Photos by Marc Giuffre (inc. cover image) & Matthew Weinberger & staff / Words by Willa Rudolph and Marisa Whitaker
Willa: Marisa and I arrived early to set up our booth. Other magazine teams trickled in to set up their booths, as well!
Marisa: The Deli booth was lookin’ so cute! (We still have t-shirts for sale!)
W: Ren G arrived promptly, looking cute as ever, and started DJ’ing as I was the first to christen the collage/zine-making table, set up by Footlight Presents.
W: There’s my contribution on the right. Footlight Presents is going to take everyone’s submissions from Mag Fair and compile them into its very own zine, and it will be available soon!
M: The ‘Footlight Presents’ table was definitely a standout at Mag Fair. I am so excited to see the zine of everyone’s collage pages. Such a sick idea and way to immortalize the event.
W: Jason came through with the “vintage” The Deli copies…here we have a couple issues from 2007 and 2009 (!) one claiming “The L.E.S. Is Dead,” which I find funny because if anything, it’s come back to life since. And then the 2009 issue with Chairlift, also proof of Caroline Polachek’s past life before her solo career. I had to explain this to some of my friends at Mag Fair (those born after the year 2000)!
M: I feel targeted because I was one of Willa’s friends who didn’t know the Polachek lore–but don’t fret, I was born in 2000! And as a music journalist, I’ve been reading old ass music mags since I was a wee young rock lover. I was so stoked to flip through some OG The Deli’s which I had never seen before!
W: The DJ’s continued, as Ren G was followed by Maraya from itg.url and Brightviolet. By then, Le Charme had begun their set. To a backing drum track, Kevin Hyland and Lexie Thomas spun a dancey rock with their electric guitars. Crunchy pedals and indie-pop beats characterize the young band, and they definitely had everyone jumping. Their voices sounded so good together—one dreamy and light, one deep and resonant, each still sort of standing out against the other.
M: As Le Charme’s (totally unbiased) manager, I had made a list with the duo at the top of the year of their 2025 “bucket list” venues to play at. Baby’s was the number one, and so to see them on that stage made my heart tickle.
W: Next was Hipsy Gap.
M: Hipsy Gap delivered yet another wonderfully electric performance. Frontwoman Makenzie Correll knows how to woo a crowd with her rockstar energy. Her beautiful, alluring voice fittingly complements the band’s tight knit instrumentals. They’re always a blast to watch.
W: They were followed by Lynsey, who played their final New York set before lead singer Nicole Galinson heads to live in London. We’ll miss her so! She’s also editor-in-chief & founder of our Mag Fair collaborator, Cynosure Magazine.
M: Lynsey bid farewell to the NYC music community that raised them with an explosive set led by frontwoman and namesake Nicole L. Galinson. The editor and musician’s love for music bleeds through her reference-filled lyricism and California-rock sensibilities (and through the magazine she created, I guess).
by Marc Giuffre
W: Cynosure is a bi-yearly music and fashion print magazine–a labor of love from Nicole, who works double the time most of us can fathom to make it all happen.
M: As a contributing music editor for upcoming Issue No. 5, I can assure you that big and beautiful things are coming from Cynosure this year…so stay tuned and grab your copies of issues 3 and 4 to hold you over until then!
W: GRBGE-GRL then started to DJ, while I hung out with her in front of the DJ booth jumping up and down to the early 2000s hits she was spinning. Meanwhile, Water Gun performed in the main room as the sun was beginning to dip low in the sky.
M: Water Gun is so sick. 3/4 of its members are in other great local bands (70s-inspired rockers Dallas Wax and post-disco Parents), so it’s awesome to see them come together as good friends and play some cool-kid alternative rock. You should definitely check out their latest single, “Angel Dust.”
W: The event had kept a steady flow of guests, as we tried to keep our booth properly manned while still enjoying the fruits of our labors.
M: So many beautiful music mag lovers! Shoutout to Marc Giuffre and Matt Weinberger for snapping some sick shots. And the kind Eugene Hütz of 90’s punk-rock Gogol Bordello and the Casa Gogol Empire who stopped by to check it all out! (P.S. They’re playing Lipps Service Live!—an event for Scott Lipps’ podcast Lipps Service—on June 4 at The Bitter End! Tix available soon)
W: Between sets, we’d do loops around the booth room, visiting the booths of Blue Hour Press, Rambler, Antics, Nourish, Breach, 47 Mag, Gunk, The Concert Chronicles, and Alt Citizen (see socks below).
