary, horsegiirL embraces the humour and futility of being chronically online.
This energy was mirrored perfectly by the fans queer and straight, rave veterans and newcomers alike. At one point, I even encountered a group of friends dangling carrots above the crowd in a bid to attract attention from the artist. A place for “goths, girls, and gays” (as told to me by one excitable attendee) HERE at Outernet saw music fans of all ages united by their love for dancing, celebrating queer culture, and horsegiirL’s irreverent persona.
In this day and age, you really struggle to find community, but in the party scene it’s quite strong. It’s just not very serious – you lose your worries, you don’t think about anything, you dance, and you can have a laugh.
Everyone I spoke to in and outside the venue shared a common goal for the evening – to let loose and be themselves. As one fan, Tally, highlighted, “In this day and age, you really struggle to find community, but in the party scene it’s quite strong. It’s just not very serious – you lose your worries, you don’t think about anything, you dance, and you can have a laugh.”
In this secret slice of Berlin DJ underbelly tucked beneath London’s bustling streets, horsegiirL’s utopic worldbuilding carved out a space for others to be unapologetically themselves and embrace their wilder side.
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