Marrlo Suzzanne & The Galaxy Band @ Metro Music Hall 04.30

What better way to bring in the heat of 2021 than with Marrlo Suzzanne & The Galaxy Band serving up a raucous night of ‘70s-throwbacks? Ask any attendee of the most recent drag show held at the Metro Music Hall and you’ll find out just how great of a way it was. Held the evenings of April 30 and May 1, these performances were the beginning of the light at the end of this long (long) tunnel of quarantine. 

Long before the show began, it was clear that the masked-up and social distance–minded crowd was eager to shake loose their quarantine stiffness and lose themselves to the rhythms of the night. Tickets for the event were sold in bundles of four–ten, making each group within the audience a tight community—each one in fierce competition to show the room exactly who knew how to have the best time. 

With the utmost attention from this wild bunch of onlookers, drag performers from the Salt Lake area opened the stage voluminously. These local legends—including Izzy Lovely, Ana Lee Kage, Sally-Cone Slopes, Sarah Prollem, She’s Stupid and Olivia Gardine—brought out so much natural funk the whole room was reconsidering bowl cuts and tube socks. By the time the main act took the stage, the crowd was more than ready to boogie the night away. 

Looking fierce but rocking harder, Marrlo Suzzanne and her Galaxy Band were in peak form that night. The group, themed around ’70s rock cliches and composed of many members, played with electric harmony. From passionate solos to group numbers featuring on-theme choreography that bubbled with chemistry, the band offered up exactly what we poor, deprived and isolated souls are starved for: a damn good time. Filled memorable gags, hideously glamorous patterns and hair, hair, hair, this night was a party to remember.