I’m not dead or anything – I’ve just had virtually no free time recently. Theatrical commitments and my killer commute have put paid to any free time I would usually have for the past couple of weeks. Any time that I’ve not been at work, working on stage lighting or commuting has generally been spent either relaxing or sleeping in an attempt to stave of stress induced collapses and/or shotgun rampages.
But I haven’t forgotten all you folks out there. I’m still cobbling some ideas together for future posts, including a semi-work related post. I’ve got an idea for a User Experience related post… but you can relax, because it’ll be talking about LARP as well. Amongst other things, it’ll cover why I’m quite happy for people I work with to know about my LARP activity, and why I actually consider it a benefit when it comes to User Experience work. My only concern is that it’s a big topic, and there’s a lot of aspects to it. I may actually have to turn it into multiple posts, but doing so might dilute them. I’ll see how it goes.
I’m sure that the show will generate at least another post as well, assuming I survive.
Normal service will resume soon after the show is completed.
For the April 2010 Runnymede Mortals game, my players didn’t realise it, but they were on the cusp of a fairly significant moment. I always try to avoid having to say “you see a…”, so I decided to make a prop for a significant element of the game. I’m not going to go into any detail about what the prop actually is, as that’s a discussion for my players to have in the game rather than on the internet. However, I will tell you that the prop in question ended up looking like this:
I think I’ll call him Arty. This is how I made him.
Stage one – Evening – Spine and Skull
The first step I took in building arty was to make a start on his skeleton – building a basic frame to help him hold his shape. Because I knew I was going to need to suspend him from a fairly flimsy structure, I wanted him to be nice and light, so I settled on a skeleton made of foamboard. I used about one and two-thirds A1 sheets of the stuff, and another A2 sheet. I could have used less, but I was making it all up as I went along… which doesn’t make for neatly tessellating shapes!
To start with, I cut out a cross section of head, neck and torso – like I’d taken a vertical slice through a person running front to back. I then drew round this to cut a duplicate piece. These would make the “spine” section and the start of the skull.
Then, as the next step, I started to make horizontal cross section pieces to slot into the spine (pic three).
When I did this, I had to take care that the sizes would match up with the spine. I then cut slots into both the horizontal sections and the spine (pic four).
This shows the first horizontal section slotted into one half of the spine.
Once I’d got started this way, I just cut out new sections and slotted them together until I had something head shaped.
This pic shows the completed skull section. Or more accurately, it shows the first version of it. I replaced the jaw section and the nose later – I’d not made the jaw long enough to cater for an open mouth, and the nose was too wobbly so I needed to cut a new one.
That lot turned out to be a good three or four hours of work, so I called it a day there. It probably would have been quicker, but stopping to take photos every step of the way takes time. If I’m going to do this, I need an assistant to do the camera work.
Stage Two – Evening – Rest of Skeleton
A few days later, I had an evening spare and time was starting to press on, so I thought I’d better get back on with it. Time being an issue, I didn’t take photos every step of the way, so there are a few stages skipped, and the photos this time are just of the end result.
The next stage of work was to build the ribcage and shoulders. Again, this was achieved by cutting foamboard horizontal sections for the most part. The only exceptions were the shoulders and the collarbones, which were sloped sections, each going halfway in to the body. You can just about make them out in the pic below.
After the ribcage and shoulders were done, I added the arms. This was a bit more tricky as I’d decided I couldn’t get a sturdy enough join using foamboard, and I wouldn’t be able to make appropriately round arms. So I made the arms using a couple of tubes made of chickenwire, with a couple of rectangles of chickenwire joined on to cover the top of the joins to the foamboard shoulder sections. You can see these pretty well in the pics below.
Next came a bit that you can’t really see, but which was pretty important. I needed to be able to pour water into Arty’s mouth and have it drip slowly out of the bottom of his ribcage. It’s probably best not to ask why, but it’s very relevant to the game’s plot. So I needed to make a waterproof mouth and throat, and to run a waterproof tube down his middle and out of the bottom. To do this, I found an old, cheap picnic champagne flute and chopped the bottom off it. Conveniently, I had some rubber tubing that fitted neatly over the end that was left – the straight bit where the conical flute had been meant to slot into a flat base.
I then fed the tube through Arty’s body and rammed the flute into his mouth so that its lip was flush with his jaw plate, joined it up with the tube and then gaffered it all in place. Just to tidy it up a bit more, I then used a bit more of the rubber tube to make arty some lips so that he didn’t have a totally round mouth. Naturally, these were affixed with more gaffer tape. There is nothing it cannot do.
The last job I did at this point was to add the initial layer of skin. This was achieved with two materials – the great god gaffer tape and the well known modelling material clingfilm. Wrapping something this weirdly shaped in clingfilm isn’t the easiest job in the world, and to make it hold shape a bit better I occasionally had to hold it in front of a fan heater to make it shrink. Still, it seemed to do the job. I ended up with a reasonable shape that I’d be able to form a better skin onto later. Even though Arty was in a bit more of a fragile state at this point, it was time to call it a day.
Stage Three – Evening, Morning, Noon and Night – Skin & Paint
By now it was friday evening and Arty needed to be ready for … so time was even more tight. I still had to give Arty and outer skin and paint him. Every step of this required not only time to put it together, but also drying time. I can cut corners and simplify construction all I like, but when it comes to things taking time to dry, there’s only so much I can do.
Hence, the only photos after this point are of the finished article. Or nearly finished, anyway. Arty’s back still looks like papier maché at this point, but that’s the last of the photos I took.
The morning of this fourth and final day of Eastercon began slowly for me. Leaving the hotel and returning the previous night had knocked me for six and had somehow broken the “can just keep going” spell… and my body was now declining to cooperate. However, I needed my breakfast and had to be checked out of the hotel by 11am, so I forced myself through a quick shower and on down to the dining room.
I didn’t manage to consume as much breakfast this time – after three days of gluttonous consumption of fried breakfasts, I think my guts had decided enough was enough, and made me stop at just a small plate of fry-up and a bowl of fruit.
Checking out was also uneventful, but did include the slight juggling act of going and cramming my stuff into my car, and also meeting up with ChrisT (who was staying in a different hotel) so he could cram his stuff into my car as well as I was giving him a lift home.
