Pride Report!

I need to write this up before it falls to the wayside.

KELLY'S ADVENTURES AT MILWAUKEE PRIDE!

So, over the weekend I traveled up to the grand state of Wisconsin to perform with my drag troupe. Saturday everything seemed to be going pretty great. An easy drive there (we got lost, but not for too long), we all ended up at the stage in one piece and the weather seemed great. I wasn't performing on Saturday but I was taking pictures. After only a few acts we had an incredible crowd! It was awesome. Then...it started raining. And then it started raining harder. Then Gia walked out into the middle of an act and announced that there was a tornado warning - and people needed to jet if possible, but everyone else needed to stay under the pavilion. The building attached to the stage was concrete, so I quickly decided (since I've been through tornadoes before) that was where I needed to be. Needless to say, you stick that many people in a small concrete room and things are going to get crazy. Some people were scared because they had never been through a tornado, some people were scared because they were claustrophobic, and others were just pissed and wanted to leave. But leaving was not an option in the POURING down rain, and the tornado that had touched down nearby. Shortly after retreating to the backstage area, the other performance group (some drag queens and their go-go dancers) wanted to kick us out so they could use the dressing room. Mind you, there were other dressing rooms - and where in the hell were we going to go?! So we fought tooth and nail to stay backstage, and succeeded although we ended up being shoved in the little extra room and in the hallway. So for several hours we were stuck back stage - starving, tired, and annoyed. Tempers rose. We attempted to entertain the crowd outside sans stage lights or microphones (which had to be turned off because of the weather). Finally, we were cleared to leave. Myself and another king carried several items to the car - which meant getting absolutely drenched. Finally we all made it back to the hotel and kicked it back in our room boozing and eating until about 3 am. Good times.

Sunday was the big day - we would be performing our group acts as part of the opening set for the Indigo Girls. We all got up early to practice that morning. Standing on that giant stage made me excited - and anxious. I had an upset stomach the whole day, and was a bit grouchier than usual. After making it back to the hotel some usual drama occurred, which I won't bother reporting here. We checked out, dropped our bags off in the car, and went to the Pride festival to enjoy what we could before our show. We watched the MilTown Kings performance, which was pretty good. It was cool to see another troupe perform. We watched a little of the next act, and then had to head over to our trailer to prep for our show. Dressed and ready, I waited anxiously for the act I was in to roll around. I enjoyed the two prior acts from my troupe, which totally rocked the house. It started to rain, again. But nothing too terrible. Then it was our turn - and I was about to have a heart attack. My face was hot, my heart was pounding - and then we hit that stage. I think I went through the entire act almost flawlessly, despite a few last minute changes that had been made to the act. It was amazing. The adrenaline rush was just incredible.

We returned to our trailer and started repacking and de-dragging. It started to rain harder. Most of our group left, but a few of us stuck around to see the Indigo Girls. Of course - another tornado warning. We wanted to see the concert though, so from the VIP area we watched (really I just listened, I was exhausted and was half-asleep) while gathering weather updates on our phones. It looked pretty dire - flash floods, tornadoes, pouring rain, etc. We decided it would be wisest to get a hotel for the night, cram people in the room, and head out the next morning. So we enjoyed the rest of the concert, and headed back to the hotel where we had stayed prior. We got a few rooms, crammed in, put on some dry-ish clothes (because we had gotten utterly soaked again - and this time our bags were soaked too) and went down to the bar to celebrate the weekend and eat dinner. I decided to do some laundry in the free laundry facilities. When I ran down the stairs to get soap, you'll never guess who I ran into. I open the door into the lobby and there by the elevators, talking to one of the gurl toiz were none other than the Indigo Girls themselves! They were complimenting how much they enjoyed the show - I introduced myself (as a boi toi, even though I'm not officially one yet) and they told me how much they enjoyed our show.
O
M
G

Totally awesome. The rest of the night was more boozing and enjoyment of one another's company. It actually was a great time just to hang out with each other. We left early the next morning, came back to Chi-town, I dressed for my last day of work and that was that.

Overall, despite the weather and the occasional bits of drama, it was totally worth it. It was incredible to perform for such a large crowd, and getting to know my brothers and sisters better was awesome.

So cheers to you Milwaukee, you tornado infested city you.