Week 61: Trixie, Katya, and Pink Friday 2!

Week 61: February 25th-March 2nd, 2024

This week was full of PINK!

First, I finally got to attend a show that was rescheduled back in November. The Bald & The Beautiful: A Live Podcast Recording show is hosted by drag queen icons Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamo. My friends Mel and Bella and I are all huge fans, and we've been looking forward to this for so long!

The gorgeous inside of the San Diego Civic Theatre

Our seats were on the balcony level, and despite the chilly air outside, it got very hot very quickly once we were seated.

Our view from our balcony seats

Apologies for the blurry photos, but I was laughing the entire time so I wasn't worried about camera quality.

Katya and Trixie goofing around

Another blurry photo, sorry haha

The San Diego Civic Theatre is one of those old buildings that hasn't changed much over the years, but still manages to provide a glamorous setting for entertainment. There were even little payphone booths, presumably collecting dust in the corner of the lobby, that reminded me of the opera debacle in The Gilded Age on HBO Max. (Obviously, the Metropolitan Opera House in New York predates the invention of the payphone by about six or seven years, but you get what I mean. Old, historical stuff. Thanks, Google!)

My friends and I were laughing pretty much the entire time Trixie and Katya were on stage, so take that as part of my grand review of the show. It was super fun to get out in the middle of the week and dress up, enjoy some hilarious comedy with the drag community, and see my friends. Here is a link to some of The Bald & The Beautiful podcast episodes on YouTube if you'd like to see.

The next incredibly gay and pink endeavor of this week was that I attended the opening tour date (!!!) of Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday 2 tour in Oakland. I have seen Nicki before, obviously, but this time was especially incredible because I got to go with my bestie Ricky. Back in 2015, strict parents and crappy situations meant we couldn't see Nicki together. Now, in 2024, we have finally achieved our dreams. Ricky's contact name in my phone is literally 'Ricky Minaj," so that should give you a small idea of how much this meant to us. In preparation for the show, I did a glam pink nail set and made a "Prague" shirt.

One hand of my Pink Friday 2 nails!

I had to actually sew the iron on letters to make sure they stayed.

If you're a Barb, you'll get it. If not, you're lame and here's the reference video.

My dad was kind enough to drive us to Oakland where we stopped at Mama's Boy pizza (super delicious!) and Viridian (super cool!) before taking BART to the Coliseum station and Oakland Arena. For what its worth, in my mind, it will always be "Oracle" Arena...

The inside of Viridian was decked out for Lunar New Year

Really cool vibes at Viridian

Pepperoni (extra Crispy) with burrata and Hot Honey! Mushroom on the right.

After facing the elements and the rain, we made it inside Oakland Arena. The show was incredible, of course. My only notes would be that because it was the first show of the tour, it still felt like some kinks were getting worked out with the backup dancers, the setlist and the stage. I'm sure the performances at the next tour dates will get better and better. Regardless, we had a great time amongst all the girls and the gays of the Bay Area. Everyone was decked out in pink, willing to spend ridiculous amounts of money on drinks and merchandise to see the queen.

The merch lines were ridiculous so I'll be ordering online.

They even had pink sugar for the overpriced drinks! ALMOST worth it.

We even saw one person with an incredible replica headdress like the one Nicki wore on the Pink Friday 2 album cover. I didn't get a picture of it, but I'm sure its somewhere on social media.

The headdress someone made a replica of

Our seats were super good, and I made a friend with a lone concert goer who sat next to us. His name was Dante and he came alone because apparently none of his friends were Barbz. I told him not to worry, because we were now his friends! It was great to sing and dance and include him in our amazing night. I didn't get his info (I wish I remembered to ask for his Instagram or something!) but I really hope he had a good time.

The setlist was amazing. Nicki played songs from her original Pink Friday album like "I'm the Best" and "High School," and even gave us some crowd pleasers from like "Chun-Li" and "Starships." Ricky and I lost our voices (and our minds!) when "Favorite" came on from the Pinkprint album.

The show was sold out, and the crowd did not disappoint. Everyone's energy was top tier, despite our sore high-heeled feet and being soaked from the frigid rain. Fighting the wind and the weather on the bridge back to BART was only possible because of how awesome we felt after seeing Nicki. The rain in the Bay this week didn't stand a chance against wonderful bright pink Barbz and Nicki opening her tour in Oakland! I can't wait to see what else she can do.

See you next week.