ICON

[ericcoleman]

So ...



I headed off about an hour later than I had planned. (surprise !!!)

I got there a little before noon and got my badge and my schedule.

A panel at 3, a panel at 8 and my show at 11.

I wandered around for a bit and ran into redbird23, stephanieb, neither of whom I knew were going to be there. It was so nice to see you two (and thanks for use of the room for awhile, all of my encounters with you two seem to involve me sleeping) and Tod from Chicago, who I did know was going to be there thanks to bectod.

I was walking along and someone said "Hi Eric". It was appleboy and a friend of his (what is your LJ name Jason ... and wow ... I remembered a name)

We ended up going over to lunch at Taco Hell and had a lovely time. It's nice to meet new folks.

I got back in time for my first panel.

It was about movie adaptations, but ended up being more about screen writing due to the moderator (I want to think his name was Gino Dykstra) and was more fun because of it.

I went out and hung out in the lobby for awhile and as I said before Stephanie let me use her room for a couple of hours to relax and nap. Good thing too since it turned out to be a very late night.

I wandered into the 7 o'clock panel and sat in on a listing of comic books that are in development for movies. I kept my more cynical comments in check. EVERY comic book is in development for a movie, and a lot of what he was talking about was very dubious.

The 8 o'clock panel started around 8:30 and it turned out that I was the only person on it. It was about how eastern culture (especially martial arts) have influenced western film and culture. We had a very nice talk (I blamed The Green Hornet).

I went back over to Taco Hell (it was close and cheap) and had some dinner.

Now, the two panels I was on were in the same room that I was supposed to be performing in later. This room was right next to the bar. The sound system was on the wall between the bar and the room I was going to be performing in.

This was not a good thing. Especially considering that karoake started around 9, so they weren't going to turn down the music for us.

I will say that there was this guy who sang all kinds of old soul stuff who was amazing, but I really didn't want to compete with a sound system so I looked for an alternative.

We ended up in the front lobby right by the front window and it worked out perfectly. I am sure that I drew more folks just because I was so visable. And this was as good of a crowd as I have played for this year.

A performer is better when the audience is into it. And if I ever wonder why I am hauling my butt all over the midwest to play at a bunch of cons, I only have to think about this audience last night. Thank you all so much.

So, what I played.

Hey Dad!
Standards
Things You Never Know
Color Of Your Eyes
Oh Shannon
Pine City Motel Blues
Trophy Wife
The Woman I Want
Hand Above The Water
Bang My Bald Spot
Low Self Esteem
WYSIWYG
M.O.R.I.A. with freeimprov on guitar ... thanks ... we have GOT to hang out more ... and it is so funny that we have so many friends in common.

Oh, this show would have driven starstraf nuts, since I digressed at every opportunity.

I sold some CDs (thanks again) and loaded up for the very late night drive home.

I apologize to the filkers, I really would have liked to have stayed and played more. Sitting in a circle is one of the major joys in my life, but finances made it impossible for me to stay the night, and I didnt want to drive home much later than I did. As it was I got home around 2:30 am.

This was one of the nicest road trips of the year, ICON is definitely on the list of cons to return to.

Comments

[appleboy]

Glad you enjoyed ICon! stpaulcub25 and I were happy to accompany you and be all geeky at Taco Bell! A great performance! Now you are one of us ICon-ers!! Come back and play a show again, or come just for fun!

[starstraf.livejournal.com]

Yeap would have driven me nuts.
Damn I miss going to cons

Well ain't that a bloody coincedence...

[samuraimujuru.livejournal.com]

Hihi! SamuraiMujuru here (you may remember me as the fellow running around in navy and white Japanese clothing at ICon)
Many kudos for your performance! Due to chaos ensuing, consuite duties calling, and other such fun things I didn't get to stay for very much of it, but what I did hear was great! Didn't know they were selling CDs...carses...

Re: Well ain't that a bloody coincedence...

[ericcoleman]

They are for sale on my website ... I even skip shipping charges for anyone who saw me at a con

This has been another shameless commercial plug

glad you liked my songs ...