As a gay reviewer, I am perhaps a little biased toward drag entertainment. Supporting Queer art in Alberta in 2025 is important to me, and sitting in a full house at the Grindstone listening to century-old pansy tunes really filled my community cup.

The venue is hot, though – perhaps the hottest of the festival. I was sweating next to other sweaty people, and our queen – the incomparable Lilith Fair - was melting and dripping before our very eyes. She made a real meal of it though, as she sucked the salty nectar from her upper lip with comic enthusiasm. Lilith really brings the bits. (wink wink)

As much as I loved the show’s musical content (shout out to the fabulous Daniel Belland on keys!), I found the sound levels to be excruciatingly loud. Lilith has the energy of a firehose, so perhaps she didn’t always need to be amplified (though I know the cabaret art form begs for a microphone). I wonder if the venue technicians ought to ride the fader a little harder in such a wee little venue. There was also a rapid sequence of vaudevillian punchlines with snare drum/splash cymbal stings, so my nervous system took those hits quite harshly and I had the impulse to leave the room.

That said, I think Queer resistance is more important than my personal comfort, so I still say: dress lightly, bring some earplugs, and soak up some gay at The Pansy Cabaret.