As a big fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race, a sensational drag race hosted by actor and model RuPaul, attending the Battle of the Seasons Tour in Seattle was a no brainer. On Feb. 11, I was joined by many other friendly fans of drag queen at the Showbox Sodo, a venue in downtown Seattle, to watch eight drag queens from previous seasons perform and entertain.
Getting into the venue, I went right to the merchandise table before the line got too long. There was not much pushing and people were polite. For the most part, getting shirts was a pretty painless and fast process.
Those who have been to the Showbox Sodo know that the venue is not very big. Surprisingly, it was not uncomfortably cramped and the audience was friendly. I had gotten warnings before going to the show that the area is sketchy, but everyone seemed normal if not more friendly then a usual crowd in Seattle. If I could not see or if someone’s head was suddenly in front of me, all I had to do was ask that person if they could move a little and I had view of the stage again.
The opening act was a singer named Cary Nokey, who according to his biography, sounds like “high intensity electronic dance music intersecting with emotionally-charged rock, a hybrid of grit and glam.” He got the audience pumped and his performance was entertaining.
The drag performers got two acts each and then performed in a Snatch Game, where three queens dressed up and acted like celebrities, answering fill-in-the-blank type questions delivered by Bianca Del Rio, the hostess.
The live Snatch Game was my favorite act of the night, being offensive yet funny, satire at its finest. Drag queen Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 was Lanja Estranja, Sharon Needles played Joan Rivers, Phi Phi O’hara was Gia Gunn and Adore Delano was herself. It was shady and hysterical.
Adore, Sharon and Alaska sang their own songs for their acts. Manila Luzon and Phi Phi did one act singing and another act lip-syncing and Ivy Winters and Raja only lip-synced.
Each and every performance was something to behold and just downright entertaining and mesmerizing. I learned why drag queens love their glitter, sequins and sparkles. It looked amazing under the stage lights.
It was an all-ages show, which is incredibly rare for a drag show. The cordiality of the people there made the experience and the show that much better. The only downside to the entire show was standing for six hours straight and that the show itself had an hour and half delay because the venue was having technical difficulties. Other than that, I had an amazing experience that I would lose sleep for again.