Steampunk World's Fair 2011

Wife and I went to the Steampunk World's Fair this past Friday, since she's doing a steampunk-themed Halloween party at work this year, and was looking for props and ideas for props.

The major activity of a steampunk convention is dressing up in costume and buying items to build your next costume. This is more interesting than it sounds, since the idea is to make a cooler costume than the next guy and the next guy is, in fact, very creative.

Music is a surprisingly large part of the festivities, though there doesn't seem to be any consensus on what steampunk music should be. That might actually be a Good Thing, since there was so much variety in the music. Quality was mixed, to be honest, from a trio called Not Waving But Drowning that was good, to a guy who shall remain nameless who was so bad that we left after a song and a half. He just couldn't seem to stay on key, and the songs themselves were absolutely bland. To be fair about his singing, I suspect he was having a problem hearing himself through the sound system.

We spent an hour in a seminar on "statuing", which is basically standing still for a long time wearing a costume that will allow you to be mistaken for a statue. I seriously doubt I could do it, personally. The women presenting this got into some really gritty aspects of busking as a statue, including the difficulties of removing all of your make-up, dealing with difficult people, and what sort of clothing plausibly works for a statue.

I would've liked to have attended the Mad Tea Party, but with luck they'll have another next year. We do plan to go again next year, probably for more than one day.

Four Person Splunge - New Balance

Jason, Sal, Nick, and myself in attendance (not to mention Sal's personal roadie Anthony). We stayed with the practice set up from last time, with the addition of drums, of course. So the view from the middle of the room toward the "stage", left to right, was Jason (drums), Scott (bass), Nick (guitar), Sal (guitar). Also, Jason was using an electronic drum kit plus real cymbals. Weird group set up, but it really paid off. We could hear each other far better than usual and were very tight for the first half of the session. However, as confidence increased, so did volume, and fatigue became a factor late in the session, even for me, so we slipped badly during the last half dozen songs or so.

Highlights: The tightness of the first half or so of the session, which covers a lot of songs. I'm not usually happy with my own voice, but I'd been really working on keeping my allergies at bay all week, so I was as clear as I ever am. I wish we'd recorded this session, but Jason didn't want to deal with the recorder and the electronic drums, and I can't say I blame him.

Lowlights: We still had some problems staying in sync in the latter part of the session, and harmonies remain an issue. Both Nick and Sal made attempts at the lead vocal on "Losing My Religion" and it didn't go well for either of them. But the new singers are trying, and will improve with time.

Very encouraging session. For about half a dozen songs, I wished we'd had an audience!

Three Person Splunge - No Drummer This Time

Only Nick, Sal, and I in attendance this time out. Jason was home with a monster headache, so we did what we could with the remaining three of us. There was little sign of our usual problem of holding the band together, and I suspect that the main reason for that is that the absence of a drummer forced everybody to really listen to each other. "Wonderful Tonight" was still rhythmically flawed, but not much else. We also experimented with a modified set up that should make it easier for Sal to hear the rest of us, and it did seem to help. We'll know more when we bring drums into it.

Highlights: Sal as more of a harmony presence, building on prior sessions. He is still finding his way, but progress is progress. I think Jason will be pleasantly surprised when he hears how "Orange Crush" comes together, since we sorted out the vocal parts for that one this time, with Sal as a major part of it. Nick will be taking the lead on "Peaceful Easy Feeling", giving him another lead vocal and freeing me to sing harmony on it.

Lowlights: Everybody else still getting tired before I do. How does that happen when I'm the old man of the group? And rock is a lot more fun to play with a drummer.