{"id":5862,"date":"2014-04-22T08:00:27","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T15:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crimeandtheforcesofevil.com\/blog\/?p=5862"},"modified":"2016-07-20T13:39:23","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T20:39:23","slug":"nwcmusic-thursday-and-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crimeandtheforcesofevil.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/22\/nwcmusic-thursday-and-friday\/","title":{"rendered":"nwcMUSIC Thursday and Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, yeah! I said yesterday this year was epic; let’s talk about that a little.<\/p>\n

This is the first year our daytime workshops are out of exile. We’ve been up in the tower, in Salon, a fine room with a lovely view but which is an elevator ride to somewhere nothing else is happening<\/em>. Set to Discoverability Factor Zero<\/em>, Mr. Wesley, and engage. Now we’re back downstairs, with the concerts.<\/p>\n

This is also<\/em> the first year we announced livestreaming of concerts in advance. It was on short notice, because the technical details kept changing, but it was in advance. K built an uplink out of four parallel cellular devices – three LTE, one 4G – multiplexed into a single high-bandwidth channel spread across three entirely separate<\/em> cellular networks. This was almost<\/em> as good as a wired connection.<\/p>\n

Almost.<\/em><\/p>\n

This was also the first Electric Night. For a the first three years of nwcMUSIC at Norwescon, Thursday night was Experimental. This year, it became Electric, and we brought in atmospheric room lighting. Not a lot; just enough to paint the walls with colour. Mike Citrak – who I forgot to thank yesterday, I’m sorry Michael! – also lent us some of his dance lights, which definitely<\/em> helped. The Thursday bands loved it<\/em>; we’ll need to do more of that.<\/p>\n

First up was 9K1, featuring Shubzilla, Lex Lingo, and Bill Beats, who you probably know from Death*Star. Nerdcooooooooooooore:<\/p>\n


9k1 Rocks the House<\/i>
(They have a new video, by the way<\/a>)<\/small><\/center><\/p>\n

One of the funniest things from my point of view the entire convention was that – okay, opening ceremonies ran late, and we can’t start concerts ’till they’re done. Partly, because it’s not smart, some of them come over to us; second, because respect. So it’s totally cool.<\/p>\n

But I still had a crowd to keep entertained and energised, so I decided to screech them in, which is a thing we do at nwcMUSIC, stolen – in idea form, anyway – from screeching in on George Street in St. John’s.<\/p>\n

Only since we can’t serve whiskey, we do it with a literal screech.<\/p>\n

Now, 9K1 had already set a record for largest draw on a Thursday, and while Thursday is not exactly a huge day, they did really well. And most of their fans showed up on time.<\/p>\n

And I had all of them screech at the top of their lungs, all at once<\/em>, with Opening Ceremonies right<\/em> across the hall, and with all doors open<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This was hilarious<\/em>. Unintentionally, of course. I was just trying to keep my crowd in the room. I didn’t even know that I’d made an entire ceremony full of pros jump out of their chairs until a good five minutes later.<\/p>\n

It was a good<\/em> Screech. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n


Dancing to 9k1<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n

We’d also yanked a bunch of chairs from stage front during setup, as a dance floor. Turns out: bonus points<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Jonny Nero Action Hero<\/a> was our only chiptunes act this year. To be honest, chiptunes aren’t that popular at Norwescon, which is clearly a failing<\/em> we’ll have to correct<\/eM>. But he drew a pretty respectable crowd too, and noticing that, we were starting to realise something was up<\/em>.<\/p>\n

He’s also pretty good on guitar, and later, I’d find out, very good on panels.<\/p>\n


Jonny Nero Action Hero<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n

Oh, see the little light down on the bottom of the picture? There’re two of them. They’re my stupid little stage lights and I love them.<\/p>\n

I’d bought these colour-changing LED bulbs; I’d planned to put them in reflectors aimed at walls. Turned out they were too dim. I’d thought to put them in paper cones so we’d have colour-changing<\/em> paper cones (critically different!<\/em> to ordinary paper cones), but instead I stuck them on some snake-neck clamp lights clamped to the scaffolding. Once curled up in front of the stage? Suddenly they really kind of worked. Almost non-ironically worked, even. They’re like the idea of footlights even if you don’t really have footlights.<\/p>\n

Klopfenpop<\/a> rounded out the evening to another pretty good crowd – very good, again, for late on Thursday. He didn’t bring his guitar, but he brought his game:<\/p>\n


Klopfenpop<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n

I wasn’t actually on<\/em> any panels either on Thursday or Friday, beyond my MC duties at all concerts. So I got a look at the art show and dealer’s room in the afternoon, and I have to say, both really interested me this year. I didn’t have the chance to give the art show the time it deserved, but whoever had the animatronic sculptures in back? Well done, artist, well done. Those were cool<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I bought more things in the dealer’s room than usual, because there were more kinds of things<\/eM> than usual. Good show all around.<\/p>\n

