I have lived in Cardiff for my entire life so it always comes as a surprise when I tell people that I have only visited the Glee Club in Cardiff Bay twice! Despite being a frequent visitor to the bay for shows at Wales Millennium, walks along with the barrage and the range of dinning experiences the bay offers I had not actually walked through the doors of the glee club until the September just gone when I attended I attended the Go Green Cabaret sponsored by Ben and Jerries. The event featured performers such as Ru Paul’s Drag Race Holland star Sederginne and drag superstar Dys Alexia as well as a range of spoken word performers and global warming experts who were at hand to offer practical and useful ways that we can live a more carbon-neutral lifestyle! Not only was this a night of wonderful entertainment but it also supported research into how we can live a better life for the environment and help tackle global warming which is obviously a very important cause! On top of all this, we were also given some of Ben and Jerry’s most iconic ice cream flavours to enjoy during the show which truly was the icing on the cabaret cake! If you want to read more about this event that showcased a range of drag styles and performers as well as supporting a very important cause you can read my thoughts on the event at https://rhysreviews.com/2021/09/22/ben-and-jerries-go-green-cabaret-event-review/.
This time however I was at the Glee Club to watch the incredible, star of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK season three Victoria Scone! If you are a fan of drag race (firstly you should follow us on Facebook as we post weekly episode reviews!) you will know that Victoria’s time of the show was unfortunately cut short after damaging her knee during a lip-syncing against the eventual winner of the season Krystal Versace in the first episode. Victoria’s casting on the show caused waves as she was the first AFAB (assigned female at birth) on the show so to see her go home due to an injury so early was really upsetting especially those in Cardiff who were rooting for the Cardiff queen to go all the way to the end! It seems however that she is back to full health as this is the second time I have seen her perform in the space of a year. Back in October, I attended the Disney villains ball in Tramshed (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2021/11/02/disney-villians-ball-event-review/) where Victoria performed as the evil queens and appeared to back to her wonderfully theatrical self!
The Cardiff show in Victoria’s ‘Jam Packed’ tour however focussed on Victoria Scone and the evening was hosted by Justin Drag who I have heard about but never seen perform live. Justin wore a wonderfully sparkly pink and blue waistcoat that not only looked amazing but also showcase that he was in fact a trans man! Justin was incredible charismatic throughout the show and helped to reign the audience back in after the intermission. Their performance of “Oh Happy Day” in the style of Sister Act two had everyone singing at the top of their lungs! Justin helped to host the Q and A section of the evening (that was cleverly generated through Instagram stories) which did become rather crude making the show suitable for a more mature audience! During the Q and A one person was lucky enough to get a personalised video from Victoria and Justin after announcing her sister in law has just gone into labour! At the end of the Q and A, we also had a sort of proposal on stage which was very sweet to watch despite both people involved already knowing they were getting married. Victoria’s drag daughter Marmalade performed a very sensual burlesque number that included a section of “Big Spender” which is one of my most played song on Spotify and seemed to go over very well with the audience!
After a rather unusual Danny Dyer impression, Victoria Scone started her section of the show with a fabulous rendition of “Let’s get the party started” by Shirley Bassey which was the perfect song to begin a show! Firstly, the lyrics of the song are literally about starting a celebration and the music builds in a way that it is perfect for an opening number. Victoria also cleverly decided to wear the same outfit that she wore for her entrance on Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK season three with the only difference being her choice of wig. The fact that she wore the same entrance outfit to begin her own concert was a clever inclusion! However, the number that gained the biggest reaction from the Cardiff crowd was Victoria’s rendition of “Why, why, why Delilah” by Sir Tom Jones! I have never heard an audience roar the wonderfully welsh anthem as loudly as they did during this drag show! It wasn’t just singing that Victoria scone decided to showcase during this concert but also her acting prowess during a recorded comedy sketch called “The Understudy” where Victoria was looking for her replacement if she was too ill to go on tour. This video included an appearance by Drag Race UK season two icon Tia Kofi (who constantly switched between her dinosaur and ice cream headpieces), H from steps (who if you have followed this blog for a while will know I once went on a night out with) and winner of Drag Race Uk season two Lawerence Chaney. This was a very funny video that allowed Victoria to set up her next number without the audience realising there is a long break between numbers. I will always enjoy a show that had a moment at the end for the audience to get up and dance and Victoria Scone’s Jam-packed was no different! During both “I’m still standing” and “Last Dance” had every single person up on their feet and singing along!
Overall this was an extremely camp production that allowed us to see more of Victoria which is important as her time on TV was cut way too short! Thanks to Kids Klub I was able to grab two tickets for this show for just £15 (£7.50 a ticket) which makes it an incredibly affordable show to watch! I would recommend that the next time Victoria goes on tour you grab a ticket especially if you are in Cardiff as the Welsh crowd love themselves some Victoria Scone! I would rate this show 4 out of 5 stars!
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