Turning Manga & Anime Into Live Action – Does It Work?
Panel: Dan, James Swallow, Kat Takenaka, Gaspode (Moderator)
This was another of those rambling “we’re deliberately not sticking entirely to the topic” panels – largely as the topic as written was really quite narrow. Instead they went on to any kind of adaptation or conversion of anime and manga – including dubbing and subtitles. I think this gambit worked, as it meant the panel stayed interesting throughout, where otherwise it might have flagged somewhat.
Humour in SF and Fantasy
Panel: Raven Dane, Esther Friesner, John Coxon (moderator), Donna Scott, Jonny Nexus
I’ve met Jonny Nexus a couple of times through some local gaming cons a long time ago… one of which I accidentally ended up co-running (really was an accident – I volunteered to help on the desk and ended up co-running it). He gave that particular con the friendliest and most well deserved bad review I’ve ever encountered. I also keep seeing John Coxon’s name and face at all kinds of things that I turn up to… although I have no real idea why. Maybe we’re inadvertently stalking each other or something. It’s the peril of gamers and SF fans who are also in some way computer / gadget geeks. I’ve also got a nagging “have I met you before?” feeling about Donna Scott – but again – no idea why. Esther Freisner, I remember reading one of her books a long time ago (“Here Be Demons”, I think)… Raven Dane was the only person who was undoubtedly new to me.
The discussion covered topics such as the difference between fiction with humour in and comic fiction. In one case you inject humour into a story and that humour is secondary to the story, in the other case you take the humour and make the story secondary, fitting it around a series of gags or sketches. Examples of the latter were early Pratchett and the Hitchhiker’s books. Examples of the former were the later Pratchett books.
There was also a discussion about how it’s hard to break into comic SF and Fantasy as the market is seen as being “full”, with about 90% taken up with Pratchett and the other established authors scrabbling for the remaining 10%. The point was raised about Pterry’s writing slowing, and the possibility of a gap opening, but that was countered by the fact that Douglas Adams has sold more since he died than he ever did whilst he was alive. It was also suggested that the market being “full” is probably also nonsense anyway – it’s just trhat publishers and marketers aren’t prepared to put money behind growing the market… which I think is probably closer to the truth.
Afternoon
Old Time Radio Club: Operation Tomorrow
I’ve always been a fan of live performance audio drama, and the idea of retro-style SF presented in this manner was greatly appealing. So I went along to this, which was a fantastic performance of a time-travel story where a scientist is sent into the future to bring back news about any catastrophes that should be avoided. It reminded me very much of The Outer Limits or The Twilight Zone, and was highly entertaining to watch. It’s amazing how many small and subtle sound effects are added in from the foley table that if you just wouldn’t notice if you weren’t paying attention… but would notice the absence of it they weren’t there!
If you get the chance to see these guys at any point, take it. They’re awesome. Their shows were sorely underattended at this Eastercon, which I think was a crying shame as I suspect a great many more folks would have appreciated them.
Old Time Radio Club: They Walk Amongst Us Here
I enjoyed the first of these so much that I stuck around for the second… which followed the crew of a spaceship landing on a planet to survey it for life, and finding that things turned sour soon after landing. Again, highly entertaining, and whilst it had some humour in it, it was played straight. Hats off to the cast for maintaining straight faces – it can’t have been easy.
I’ll be keeping an eye out for The Old Time Radio Club in future, and if I get the chance to see them again, I’ll be taking it!
Clanger Symposium: Study of a Knitted Alien Race
This was a highlight of the con for me. I went along entirely on a whim, and was so thoroughly glad I did. From 1969 to 1972, Professor Postgate recorded a series of studies of this alien race. These are the only existing records of these creatures and the events that transpired over the course of those studies.
This programme item was a series of scientific presentations in which extrapolations are drawn from the evidence in those recordings to expand scientific understanding of these beings. Initially, we had an overview of the physics and geology of the clanger homeworld, suggesting that the planet itself has a 10mm neutronium core, and a radius of around 12 metres. This produces a surface gravity of around 0.2g and a gravity of 1.6g at the bottom of the habitable range under the surface – roughly 8m down. It was explained in a later presentation that the effects of tidal forces are not visible upon the clangers themselves as they are “squishy”.
Further presentations covered the topics of ferro-poultry engineering and clanger reproduction. In the latter it was revealed that the clanger equivalant of DNA is known as KNT and contains segments which are referred to as doubledrop and purl, with end segments referred to as caston and castoff.
Overall, this was an enlightening and engaging programme item, and one that I would recommend to anyone with an interest in the works of professor Postgate.
Closing Ceremony & Departure
There’s not much that I can really say about a closing ceremony… it was the official close of the con, although programme items continued after it and well into monday night. The closing ceremony involved thanking everyone and presenting various prizes and awards… and killing all the gophers in their red shirts, of course. A fine tradition.
I stuck around for one more panel after this – “Researching Fantasy – How do you research the imaginary”, but I didn’t get any photos or notes, and I wasn’t really alive enough to remember it. There were programme items that I still wanted to get to after this – particularly a film at 8pm that I wanted to see what it might have been. Which film it was hadn’t been announced, but it was from a list that contained several interesting options, one of which I’d already seen. But that wasn’t until 8pm and I wasn’t going to be fit to drive home much longer… so I decided to draw a line under it and flee to non-hotel food and my bed.
A Knife! A Knife! My Kingdom for a Knife! (AKA: Breakfast)
The food was being brought out at a reasonably adeuate rate, so I was able to have the full fry-up, toast and fruit extravaganza… which, as mentioned in my saturday writeup was slightly underwhelming but still perfectly adequate. However, this time there seemed to be a distinct absence of knives. It wasn’t immedialy obvious at first due to the “pot luck cutlery” approach the hotel used – displaying the cutlery handles only, so you couldn’t see what you had until you’d pulled it out of the containing napkin to look. Annoyingly, every time you asked a member of staff for a knife, they’d nod and wander off, then later be seen bringing out more food… and no knives. Every now and then, one of them would wander over and check to see if any had miraculously appeared, and would then wander off and reappear… with no knives.
Eventually, when I was halfway through eating with just a fork, some knives did appear. I pity anybody who was sat further into the room, as I don’t think they’d made it to the breakfast buffet table before the poor chap carrying them had been swamped with people demanding cutlery. I was sat right next to the door he came in through and there were people who’d got to him before I did!
