Take Me To Church...

Marcus Bennett, for whom the benefit was held.

 The period between December, and June, seems to be the busiest period for drag, in Shaunna Rai's booking schedule.  This is great for her, but it kind of sucks, as far as when shows happen.  Because, any time between December and (to be safe) April, there's a good chance of snow.

Sheneeda Diet opened the show.

At work, they're getting frustrated with me, I think, because, I ask for a lot of time off, for shows.  However, I make it up to them, most of the time.  We had an overnight person, who has given his notice, and so, there's overnights open.  Since I've been going crazy dealing with some of the behaviors, recently, at work, I decided that some overnights, might not be a bad thing...although, they might kill me, because the lack of sleep makes it really hard to recover...

So, Friday night, I did the overnight.  Which is fine.  However, Saturday, the day of the show, when I left work, it had started snowing.  I hate snow.  Yeah, it's pretty, yeah, it's cool.  But, yeah, I suck at driving in it.

Jacinda

The entire drive home from work, all I could think of was, "I hope the storm is over, before we have to leave to go to Lewiston for the show."  When I finally got to sleep, it was still snowing.

It was still snowing, when I woke up a few hours later.  And, texts were flying furiously, about whether or not the show was going to be cancelled or not.  It was finally determined that the show must go on.

I was half relieved that it was still going to happen...and at the same time, I was irritated, because, it meant that I was going to have to drive in the crappy snow, to a show that Shaunna wasn't getting paid for, for a person who I didn't know.

Shaunna Rai

While I processed all that, I realized how much of a jerk that made me.  The show was a benefit, to "Pay it Forward," to the family of a young man who was known for "Paying it Forward."  Really, I didn't have any right to be angry...because Shaunna gave me the option of not going to the show.  I had a perfect excuse...I had worked the overnight, and so, I needed to sleep.  I was the one who chose to go to the show.  If I was going to be mad at anyone, it needed to be myself, not the show.

Leanna Love

I've been getting better, about having things ready to go, before Shaunna is ready to walk out the door...because I've gotten flack for that, in the past.  And, so Saturday night, I was on top of things again.  The car was loaded, and I just had to make sure that Shaunna's door was unlocked before she got to the car.  So simple.

Finally, it was time to leave.  And, the panic started to set in.  I don't consider myself a good driver, in the best of conditions, much less, when there's three inches of slush on the road, and half of the traveling I have to do before I get to the highway is uphill, because, let's face it, Portland is built on a hill, that we live in the middle of.

Miss E,on does "Take Me to Church".

It was actually, kind of funny, Occasionally, I hear Shaunna coming out of Dan's mouth, but it's very rare to have the opposite happen.  Driving up High Street, praying that the car would make it, Dan reminded me (using Shaunna's mouth) not to stomp on the gas, and to pump the brakes, and not slam on them.

Once we finally got to the highway, the roads were clear, and I could relax again...at least, until we made it to Lewiston, where the roads were nasty again.

Sheneeda Diet, with the mane.

I wasn't sure quite what to make of the night, given the weather.  A few people had said that they would try to make it to the show.  So, once we got there, and I brought in the suitcase, and some wigs that Dan had re-worked for Sheneeda Diet and Brystal Kreme, I went to find a place to sit.

When you're early for a show, it's kind of boring, sitting and waiting.  Especially, when it's a show, where people might not come out, because the roads are gross.  So, I found my spot, and waited.  People started to trickle in, in ones and twos.  Shaunna came out to get a drink, and while she was out, a friend from school and his friend came.  So, conversation started.  Eventually, I took them both to my table.

In the meantime, another friend of ours came, with a friend of his, who is a huge fan of Shaunna's.  They sat at my table too.  For a few minutes, I felt special.  I had people sitting with me, who wanted to be there, not because they were assigned to be there.

Jacinda

Shaunna's fan, Andrea asked me what time the show was going to start.  I told her, quite honestly, the poster says 9:30pm, but, it'll probably be later than that.  Drag time is it's own time zone.

Finally, the show started.

The first number was the tribute number, by Sheneeda Diet.  A slow, sad song, but totally fitting, considering the ultimate reason for the show was the death of a young man.

Sheneeda Diet

The show went very quickly, once it started.  Jacinda was up next, then Shaunna Rai, Leanna Love and Miss E,on.  E,on's number floored me.  Hozier's Take Me to Church, only it was a female cover.  (I've spent the week since the show, with the song stuck in my head...Thanks E,on!)  Sheneeda Diet was back out, with one of Shaunna Rai's stand by songs...although, which, I don't remember, at this point.  I loved the hair.  I watched it go from an old wig to the giant mane with blonde highlights that it is now.

Leanna Love

The show took a break.  When people came back from smoking, or buying drinks, or whatever, they did a raffle.  When Shaunna got drinks, she also bought tickets.  The goal was to get one of two gift baskets...one filled with candy and tickets to the movies.  The other, was a gift certificate to Lotus Chinese restaurant, which also included movie theater tickets.  Unfortunately, we won neither.  But, at least the money raised was going to go to the family.

Miss E,on's All About The Bass.

Jacinda started the second half of the show.

Then Sheneeda Diet again, with another of Shaunna's usual songs.  It was interesting to see someone else perform the same song.  It was a little weird, because these are numbers that I've seen so often, that I pretty much know what movements happen when...so when they didn't happen, it was a little jarring.

Leanna Love went next.  She's great when it comes to working the audience...but as a subject to photograph, I got frustrated with her.  Since the emcee told us that there was no flash photography allowed, I had to use the existing lighting for pictures.  (When I asked her about it later, she said that she hated the lights, because they're so bright that you can't see anything anyway...so it made sense that she stayed away from them.)

Shaunna Rai

E'on went again, and shocked me.  I have never seen her in anything other than her black and/or purple hair (and blonde once, but only in pictures.)  She came out in red hair.  She did Meghan Trainor's All About the Bass, a song that I immediately thought of her, the first time I heard it.

 Throughout the course of the night, I played with camera settings, in hopes that at least some of the pictures would come out, since I couldn't use a flash.  And, in the process, I would every so often review what I had just taken.  And, I found, at some point, I had changed the settings, so that I could literally hold the trigger, and it would automatically take multiple pictures.  So, when I reviewed it, it was almost like playing back the show, only minus the music.

Shaunna was next to the last number.  And, as usual, had a couple tear aways.  (Reviewing it in reverse was fun, watching her put things back on, as they flew back at her.)

Brystal Kreme

Finally, it was the new girl, who I had never met, much less seen perform...as it was her first time performing.  Brystal Kreme moves fast, and didn't seem to like the light any more than Leanna Love did.  (Neither of which made for good photos.)  She was very much involved with the audience...so much so, that at one point, while visiting our friends, she actually knocked my camera out of my hands into my lap. (No damage was done, thankfully.)

And, just like that, the show was over.

There was a bit of a meet and greet at the end.  The girls made themselves available for group photos with anyone who wanted them.

The crowds cleared out, and it was time to go home.  Lewiston was still a mess, the Turnpike was fine, and Portland was still a mess.  But, we made it home safe and sound.