Mega-Review: Glitterball!

ID: UStA Pole in performance. Credit: Ocean Yeung

Glitterball! An event that is self-evidently overwhelmingly undeniably too massive and important for one mere human to be capable of covering – so we at the Gay Saint assembled a crack team of only the most serious and dour writers – Trin, Sophie, Ami, and Eliza – to comprehensively note down and analyse every detail. Tragically however even their iron wills were overpowered by the sheer slayness of the night and they got drunk and had a fun time instead. And apparently forgot about (or were too entranced by to mention) the absolute best act of the night, so I have to rep them here in the introduction – UStA Pole were maybe even more astonishing than last year, and it's NOT horny of me to be saying that. Enjoy the rest of the review, starting with Trin!

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ID: the squad the gang the review team. Credit: Ami Melville

Glitterball: ethereal fantasy edition – it was rare, I was there. Alas, I don’t remember the back end of the night all too well. So, like the rest of the diva-licious review team I’ll do my best with what I’ve got.

I didn’t get there until the ball was well underway, because what I thought to be a “simple” makeup look ended up taking multiple hours to cake on. And not wanting to risk ruining my white dress, I decided to take the L around nine and headed to the Union with my outfit packed in my 5SOS tote. I was getting changed when I received a frantic phone call from Blue Monday asking me to drive to their dorm to grab something they forgot – I took the bus into town because I sure as hell was not getting up the next day to collect my car before I had to pay for parking – I considered running to Spanish Gardens to grab their matric card, running to their dorm, and then running back to the Glitterball tent. I then realised I had wasted so much time coming up with this great plan that I only had twenty minutes before they were due to perform on stage. I was also wearing flimsy, strappy heels. So, that didn’t happen.

ID: Butch Ca$hidy. Credit: Glitterball

But I successfully sprinted (kind of) in the rain to the ball with enough time to check-in my coat before Blue Monday took to the stage. And by Mother Monster were they fabulous. All the performers absolutely ate. Also, if anyone has the sexy magician’s number… send it to me Rachel.

Were the attendees dressed to the nines? Absolutely – left no crumbs, as a matter of fact. Were they on theme? Not really. Granted, I was on the bus into town when I made my first sighting of short kings with elf ears – these hobbits were definitely being taken to Serve-engard – and within the rainbow-realness of the Glitterball tent, clusters of fairies floated between floral dresses. I was surprised almost no-one went down the “ethereal” route – where were the scantily-robed seraphs? The gold-dusted Narcissi? The silk-draped muses? The attendees were serving, but at a haute small-plates restaurant. I was hungry for more. If Mama Ru were here to see y’all’s vision of fantasy, baby, she’d tell you to keep the dream journal CLOSED. 

ID: Sophia Stardust and attendees. Credit: Ocean Yeung

But, then again, if people can’t even stick to a theme for the MET Gala - I can’t be too pressed about St Andrews not doing it either. I guess, it’s camp in a way.

The execution of the theme by the Glitterball committee, especially with the signature cocktails, was creative and fun and added a level of whimsy I hoped to see when they first announced the theme.

Sophie: This was my fourth and final Glitterball, so I was ready to go big or go home. In the end I went so big I almost was escorted home, but that didn’t impact my ability to recognise the impeccable vibes of the Glitterball tent! Flashing my press pass, walking into the vibrant rainbow venue felt like walking into another world almost (although that could be the tequila talking). The theme for this year’s Glitterball was ‘Ethereal Fantasy’, and as expected, everybody’s outfits did not disappoint.

ID: the crowd. Credit: Ami Melville

Ami: While I have worked two Glitterballs, this was my first time attending one. I was so excited for the signature rainbow tent and it did not disappoint! The whimsical backdrop for photos was a coveted attraction for many, including myself (several times over). I also loved how many handmade wings I saw in the crowd — everyone’s outfits were so unique and creative! Also, shoutout to Glitterball marketing, especially for the color scheme and logo.  

ID: Azura Saint. Credit: Glitterball

Sophie: At some point during the night, I stumbled outside. Shivering in the misty rain, I saw the warm glowing light of the Wee Dutchie pancake tent. From my knights in shining aprons I got a pot of dutch mini-pancakes loaded with caramel, chocolate and biscoff. The sweet treat was just what I needed for my dance floor pit stop. So with the taste of biscoff on my tongue and a streak of chocolate down my chin, I was happily fuelled to take to the dance floor.

Ami: I sadly arrived a bit too late for the pancakes, but as we here at TGS are all sweet treat fiends, I will second what everyone says here about them. I had a chicken gyro from Wee Green Events, which was scrumptious and satisfying for a particularly cold and rainy night. My partner went straight for the dalek bread at the Pizza Geeks truck, which received an equally glowing review from her. The people at both trucks were also super friendly! I will hopefully manage to track down both restaurants outside of St A events. 