Panel: Big Biology – What are the biggest biological tropes in SF
I attempted to attend this panel, but it was heavy duty thinky stuff. At 10am. I should have known better! It sounded interesting. It probably was interesting, but my brain hadn’t finished its POST yet, let alone fully booted. I stayed about 20 minutes then quietly slipped out. I needed something to kick me to life, so I grabbed something that was a passable imitation of a cup of tea and had a bit of a chat with a few folks whilst waiting for the next item to start.
Guest of Honour Talk: Alastair Reynolds
I’d been quite looking forward to this item, as I’m something of an Alastair Reynolds fan… but the blurb in the readme did look suspiciously similar to what he’d presented at Picocon in February, so I wasn’t going to be overly worried if I missed it. As it happens, I’m reliably informed that it was quite similar, although still very interesting, but with the main difference being the addition of some technical issues.
Not really a problem for me. I was expecting to have to duck out early to go and meet Beth (t’other half) who was coming along for the day, and so had deliberately garbbed a truly sucky seat near an exit. Sure enough, just as the first round of technical issues got resolved, I got an “I’ve arrived” text message. So I pulled the ripcord and discreetly baled out of the talk to go and meet her.
Beth’s never been to an Eastercon (or anything similar) before, so we spent the rest of this slot making sure we knew what we were doing, and getting some kind of idea of where & when we’d meet up and what programme items we both wanted to go to. Beth was keen to go to a number of the less SFnal items, whilst I was keen to go to the more SFnal ones… this didn’t surprise me at all, and there was enough on that it wasn’t a problem.
Medieval Combat and Rapier Demonstration by the SCA
Beth’s a (currently slightly lapsed) re-enactor. I’m an ex-fencer and (lapsed) rubber sword LARPer. Bearing those facts in mind, we kind of had to go to this. It was interesting enough, although the blurb was a little misleading as there wasn’t much by way of rapier, which was our main interest. However, it was a good and entertaining item – it’s not often you get to see armoured people beating the hell out of each other in a wood-panelled hotel function room with chandelier lighting.
All good fun, basically.
Afternoon
Panel: Approaches to Writing – Iain M Banks & Ken Macleod
I know I went to this panel, but clearly I was caught in a temporal anomaly or somesuch, as I have no recollection of it at all beyond the fact that I was there. I also have no notes from it, and no photos, which is just plain weird.
I’m sure it was good, and it’s merely that some kind of godlike post-singularity AI has reached back and edited it out of my memories for some reason.
Pyrotechnics: And The Walls Came Tumbling Down
Stephen Miller delivered an interesting and entertaining presentation (with live demonstrations) about pyrotechnics for film and TV. In the talk, he was working through a number of effects shots from the film “The Fall” (which I now want to see!)… but he started with a couple of more generic demonstrations. The first was a demonstration of why all mobiles had to be turned off – he simply set up a small explosive behind safety screens on the stage, then walked clear and turned on a phone and waited for a short time. Sure enough,a few seconds later there was a loud bang and I felt the warm trickle of somebody else’s tea or coffee down my back.
Thanks mr-guy-behind-me-in-the-audience! Actually, if mr-guy-behind-me-in-the-audience is reading this – don’t worry about it in the slightest! It only got me a little bit… it was just unexpected!
He then took us through the effects for a gunshot, then for the bullet hit. After that came fizzing fuses, and then at the end was a massive building detonation. The talk took us through all kinds of stuff, like how detonators work, how nailboards work for timing things in sequence, using a napthalene burst to add in smoke and orange flame and so on…
All good and interesting stuff that started to tempt my inner pyromaniac…
Guest of Honour Interview: Mike Carey
Despite having read much more by both Alastair Reynolds and Iain M Banks, this was the interview I’d been waiting for – partly because I’ve not read the entirity of his back catalogue – there’s enough in there that’s still new to me that it’s interesting to see where it goes.
I’ve read some of Mike Carey’s Lucifer comics, some of his run on Hellblazer, and have recently started in on both his Felix Castor novels and on his newer comic – The Unwritten. Lucifer is interesting and I’d like to read more, but it’s a way down the list. Hellblazer… well, it’s Hellblazer. Felix Castor, though… I just can’t put them down. When I pick one up and get started, I just push on through until it’s gone. The only reason I’ve not read the lot is that my local bookshop didn’t have the first three, so I’ve been having to order them!
So having Mike Carey being interviewed by Paul Cornell – where could this possibly go wrong? True enough, it didn’t. Basically, the interview was a bit of a travelogue through his catalogue of works in both comics and novels, with some discussion of TV and film in there as well. Hearing about works I’ve not come across yet – even ill-fated ones that ended before their time – has left me intrigued and wanting to find out more.
The only place it did fall down a bit was with a bit of an odd non-question at the end… after which they decided to sneak another question in despite being out of time so it could wind up with something other than a compaint about a plot point an audience member didn’t like. I think that was the right move, and left things with a good tidy ending.
Intermission
I’ve got no idea what I did for the next two hours. I think there was some atrium chatting and I made an abortive attempt to listen to the Liz Williams guest of honour interview… I’ve found Liz Williams to be a compelling speaker before – enough to turn me from not being interested in her books to having picked one up and quite liked it (and planning to read more), but this interview just left me cold. I don’t really know why – perhaps just covering ground I’d heard her speak on before, or perhaps just taking a direction in th
e interview that didn’t grab me.
In the end I basically had a two hour gap with occasional bursts of programme, before going and retrieving Beth from the calligraphy workshop she’d been attending. Once the calligraphy tools had been appropriately cleared away, we regrouped for food before setting off for the next programme item…
Evening
Harry Potter and The Half Cut Prince – A Musical
A phrase leaps to mind:
Dear God. Why. Why, God? Why?
But in all the good ways. This was a highly entertaining rehashed musical version of Harry Potter, mashed up with a bit of Doctor Who and The Rocky Horror Show. It was thoroughly improper, full of atrocious puns and worse dialogue. The songs were an exercise in lyrical torture…
In short, it was glorious. I hardly stopped laughing the whole time. Mr Ian Sorenson and your varied and occasionally unwitting cast, I salute you!
