Omni-Freak: Mable Peabody's Dance Night

Some very good news: Denton now has not just one, but TWO monthly dance parties. If you haven’t spent much time at Mable Peabody’s Beauty Parlor & Chainsaw Repair, you might not be aware of Omni-Freak’s existence—but from the sounds of it, you should be.

Omni-Freak is run by Drew Drennan and Clinton Butler, and is an event that Drennan describes as “a monthly queer dance party in Denton featuring local DJs and artists around DFW and beyond.” Omni-Freak takes place on the last Friday of every month. Add this to the much-beloved Mable’s staple karaoke night and Glitterbomb events and the venue’s calendar just keeps getting more and more appealing. Drennan tells us that the monthly was initially inspired by Rob Buttrum’s PDA parties, which ran at Rubber Gloves prior to its closure.

Drennan, who first ran dance nights in Dallas, says that they decided to start the event after noticing a lack of similar events in Little D. “I [realized] how bad Denton needed more dance nights/spots where queers and freaks can feel comfortable,” they tell us. Drennan asked Butler to step in and assist after running the first two installations of the event alone; they cite Butler’s background in the planning and execution of underground parties as a major qualification.

So what exactly does “Omni-Freak” mean? “The idea is for everyone to come together to form a single ubiquitous entity (the Omni-Freak) with the environment to express themselves freely,” Drennan explains. So when one attends Omni-Freak, one also becomes the Omni-Freak themselves. “People really look forward to them,” Drennan says of the events. “It’s a special release. People dress up in crazy outfits and really go all-out.” So far Omni-Freak has featured artists including Civil, LEEIII, Pintalabios, Spice Boys, Lars Warn, and M3SA—a wonderfully diverse range of musicians for a wonderfully diverse event.

Drennan and Butler are giving themselves this month off, but Omni-Freak will be back on November 25th at Mable’s. This upcoming installment will feature Denton’s very own Mindleak DJ crew. If you’re looking to let your freak flag fly, we suggest you give this event a shot.

Header image design by Brittany Keeton