ID: Rileasa. Credit: Ocean Yeung

Sophie: The culprit of my tipsy state lies in the fabulous drinks selection Glitterball had to offer. Service was fast and although the on-theme cocktail menu intrigued me, I stuck to the classics. Through a team effort though, I did manage to try a couple of the rainbow shots, and let me tell you, banana and mint do not go together. All-in-all, I give the Glitterball bar 10/10, 5-stars, 100% would go back.

Ami: I might be biased here (totally not because I work at the Union and therefore all of the Glitterball bartenders are my friends) but the drink selection ate and left no sips. While some descriptions beyond names would have been helpful for the cocktails, I was pleased with how many on-theme, fantastical-sounding mystery drinks the bar offered. I tried the violet one (cannot remember the name) with some added vodka, which was lovely. I was also very happy with the addition of lychee juice to the mixer selection!! 

ID: DJ Buckle. Credit: Glitterball

Sophie: For the most part, the Glitterball DJ played the tunes that everybody wanted to hear. Chappell Roan and Lady Gaga galore. Throughout the night though I felt like something - or maybe someone - was missing. Upon conversation with another attendee we realised the missing link. The DJ had not played one Beyoncé song all night! Crazy in Love would have made my night, otherwise I was happy to scream the lyrics to Abracadabra with the rest of the fairy-winged crowd.

Ami: Even though there were some repeats in the DJ set (especially the same songs being played between performances and then later on in the night), I was pleasantly vibing overall. I was a bit cautious entering the Glitterball/non-Glitterball afterparty. A quick vibe check and some peach schnapps later, we were back to dancing like it wasn’t already tomorrow. This DJ set was perfection — every single song was a banger and nothing was repeated for the whole three hours. While I had initially thought the afterparty could do with the rest of 601 opened, the cosy atmosphere of a smaller venue ended up being the way to go.

ID: Venus Vertigo. Credit: Glitterball.

Eliza: Before Glitterball, I was able to speak with three of the student performers—Molliver Twist, Blue Monday, and Venus Vertigo. Molliver told me their burlesque career officially began at a RockSoc event last year, though they first considered it when they went as the bug from Metamorphosis for Halloween: “I was like, I could combine this with taking all my clothes off. It’s what Kafka would have wanted.” Venus Vertigo, whose name out of drag is Audrey, and Blue Monday, whose name out of drag is Alex, both debuted in Drag Walk two years ago, winning first and second place, respectively. As for other performers they admire, Alex recommended Gottmik; Molliver recommended Percy Non Grata, the Ratatouille Drag Queen. All three are interested in performers who are weird or inventive, and they take the same approach to their own performances, guided primarily by what they want to try next. Molliver sees Molliver Twist, and burlesque generally, as parodying gender roles. Audrey started out with an “intergalactic retrofuturism” vibe for Venus, but now just does whatever they feel like. “My motto is ‘for the lesbians’,” they said. Alex added, “I do everything for the trans boys.”
 

ID: Blue Monday. Credit: Glitterball

I was lucky to have this conversation in a sober state of mind because by the time I arrived at Glitterball, my brain was swimming in alcohol, and my impressions from that night are more like a movie trailer than a continuous and reliable memory. I remember that the stage was too short, so I watched the performances through my phone held above the crowd like a periscope. I liked the progression of performers from student to professional, the feeling that St Andrews students were contributing to a larger drag tradition. Rileasa especially was an otherworldly presence onstage—I mean when someone has so much presence that they don’t feel quite real—but did great crowd work too. My main complaint about the lineup is that you would hit these energy peaks with the performers and then there would be ten minutes of what felt to me like mostly school-dance songs between each one—a strange letdown. And on the other hand I was really into the four panels set up behind the stage and the compressed digital quality of the images on them.

ID: Frodo Baggins. Credit: Glitterball

Sometimes they showed the performers from different angles, descending on Rileasa from above, for example; sometimes they reflected back the crowd, and people would smile, gesture, or strike a pose. People got their own moments in the spotlight in this way, and then I also saw plenty of couples locked in embraces that seemed performative only because they looked better suited for somewhere private.My favourite performance, though, might have been Frodo Baggins’ routine to “They’re Taking the Hobbits to Isengard.” I texted my friend a video of it with the caption, What is Glitterball even about? But that reminds me of something Audrey said in our interview. They were talking about how they first got into drag during Covid lockdown, “just experimenting in my bedroom and then going out into the world.” Alex commented, “That’s how a lot of LGBT things start.” It was a joke, but an apt one: you figure yourself out first and then you get to decide how you perform yourself out in the world. So I guess that’s what Glitterball is about.

By Trin, Sophie, Ami, and Eliza