Mitch Benn
As I mentioned a short while ago, this was the second time I’d seen Mitch Benn in about 10 days. As a result, some of the act wasn’t exactly new and fresh to me, but it was still very well performed and very entertaining. Highpoints were the songs “doctor who girl” and “Mitch Benn’s Musical Version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar“… and the audience request of singing “Crap Shag” (a song he doesn’t like performing anymore) in a dalek voice. The fact that he managed it at all was frankly terrifying, and also stragely awesome.
Steampunk Ball with Ghostfire
To close out the evening, there was the Steampunk Ball – many folks dressed in steampunk finery… myself and Beth included. Although I wouldn’t call mine “finery”, as I was deliberately aiming for the “steampunk navvy” look rather than a gentleman engineer. Alas, I didn’t get many photos of folks in their costumes, but there are plenty more starting to appear out on the net already. I just didn’t want to be walking around with my camera out as it kind of spoiled the look… Unlike somebody else, who had a steampunked point and shoot digital camera, which was awesome on so many levels.
The band (Ghostfire) took some getting used to, though. Some of their music was great… some not so much. I think in some cases it was more an issue with the sound mix – in other cases it just sounded like the music and vocals didn’t quite match up. As the night progressed that seemed to all come together, though. What was annoying, though, was that their set was broken up – whenever they’d managed to get things going and got people out on the dancefloor (as usual, not including me!), they stopped for a 20 minute break. I also think they were having trouble getting that atmosphere going as the houselights were staying on the whole time… without those, or with them being dimmer, people may have been more inclined to get up and dance a bit! I may not be a dancer myself (more a “falling over in perfect time” person when I try), but I’ve worked enough gigs and club nights to know that houselights kill the mood.
Still, it was a good night and I got into the gig as it progressed. We chatted a bit with a few other folks around the place, and had photos taken by several folks – probably more due to Beth’s costume than mine. In next to no time she’d cobbled together enough garb to thoroughly upstage me, as usual! Still, I’m not about to compain about having a girlfriend who regularly looks far better than I do!
Driving
However, Beth was only a day member of the convention. Which meant she had to get home after the ball or she’d turn into a pumpkin, or something. So the ball ended for us when we reached the point where I wasn’t going to be awake enough to drive her home and then get myself back to the Hotel. The drive was an enlightening one… It usually takes about 25-30 minutes. But if I do it at around half one in the morning, it takes about 10-12 minutes. I was back at the hotel around 2am, but the sudden fresh air outside and the drive had done for me… so I retreated to bed.
My plan for the weekend involved avoiding any form of healthy diet, and instead stuffing my face at breakfast, having a snacky lunch and then eating another full meal in the evening. So I set about this plan with gusto… grabbing a pile of fried everything from the breakfast buffet, followed by a couple of slices of toast & jam, then a bowl of fruit. Coupled with several glasses of orange juice from a dispenser that seemed to have been designed specifically to be just a little bit to small for the glasses next to it. As hotel breakfasts go, it wasn’t amazing, but given the low room rate and the sheer number of people eating in a short time I didn’t mind too much. There was still bacon, after all, so all was good.
I sat on a table with several friendly folks and one suitably grumpy older gent – I’d like to apologise to those people for not being a bit more sociable and conversational. My social-interaction-brain was running on a low ebb for much of the weekend, and at that point it hadn’t even tried to boot up for the day yet! My day-to-day function brain was also still not exactly on top form either, as it hadn’t occurred to me to tie my hair back before eating. Thankfully, my hair was still a bit damp from my morning shower, so it hadn’t yet gained full sentience either and so refrained from leaping out to strangle passers by and pick up random objects.
Panel: 2000AD and its influence
Alastair Reynolds, Mike Carey and David Bishop.
I thought that two guests of honour (one of whom I wouldn’t have associated with 2000AD at all) and an ex-tharg ought to make for an interesting panel, and I wasn’t wrong. It was quite a rambling discussion, but an interesting one from three people who had either been fans for a long time, had written for or worked on the comic or a mix of “all of the above”. Alastair Reynolds had also brought along a couple of 1970s 2000AD annuals, which looked to be in remarkably good condition!
Guest of Honour Interview: Iain M Banks
Interviewer: Jane Killick
Iain M Banks is one of those odd authors who I’ve never really got a handle on. I’ve read a lot of his work, and really enjoy a fair amount of it… yet for some reason, it never occurs to me to store his name in the “authors I like” bucket in my memory. I have no idea why, as I do like his books and probably should pay more attention so I’ll at least notice when he’s got a new book out.
In this instance, however, it was just entertaining to sit and listen to him speak as he was interviewed very effectively by Jane Killick. Hearing about his approach to writing and research, my desire to be an author once again started to kick in. It soulds like the kind of life I could get used to… although I suspect I’d need to grow a bit more willpower to actually make me knuckle under and get on with the actual writing. Who am I kidding – I’d need to grow any willpower at all. At the moment if I was to try to write professionally, I’d never get anywhere!
A particular highlight was his explanation of the voices in his head when he was stepping away from science fiction for the mere convenience of actually getting published. Another was his “Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock” T-shirt, but then I’m easily amused!
Bad Science – Ben Goldacre
I really wanted to like Ben Goldacre. In both print and pixels I like his work – he’s got a good and important message to get across and he usually puts things succinctly and clearly. But as a speaker I just couldn’t warm to him. I have no real idea why – there was nothing wrong with his talk that I could put my finger on… I just didn’t warm to him.
So I skipped out for my ubiquitious Odyssey lunch – burger with cheese & fried onions in a curiously greasy bun.
In the afternoon…
George Hay Memorial Lecture – Oliver Morton – Geoengineering
Having devoured my burger, I ducked back in to the main hall for the George Hay Memorial Lecture. Every year since the year 2000, there has been one programme item delivered on a serious scientific topic, presented by somebody working in that field. This year’s session was delivered by Oliver Morton, who, as far as I can tell, is a writer and editor specialising in technology, how it creates change and how we interact with it. He describes his books (“Mapping Mars” and “Eating the Sun”) as Non-Fiction Science Fiction – which intrigues me.