M: I’m still in awe of how amazing every mag’s booth was. Every mag and its representatives showed up with a full set-up of mags, merch, and decor. It was really, really cool to see. If I wasn’t poor, I would’ve bought everything. I still bought a lot, though. Every mag that participated is doing really spectacular work. If you didn’t make it to mag fair, there’s no excuse to not check ‘em out online! My young, music-mag-loving self never would’ve imagined such a wholesome gathering of so many hot and talented music mag freaks…it was a dream come true.
W: At each table, event goers were able to pick the brains of the teams associated with each publication —when did they start, what is their mission, are they looking for cover stars…lol…anyways…
M: Alt Citizen had cool socks, Rambler was selling Blazy Susan products to celebrate 4/20, Nourish gave away free zines, Breach made sick postcards of cover stars…alllll the goodies.
W: Next, Le Bang took the stage, and gave a super solid performance of their crunchy euro-punk, and all I have to show for it is this video!
M: I wanna be Lola Bang for Halloween. Black superhero/robber mask and all.
W: Valley Latini took to the decks, no doubt causing all the baddies to shake what they got. (I’m allowed to say that ’cause I’m a baddie, too.)
The zine-making table continued to pop off, with people cutting, gluing, sifting, sorting, chatting, biting nails, making very focused faces as they wielded Exacto knives, etc.
M: Stay tuned for the Footlight Presents: The Deli Mag Fair 2025 Zine!
W: Savoia then proceeded to play a dope-ass set – lowkey they were one of my faves of the night!!
M: I heart Savoia! Lucas Allen is one of the coolest and sweetest frontmen in the local scene. Savoia is definitely a favorite.
W: Next, Caitlin Starr, who I’d never seen live before, absolutely shredded and tore beyond belief. DJ Thank You overlapped with them, but I’m a huge fan of both!
W: When their set finished, Caitlin just got off the stage and walked right out the room like a straight up badass. It was sick.
M: I had never seen Caitlin Starr perform before Mag Fair. She and the band totally blew me away. They have an effortless alt-rock swag. Caitlin’s voice is really nice. I think they’ll do big things.
W: Catcher, our incredible headliners, nonchalantly mounted the stage and definitely did not smile once during their set. They were awesome, full of dissonance, droning feedback, electricity, angst, and grunt.
M: Perfect closer band for mag fair. Catcher is sweet. Dreamy, alt sounds and tight, cohesive playing. And you know a rock band’s cool when they have an electric violin. To see them play an intimate midnight set on a Sunday was memorable. I think they’ll do big things, too.
W: DJ extraordinaire Stella Mandala closed out our wonderful event, and by then the whole The Deli team had partaken in 4/20 to a massive extent– BUT, we managed to take some photos with our sign that I TOILED over. Well, it was a team effort between Marisa and I, but I ended up having to fix some of her ‘contributions.’ Hehe.
M: Stella Mandala is always in the zone DJing. And she looks like a badass while doing it. One of the scene’s hottest DJ gals, no question. She has some sick trip-hop-inspired tracks coming out soon, so stay tuned.
And, yeah, I take no credit for the painted The Deli Mag sign. That’s all Willa. She’s a true artist. I hella fumbled the green letters and burger. Thx to Willa for fixing! That banner will be in the Louvre one day!
W: and lest we forget this gem featuring our very own Jason:
M: Jason Lee: the man, the myth, the legend.
[Editor’s note: Y’all are too kind!]
OVERALL, everyone was super happy with the event, including us, and we are SO ETERNALLY GRATEFUL to everyone who contributed! Whether it was with donation, buying something, buying a ticket, or just strolling through, whatever it was, WE THANK YOU!
We are so in awe of all of the awesome magazines that participated. It was such a wholesome and rockin’ Easter/420/Mag Fair. We are so happy to have finally met all of you IRL!
It is so special to be within a community of music and music mag lovers. We never could’ve imagined such a wonderful gathering of beautiful, like-minded people. To share the passion of music journalism with all of you is remarkable and amazing. We think the work of music journalists is noble. We will carry in our hearts the memory of this incredible gathering, of people furthering the grand century-old tradition of writing cool words about cool music. And maybe we’ll all do it again sometime!
BONUS PHOTOS FROM MAG SHOW!!! (BY MARC GIUFFRE & DELI CONTRIBUTORS)
PHOTOS BELOW BY MATTHEW WEINBERGER (EXCEPT LAST TWO IMAGES):
