Concordia’s inaugural drag night brings sparkles, queens and excitement to Reggie’s Bar.
Colourful lighting, cheers of anticipation, and not a single empty seat created the atmosphere of the first-ever Drag Night at Concordia.
On Friday, Jan. 26, queens and queers took over Concordia’s on-campus bar, Reggie’s, for Queer Concordia’s first event of 2024. The night was a collaboration between the LGBTQ+ student group and the Concordia Student Union (CSU).
Tickets could be purchased online for $20-25, depending on the tier. All tickets included a free food or drink item.
The show featured five queens who demonstrated the diversity and excitement of drag performance. The numbers were packed with costume changes, stunts and crowd interaction. Each queen brought something different to the stage, and they all received outstanding praise from the audience.
Concordia alum, Kiara, both hosted and performed at the show. Kiara was featured on the first season of Canada’s Drag Race in 2020. Now, she has returned to campus as a performer rather than a fine arts student.
“I’m finally coming back to Concordia for the good reasons,” read Kiara’s text message to Christian Taboada, Internal Affairs Coordinator for the CSU. Taboada assisted Queer Concordia’s event coordinator, Joyce Osagie, with organizing the event and booking the queens.
Alongside Kiara were artists Lulu Shade and Giselle Crown. Lulu—a staple of Montreal’s Village, previously known as the Gay Village—combined humour, beauty, and outrageousness in her performance. Reigning from Sherbrooke, Giselle Crown brought looks and stunts galore to the stage.
The show also featured more alternative performances (if you consider a Crazy Frog lip-sync in a spandex frog suit alternative). Queef Latina is a non-binary Chilean performer who moved to Montreal a few years ago and brought their unique drag style with them.
Lastly, there was Miss Dupré Latour—trans queen, CEO of DupréLatour Cosmetics and podcast host. She graced the stage with a presence and smile that could illuminate the entire room, no spotlights required.
After the show, the CSU’s Taboada spoke with the performers, who told him they had “a blast performing because the people were very engaging and respectful.”
Around 150 tickets were sold, according to Queer Concordia’s marketing coordinator Alicia Kla. She also gave a shout out to Reggie’s staff for being extremely kind and helpful throughout the night.
“We try to diversify our events so that every type of student or person can come,” Kla explained. She highlighted that many attendees at Queer Concordia events are international students who might not have a queer community like this in their home country.
Queer Concordia is a student group that provides resources and hosts events for Concordia’s student body. Taboada explained that Queer Concordia is funded through student fees. They receive two cents per credit per student per semester. He pointed out that the group’s levy fees are not tied to inflation, so as costs continue to rise, it could become difficult for Queer Concordia to keep up financially.
Taboada said he wanted to collaborate with Queer Concordia and lend a hand because “they are an important community that is very often under-represented.”