I’m not going to even try to condense his talk down to bitesize chunks, except to say that he meandered in an interesting fashion around the topics of nuclear detonations, climate, clouds and how they might be changed. Mostly, the talk focussed on the idea of the sublime, and it’s not really a talk that I think can or even should be summarised. I know the session was recorded, so hopefully it’ll appear online in some fashion at some point.
Panel – Writers and The Web – Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, etc…
Joe Abercrombie, John Meaney, Maura McHugh (Moderator), Mark Charan Newton
This was another slightly rambling panel which held my interest in some ways but not others – the focus ended up being more on if authors getting into blogging is a good thing and how engaged they ought to get with their readers. I’d only heard of one of the people on the panel (Joe Abercrombie – whose books I keep meaning to read but have yet to actually do so), but the others are also now on my Radar.
Whilst I’m sure the main topics did form a central point for the discussion to orbit around, I think it ended up being mostly an entertaining viewpoint into the personalities of the folks on the panel. Which is no bad thing.
Cabaret and Masquerade – Tech Runthrough
At this point, I made the mistake of going near the main hall tech whilst having knowledge about lighting. I’d previously offered to loan Tech my lighting controller and a laptop with appropriate software to drive it, as I thought this might make things easier for the masquerade and cabaret, so I popped by to see if they wanted it. However, I ended up doing so at the exact moment that Barndoor needed a hand to finish some focussing before heading off to do something else. As a result, I was handed a bunch of lighting cuesheets (most of which effectively said “make there be some lights”) and ended up being the lighting guy for the masquerade and cabaret.
I didn’t get time to swap out the desks before the masquerade runthrough started, so I just scribbled some notes on what would be needed for each item and tested them as we went along. At the same time that we were doing that, I fired up the laptop, hooked up the USB DMX Contoller, fired up QLC (open source software to control it) and started to program in the shape of the rig and the settings that were needed for each of the masquerade items. Once we’d run through the masquerade acts, of which there were between six and eight at any given moment, I dropped the lights to blackout and swapped out the desk. A quick test revealed that my programming worked fine and that everything was now being controled by the laptop, which was handy.
We then ran through all of the cabaret acts. I have no idea how many of those there were, or what any of them were doing. I was handed the cue sheets as we started the run through, so I didn’t really have time to plan anything – so it was all a little bit on the fly. In the end I had several scened programmed in – one for each maquerade act, one for houselights, one for the MC, a couple for specific cabaret acts and a couple of general cabaret plots. I’d have preferred to have done more, but that was enough for now. It seemed to do the job.
At this point, I settled down into my spot atop the tech tower for what was coming next…
Evening…
Doctor Who – The Eleventh Hour
There are very few expe
riences like watching the first episode with a new Doctor with a few hundred other SF fans. Even if I was watching it whilst crammed into the corner of the top of the tech tower. Not the most comfortable viewing position in the world, but at least I had a clear view!
Personally, I loved it. I’m something of a heretic in that I didn’t actually rate David Tennant’s Doctor that much. When he was good, he was really good… but there seemed to be some confusion in his episodes between emotion and intesity and, well, just shouting and gurning. I think mostly it was a problem with scripts and direction, but overall I ended up just not being that impressed.
This time out, though… I think Matt Smith nailed it. He instantly stood out to me as a good and interesting doctor. Clearly drawing on several earlier doctors (particularly Troughton, I thought) but in a way that made it his own. Coupled with a good companion who wasn’t just a cardboard cutout and a fine starting story, I think it just worked. I was hopeful that this would be the case, and was very glad not to be disappointed.
The Masquerade and Cabaret
I’m not going to say much about the acts themselves, as a lot of the time I didn’t really get to see them properly – I was too busy reading cue sheets and trying to keep up with rapid changes. Suffice to say that the quality of acts was high and entertaining. I’m also pretty sure I only missed one cue – and that was due to what was happening on stage bearing no relation to what was written on my cue sheet or what had happened in the runthrough! There were a few other instances where I hit cues that the acts had pre-empted or missed, but nothing particularly glaring.
I was happy to call it a success, anyway. I’d highly recommend to tech that they have a programmable controller of some kind (I’m a big fan of the EntTec Open DMX USB and a laptop running QLC) next time, as running that on a manual board would have been a nightmare! There were simply too many lighting cues too tightly together to be able to set the faders between them. Provided it’s still functional, I’m happy to loan out the USB DMX interface at eastercons that I’m at, but can’t really loan a laptop to put the software on!
Drinking and Crashing Out
There were other programme items I had been tempted by… but the main thing on the cards was the New Romantics Disco. Whilst I’m sure I’d have appreciated some of the music, I’m not much of a dancer. Or any of a dancer, really. Except possibly the spare left foot of a dancer who’s already got one too many.
So instead I went to hang out at the bar, hoping for a couple of pints of Old Rosie. Unfortunately, the usual situation had occurred with decent ciders… Everyone who normally drinks beer sees that there’s something they don’t recognise, and so tries it. They find that it’s a delicious proper cider, and so they keep drinking it, as do the cider drinkers. Then it runs out and the beer drinkers go back to their beer, leaving the cider drinkers with the bottled horse wee that is Magners. Oh well.
I hung around chatting with some of Gav & Cal’s friends (that’s the elder sibling and his girlfriend, for those who are unaware) for a while, consuming the odd pint here or there. Eventually, though, my back realised that I’d either been standing, climing ladders or sat on a scaff bar since about 2pm… and so it declared that it was downing tools until I addressed its needs. Since a back is a useful thing to have, I retreated to a warm bath followed by bed.
Somehow, at around 9:20am, I was actually ready to get started. Which was odd, because that was exactly what I’d planned – I usually expect to either be running late, or (more usually) to actually be ready a good half hour or so before I need to set off, leaving myself with nothing to do. Since things were going to plan, I headed round to pick up TheMadOne, who I was driving to what would be his first Eastercon.
Upon arriving at the Radisson Non-Euclidean I went to see if my room was ready, and was told “1 hour”. So we registered and then started scouring the programme grid, whilst waiting for a few IFIS folk to arrive.
Tech
Of course, having also volunteered to assist with lighting setup, I thought I’d better go and see if they needed a hand… and immediately spent the next hour or so putting colour into lanterns. They already had somebody there who’d got a plan (going by the name of Barndoor), and it was a good one, so I basically just did what was needed rather than trying to steer anything in any particular direction.