Next up: The Big Show! With The Heather Dale Band<\/a>. This is our daytime “event” show – we don’t do it every year – in Grand Ballroom 3. Grand 3 is a huge but freakish room where wifi will fail from device to device in the same room<\/em>, so you can just guess what that did to our wireless. Still, we got a good capture, and were streaming live most<\/em> of the show. And the rebroadcast after was perfect.<\/p>\n

This is what John’s soundboard looks like in the dark. I’m pretty sure I can blow up Alderaan from here:<\/p>\n


Seghers Sound(board)<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n

You can push buttons on it or its touchscreen or a remote tablet<\/em> and all the actual, physical<\/em> sliders will move around to different presets. It’s pretty damn awesome.<\/p>\n

Grand 3 has the best, most traditional stage, which makes for interesting photography opportunities:<\/p>\n


The Best Picture I Got With Ben In It<\/i>
(Stop hiding in the dark, Ben, it makes you hard to shoot.
I MEAN WITH A CAMERA. I have IR, hiding doesn’t do a damn thing against my<\/em> weaponry.)<\/small><\/center><\/p>\n


Heather Dale and Betsy Tinney<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n


All Alone in the Dark<\/i>
(if you ignore the rest of the band, the audience, Babylon 5, and the Internet)<\/small><\/center><\/p>\n

I started doing a Scooter impersonation before this show. “Ms. Dale! Ms. Dale! Three minutes to curtain, Ms. Dale!” This, like many muppet things, became a running gag. (See also: “Ms. Clicks! Ms. Clicks! Three minutes to curtain, Ms. Clicks!” on Saturday.)<\/p>\n

After that, it was all load-and-move back up to the Evergreens for Friday Filkfest’s main set of shows. I really have to hand it to John and Jen’s volunteer crew this year, they had that kit wrapped up and shifted like magic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Friday is Friday Filkfest because filk is the oldest form of geekmusic, going back to the 1950s, and deserves its place in the sun. Besides, I like their DIY\/participatory culture attitude. They’re punk in that way – and in perhaps no other way, but that’s a pretty damn good way.<\/p>\n

The word “filk” came from a typo in an article – the author meant to write “science-fiction folk music” and that I is awfully close to that O on the keyboard, and hey, who has time to proofread, am I write? – and they ran with it en masse<\/em> and instantly<\/em>. And while I couldn’t attend it, I was told by multiple people that the What the Frak is Filk? \/ Filk 101 panel went over well, with good attendance – and a lot of new people.<\/p>\n

A lot of new people. A pattern is emerging, isn’t it?<\/p>\n

Oh hey, say Hello to the Future, Friday night’s leadoff.<\/p>\n


Hello, the Future!<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n

Hello, the Future!<\/a> is Nicole Dieker’s band, and she is the only person in her band, but she was certainly not the only person in that room. Friday’s a busy Norwescon night, too, with a lot going on, but she drew ’em in.<\/p>\n

Up next: Vixy & Tony<\/a>. I’d written up a concert description for them consisting entirely of the word “Chicken” repeated many times – yes, I stole the joke, I don’t care – with the phrase, “we can put anything we want here, we know you’ll come” two-thirds of the way through.<\/p>\n

I was, of course, correct. But that’s not exactly an amazing mystical prediction, it’s just plain obvious.<\/p>\n


Vixy & Tony<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n


BEAT DRUM! BEAT DRUM!<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n


Vixy & Tony & Sunnie & (barely) Betsy…<\/i>
(…who already got a good picture…)<\/small><\/center><\/p>\n

The funny part is, I’d originally scheduled them as the closer\/headline act, with Seanan McGuire<\/a> (who was also an official Norwescon Guest of Honour) in front of them. But they asked me to switch the two, expecting all of Seanan’s many fans as a writer to show up, and then flood back out as soon as she was off stage. I understand that, and of course agreed, but think their fears were unwarranted.<\/p>\n


The Crowd on Friday, or the Stage Right Half of It, Anyway<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n

Which isn’t to say that Seanan didn’t draw quite the crowd herself – she did, almost as many as Vixy & Tony. She’s had several albums out and has won several awards from the Filk community, and people were really thrilled to see her do a show.<\/p>\n


Seanan McGuire, with a Totally Different Band<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n

…and having a Totally Different Band made up of Totally Different Vixy & Tony – as they said on stage at the time – probably didn’t hurt anything either.<\/p>\n

This was the night the livestream started to pick up good audience, too. The count went from “several” to “tens.” On Saturday, it went up to “dozens…”<\/p>\n

…but I’m getting ahead of myself, and this is long enough already. The final part – Part Three, with lots more pictures! – will appear tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, yeah! I said yesterday this year was epic; let’s talk about that a little. This is the first year our daytime workshops are out of exile. We’ve been up in the tower, in Salon, a fine room with a lovely view but which is an elevator ride to somewhere nothing else is happening. Set [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shows"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimeandtheforcesofevil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimeandtheforcesofevil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimeandtheforcesofevil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimeandtheforcesofevil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimeandtheforcesofevil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5862"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crimeandtheforcesofevil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9531,"href":"https:\/\/crimeandtheforcesofevil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5862\/revisions\/9531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimeandtheforcesofevil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimeandtheforcesofevil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimeandtheforcesofevil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}