By Mikkel Hyldebrandt
Atlanta’s DJ and kink community is gearing up for a rare moment of collective ignition this coming weekend. RAVE’OLUTION isn’t just another party – it’s a deliberate act of unity, pulling together queer DJs and collectives, performers and the kink network Kink Down South under one roof for a night rooted in music, liberation, and radical self-expression. The effort is led by RJ Wells aka Birthdae Presence and Keith Hudson aka Popa Color, who make up WOLFTONES, a local queer house music DJ duo throwing epic underground parties and events around Atlanta and across the country for the last decade, including LUNACY, GAG BALL, and BUMP IN THE NIGHT. In collaboration with Kink Down South, the event looks back to the city’s legendary rave-era past while pushing Atlanta nightlife into a bold, politically aware future. Here, we break down how it came together, why collaboration matters now more than ever, and what partygoers can expect when the doors open on Saturday.
Atlanta is about to experience an immense and immersive nightlife event this coming weekend – RAVE’OLUTION. Tell us about how this event came into existence and what is the idea behind it?
Raving for a solution, join the RAVE’OLUTION! For this one, we are teaming up with Kink Down South, a hot local collaboration sensation, bringing queer and kinky communities together through a variety of unique events all over Atlanta. Our shared love of house, techno, and radical self-expression makes this partnership the perfect match to deliver a legendary rave experience that Atlanta has been waiting for. Both our teams recognized the need for a collaborative event for the queer communities that transcends the current everyday club experience, harkening back to the legendary days of Backstreet. The amazing venue suddenly became available, and so we jumped at the opportunity, reaching out to all our previous collaborations to take the best advantage of such a phenomenal space capable of uniting all of ATL’s LGBTQ+ and allied nightlife scenes under one roof for one unforgettable night.
You are gathering a wide range of Atlanta’s DJs and DJ collectives for this event. Tells us more about who you chose to be in this large-scale event.
We are featuring three of queer Atlanta’s hottest underground collectives: Club Saturn (Don Fairyleon), House by Definition (Cindel), Technosexual Order (Mike Bradley), and local legends Brian Rojas, Gorp, Jagu4r, Lacochino, Phox, Hotlildxddy, Ruben, Kyle House, and ourselves. All of us have been working separately and together for several years, helping to rebuild underground nightlife since the pandemic lifted, each throwing our own parties and working with one another on collaborations to bring our communities together in safer spaces to connect through music, movement, peace, love, unity, respect, and radical self-expression.
This sounds like something that the queer scene in Atlanta hasn’t experienced in decades! What else can partygoers expect to experience?
We’re stitching together ATL’s LGBTQ+ nightlife scene in a way that, you’re right, hasn’t happened in a long time, in a new incredible warehouse wonderland. Two stages upstairs, one techno, one house, spinning 10 pm-4 am, with local performance artist Halo on an aerial hoop, local scene queen/recording artist Montré hosting, and local vendors selling queer couture, leather goods, and kink gear. Then we all go downstairs 4-8 am for a super steamy afters, complete with a backroom play space provided by Kink Down South. This will certainly be a night to remember!
Obviously, this is going to be a massive party experience set with a clearly defined intention. What impact do you hope that this event will have on Atlanta’s queer nightlife scene?
We hope all these amazing people coming together creates lasting bonds, showing that when we work together as one, we can elevate each other to create so much more for all of Atlanta’s queer communities. We’ve also connected with GA50501 and Georgia Equality to provide information about how we all can get involved and do our part to make a positive impact to our current sociopolitical issues we’re all experiencing. Raves have always been politically aligned, born from necessity of systemically marginalized and oppressed POC and queer communities to find safer space to connect and express themselves through times of great hardship. We suffered then and we’re suffering now, needing each other more than ever, and these spaces help us remember we really are stronger together.
Can we expect more events like this? And what else do you have planned for the coming year?
Oh yes definitely! The way all these groups have blended in such harmony to produce something so big so fast is really quite extraordinary. We all have worked together for years, and I only see this collaborative level-up as a steppingstone to even more exciting events to come. As for ourselves, we definitely have several upcoming parties in the works, and KDS has their annual calendar bursting with frisky fun in store.
Where can we follow for updates and get tickets?
We welcome all people across all LGBTQ+ and allied communities to follow @wolftones as well as @kinkdownsouth, @saturn.atl, @technosexualorder, and all our amazing DJs – DJ Cindel, Phoebe Phox, Brian Rojas, Gorp, Cochino, Kyle House, Ruben – on Instagram for all upcoming events and details!
WHEN: Saturday, February 28, 2026, 10 pm – 8 am
WHERE: 375 Packard St SW, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
TICKETS: Universe.com, keyword ‘raveolution’