After a bit of doing that, I headed out to catch up with TheMadOne again and get checked in to my room. The catching up bit worked, but the checking in bit didn’t – the room still wasn’t ready. This time they told me 45 minutes. Conveniently, the IFIS crowd arrived (consisting of Flick, Mohammed and Noah, with Patric already present for the weekend), having decided to come and attend for just the Friday. Probably not the best day to aim for if you’re only around for the one day, but the one they chose… so fair enough. We’ll try to get some of them for longer in future.
For me, it was time to go back for tech… which this time meant clambering up the tech tower and driving the desk whilst Barndoor focussed things appropriately. There were a few test plottings thrown about to get the stage lit and looking passable, after which we called it a day on lighting setup. This was my cue to go and actually get on with the convention proper – checking in, chatting and going to programme items.
Getting with the Programme
For me, Friday’s programme contained the following items:
Alien Archaeology (which I fled early)
Writing Steampunk (which I joined a little late)
SF – Taking TV shows from TV to audio
UK vs. US TV – Which side of the pond makes better television?
Opening Ceremony
It’s Shit but we like it – Crap TV & film
La Menace Vient De L’Espace (film)
I mixed all of that lot in with some eating and some socialising with my Brother (blufive), his girlfriend (calatrice), my nephew Alex and (when our paths crossed) socialising with IFIS folks.
I’ll expand on a couple of the high points below… this doesn’t mean the rest was crap, just that I can’t think of anything meaningful to say about them in this context!
Writing Steampunk
Moderated by Stephen Hunt (author of “Court of The Air”, etc…), the rest of this panel also consisted of Kim Lakin-Smith, Paul Skevington and Alastair Reynolds, whose latest book (Terminal World) has steampunk leanings… All in all an interesting panel, dwellng on a whole range of topics, starting with the decline of the “punk” part of the genre name and the rise of the tendency to add “punk” to the end of anything to make it into a genre and moving, through the idea of divisions between steampunk and dieselpunk, then on to the idea of steam being the last accessible technology.
The latter of those is one that interests me because while steam power has the appearance of being something that anybody can understand… it’s not quite that simple. There’s not many folks out there who’d be able to build a multiple expansion steam engine, or even understand the operation of one… but you can see it working. You can look at it and see bits move. Modern tech, you can’t see things move the same way… but it’s still accessible in it’s own way with just a bit of knowledge and a few tools. The growing hacker/maker community out there can attest to that – people who, for the sake of it, pull modern tech apart and do weird things with it. Curiously, there’s also something of a crossover between steampunk enthusiasts and hackers and makers… I guess it’s just about loving the idea of being in control of technology rather than the other way around.
Another interesting point raised, but not covered in much detail as it crossed into the topic of another panel was the similarity between scientific romance and steampunk. Where does one end and the other start? In effect, both tend to be hypothesized alternate futures, extrapolated from victorian steam power. The difference in those cases is merely the time and environment in which they were written. It’s an interesting idea, and one that I’d have quite like to have heard more discussion on, as I couldn’t make the other panel.
Right near the end, the guy who was running sound for the panel (in fantastic steampunk garb) recommended the anime “Last Exile” – a recommendation I would like to second very firmly. It’s a bit more dieselpunk than steampunk, but still thoroughly awesome. Interested folks can see the opening sequence on youtube.
SF – Taking Shows From TV to Audio
This panel was moderated by Maura McHugh, and otherwise made up of Nickey Barnard, David Bishop, James Swallow and Rob Shearman. Amongst that crowd there was a lot of experience from adapting Judge Dredd, Sapphire and Steel, Blakes 7 and Doctor Who into audio form, amongst others.
I own a few Big Finish productions of Sapphire and Steel and I have the first three reimagined audio dramas of Blakes 7, and have generally enjoyed audio dramas for a long time… I’ve also considered getting into making audio dramas or audio books myself on a strictly amateur basis. Some of the comments in this panel about the freedom of audio remind me of part of why I like this kind of thing – there’s a lot of creative freedom when you don’t have to represent anything visually. Likewise, some of the comments gave me good advice about what works and what doesn’t – small casts, simple and clear stories and situations.
If I ever do get around to writing or recording some audio drama, I think I might actually do a better job after this panel, even though I wouldn’t be working with established settings or characters.
It’s Shit But We Like It – Crap TV & Film
I can remember so little detail from this increasingly raucous and unstructured panel – but in broad strokes it could best be described as a cavalcade of entertaining toss. There was some discussion of what was and was not shit, but mostly it was just a barrage of audience members bouncing out their guilty pleasures for everyone to hear.
I refrained from mentioning my own favourite cinematic turd – “Wizards of the Lost Kingdom” – because a) it’s not well known enough for anybody else to really grasp the atrocity and b) the reason I like it isn’t because I enjoy watching it, but because I enjoy watching other people watching it… it’s hilarious! Next time, I shall bring a DVD to the con.
La Menace Vient De L’Espace
A fantastic short film. It’s a french film, although it’s in two spoken languages – French and Prot
ocole 123, which is a numerical language. It’s incredibly funny on many levels. Spelling and language are being replaced by a method of numerical communication called Protocole 123, until an opponent of that change is killed. The film follows the investigation of that murder.
Overnight
This took me up to around 12:30am. That’s pretty early for a convention night, but after a full week of work and a fairly full day, I thought it was time to call it a night. The room was good and comfortable, and after a wash, a bit of time on the ‘net an a bit of a read, I nodded off without any trouble.
When I get some time, I’ll write up the following days of the convention as well.
For those not in the know… I’m a bit of a progressive rock fan. Like most progressive rock fans, I’m a bit picky. I’m not a huge fan of the massively overblown late 1970s prog, or of the frequently impenetrable canterbury scene (although I do quite like a bit of Caravan or Gentle Giant every now and then).
I’m mostly into neo-prog that’s surfaced since the 1980s, and in how the influence of prog can be seen in so many other bands. With this in mind, when I found out about the Summer’s End festival, I decided to go along.
It’s a small, annual progressive rock music festival which took place int 2008 in the Forest of Dean, about 5-10 minutes drive away from a place where I used to live. Beth (t’other half at the time of writing) was taking photos of the first night’s acts, so we needed to be there early enough to check in to the B&B, so I took a half day from work to make it possible. We arrived in the forest at about 5:45pm, and got checked in to the B&B… only to discover that pretty much everybody else staying there was also there for the music.
Edale House is a fantastic little B&B, and if you’re after such a place in the heart of the Forest of Dean, I’d recommend it highly. Especially the full english breakfasts, complete with good, thick bacon and homemade sausages.
Season’s End – Friday’s Opening Act
After a quick meal at The Fountain (one of my old haunts), we headed down to Lydney for the opening act.
Now, as it turned out, I’d actually heard this lot before. I wasn’t impressed the first time around and I was a little surprised to find them on the bill at a prog festival, even on the prog-metal night, as I last saw them at a goth festival in Reading (Malediction III). However, I try to keep and open mind, and I’m glad I did… because they were actually really rather good.
Now that I’ve mentioned that, I’ll tell you that they’re called Season’s End. They’re still a female fronted Symphonic Metal band, with all that entails, right down to the obvious nightwish comparisons… but I have to say that in this case those comparisons are favourable.
Since I last saw them, they’ve changed most of their line up (thus adding to their prog credentials) and have failed to release a new album for four years (also adding to their prog credentials), but have been touring with new material and refining their sound (adding to prog credentials once again).
In short, I still wouldn’t call them prog, but on a couple of songs they were getting pretty damned close… and since I have a soft spot for good metal as well, I really enjoyed their set. When their new album eventually appears, I’ll be picking it up.
The stage lighting geek in me also forces me to point out that this festival had an ever evolving lighting rig, with a few more bits and bobs being added for each band. As the first act on, and with venue problems having delayed the full setup of the lighting rig, Seasons End were lit only by six parcans and a strobe. The fact that this was enough to actually light them and fill the stage with colour should tell any theatrical types out there why I like parcans and think that no rig should be without them.
Friday – Headliner
There was a short break after Season’s End, in which some broken lights were replaced and Threshold got set up for the headline set. I’ve not seen them live before, but I can tell you now that I’ll be seeing them again. They had an energy on stage, and Damien Wilson is a consummate frontman. He’s clearly a bit of a tart, but then that adds to stage presence and means he knows how to work the crowd.
He even covered nicely for some technical hitches early in Slipstream, their opening number. The rest of the band deserve huge amounts of credit as well, as they played a blinder of a set and really looked like they were enjoying themselves… a feeling which was contagious, and spread rapidly to the crowd.
Drummer Johanne James also needs to be awarded a large number of “how hardcore is he?!” points for playing such a high energy set merely a week after dislocating his shoulder. He still had strapping on to ensure that his arm remained fully attached to his body. If it hadn’t been mentioned, you wouldn’t have been able to tell at all from his performance.
That rounded out the music for the first night, but it was a good hour or so after that before we retreated back from the venue to the B&B… An hour that was spent talking to various members of each band. I can now reliably inform you that several of the members of Threshold need to be lauded as not only fine musicians, but also as some of the nicest people in rock.
Season’s End also need to be lauded as some of the most manic, judging by the way that most of them were happily careening around the venue like four year olds on crack. They were highly entertaining to talk to, and generally really nice people.
Saturday – Before the gigs
After a spectacularly poor night’s sleep the first full day of Summer’s End began with one of the fine breakfasts I mentioned earlier. After both of us were eventually vaguely awake, we set out for a morning’s exploration.
Doors weren’t until 12, with the first gig due for 1pm, so we had a couple of hours to kill. We decided to kill them by going to a place called Puzzlewood, near to Coleford. It’s a place I’d never managed to go to whilst I lived in the area, or even over several visits back there after I moved away. Boy, had I been missing out. Some of the most stunning scenery I’ve ever seen, and I could have easily spent a lot longer wandering around in there. Not least because it’s quite mazelike and finding our way out could easily have become an issue were it not for my rather good sense of direction.
Saturday – Afternoon Session
After that, we continued on to the venue, where we took in the beginning of Overvibe‘s set. Unfortunately, they didn’t hugely grab me… although I do like what I’ve heard online of their music. I just didn’t get into them live. It probably didn’t help that I heard most of the first song from the bar, which didn’t exactly have the best sound in the world. In fact, it sounded like somebody had set the PA to “flatulent” for their set. So we went off and did a bit of shopping nearby instead.
I might give them another go at some point, and see if that was just an “off” gig. We came back from our short shopping stint in time for me to catch the last half of Abarax‘s set. They were solid and interesting, but I’m not sure how best to describe them other than as clearly being heavily influenced by Pink Floyd (especially when they had a moderately decent stab at Comfortably Numb as a tribute to the late Richard Wright).
Their stage presence wasn’t great, however, and at a live gig I find that it’s a band’s ability to work with the audience that makes or break the gig… so overall, they were very good musically, but somehow a bit lacking. I had planned on picking up one of their CDs anyway, but was going to wait until later as I couldn’t afford to buy CDs from every band, and it was still quite early in the weekend.
Unfortunately for Abarax, Quidam came on and totally blew me away. Clearly there’s something in the water in Poland, because they’re really churning out some fine progressive rock right now. Between Quidam and Riverside they’ve got a lot going on. They had fantastic stage presence, even with what was clearly a bit of a language barrier getting in the way. They worked a couple of progged-up rock classics into their set, usually as medleys with their own songs, which certainly helped to get the audience moving for them… but to be honest, I don’t think they needed it as their own material was phenomenal.
I could see some pretty strong influences in there, but none so strongly as to make me question the band’s ability to do their own thing. They were also clearly enjoying the gig – only their second in the UK – immensely. I do think they may have been a bit frustrated at the apparent stillness of much of the audience, but I think everyone was too busy being shell-shocked that a band this good had managed to pass under so many people’s radars.
I bought their latest CD as soon as I found it, and I was far from alone in doing so. I think they got one of the biggest, most heartfelt rounds of applause of the whole festival.
Saturday – Special Guest
Then there was a short break whilst Magenta got set up and sound-checked, which gave us an oportunity to grab a bit of food and a drink, then to queue impatiently as they were one of the bands we’d both really been waiting for. They didn’t disappoint, even with some sound problems early on in the set. If the PA had been set to “flatulent” for Overvibe, it was clearly set to “prolapse” for the opening number (“The Ballad”).
However, things seemed to get sorted quickly and I got the impression that the early glitches made the band even more determined to give it their all… and they really did! I had always expected them to be one of the highlights of the weekend and that’s exactly what they were. They gave a performance full of passion and emotion, and made it all come to life in a way that not many bands can manage. They also seemed totally at home on the stage and treated the audience as friends rather than fans, which is always a plus.
Saturday – Headliner
There was then a longer break before IQ came on. Unfortunately, this break was rather too long as I’d not had much sleep the night before and I had been aching everywhere even before Magenta’s set. The result was that I only stayed for the first few songs. I mentioned the steadily evolving lighting rig earlier… By this point it had turned into what I’d call a proper lighting rig. It had grown some frontlights over the course of the day, and now had a couple of moving mirror lights, a bunch more parcans and a couple of colour scrollers, which I think came with the band.
As a result, IQ were the best lit band of the festival so far. They had clearly put a lot of work into their staging as they even came with three screens worth of video projection behind them – a bit over the top for a small festival like this! I’d not heard much IQ before this gig, but from what little I did hear before we had to call it a night, I’d quite like to hear some more to get a bit more of an idea of what they’re like.
So ended my second day of the Summer’s End festival… driving back to the B&B whilst my back was still flexible enough to fold it into the driving seat of my car and still be able to steer and operate the pedals.
Sunday – Before the gigs
Day three began in a similar way to day two, in that we had some time to pass before the start of the day, and we decided to spend it on a short visit to Clearwell Caves. We’d both been there before, but it’s always worth a visit.
Sunday – Afternoon Session
After we’d done that, we headed down to the venue to catch Glow – the opening act of the day, only to find them halfway through their set already. Clearly day three was starting earlier than advertised… Probably to counteract the massive overrun seen on day two.
Unlike the previous day, though, I thought they were a fantastic opener. Glow are a bit different in that they make a kind of psychedelic prog dub. They were upbeat, active and clearly enjoying themeselves a great deal. I held off on buying their CD for a couple of minutes… until it was announced that it was only a fiver and my resolve evaporated. I’m very glad I bought it as so far it’s been a great mood lifter.
After Glow we had Thieves’ Kitchen, who are a band I really wanted to like, but somehow didn’t quite manage to. Within the first two minutes of the set, as well as singing, the singer had played the clarinet, the castanets, maracas, a theremin and the spoons.
Seeing a rather attractive young lady dressed in a blend of goth & jazz singer garb bending over to play the spoons on her knee is one of the odder experiences of the weekend.
However, it just felt like they were trying too hard to be clever and experimental, and that somehow they were so focussed in that direction that they forgot to put any tunes in. I gave them a few songs and then decided that it was time to head off and do something else for a bit.
That something else was a walk around Lyndey Harbour. Last time I went there was before they’d started the restoration. It was a broken wreck of a place, with the gates of the tidal lock rotting and hanging half open.
This time, however, it was all fantastically restored. You could go right out to the tip of the harbour wall and get a fantastic view out over the severn estuary. If you’re in the area and want some striking views, it’s certainly worth a look… if you can find it with the woefully inadequate signage!
This meant that we returned to the venue just in time to see Abel Ganz, who are apparently a scottish prog band with a long established pedigree, but who went on hiatus some years ago. Now they’re back, and have new material out there. I’d never heard of them before, and so was pleasantly surprised.
They didn’t blow me away as much as Quidam, and didn’t grab my immediate attention as firmly as Glow, but I really enjoyed their set. They reminded me quite strongly of earlier Marillion, but without Fish’s lyrical convolutions and occasional shrieking, and not so much as to make them sound derivative.
I was impressed enough to buy a CD, but was faced with a quandry! They had a limited edition of the CD reissue of their first album, or they had the new album. In the end I opted for the special edition. I’m quite likely to also pick up the latest album in the near future as well.
Sunday – Special Guests
Next up was another band I’d really been looking forward to… Frost*. No, I’m not referencing a footnote – they just have an asterisk on the end of their name. At this point I have to admit to feeling a bit sorry for The Tangent, who were on afterwards, because this was one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to. The refreshed lineup really works for them, and Dec Burke is a fantastic addition as an extra guitarist and singer.
I was hooked from Experments in Mass Appeal (the opening number) and didn’t care that my back had flared up again – I was too buzzed to even really notice! That buzz carried on all the way through the set, right up to the phenomenal, rocking out encore of The Other Me.
I don’t think any band could have followed that and not been a slight disappointment. Beth seemed to be thinking along similar lines, and as her knee had gone again I drove her back to the B&B so she could rest up whilst I returned to the venue to see The Tangent.
Sunday – Headline
I said earlier that no band could follow Frost* without being a slight dissapointment… but The Tangent gave it a damned good go. I’d not heard of them before, although I read bit about their history and picked out that they had previously been a supergroup involving most of The Flower Kings and a few others, fronted by two people who were respected greatly by musicians, but not particularly well known. Now it’s those same respected people (Andy Tillison & Guy Manning), a new guitarist and sax player… and the entirety of swedish prog band Beardfish.
Andy Tillison pointed out that Beardfish are possibly the most important band in prog at the moment as they’re all under 30, and I think that in many ways he’s correct. Unfortunately, they’re deliberately trying to continue the classic prog sound rather than exploring new things. But my argument about how a lot of prog has stopped… well… progressing is an argument for another time. In terms of ability, I can’t fault them at all… They did one number on their own, and it was some of the best “classic” prog I’ve heard in recent years. But enough about Beardfish… what about The Tangent?
Well, they were an immense amount of fun. Their onstage banter was terrific and highly enteraining. For example, Andy Tillison commenting on how they’d managed to maintain a stable lineup for so long… since monday, at which point Guy Manning says “I’m out!” and walks off stage. I also need to comment on how I don’t think I’ve seen so much energy in skinny people for a long time… Between Tillison’s hyperactive bouncing and Beardfish bassist Robert Hansen’s sliding all over the stage with a bass that’s wider than he is, the world’s energy problems could be solved in a moment.
With songs based on such wonderfully proggy subject matter as being propositioned for sex outside a soho jazz club and giving a confused response, or about our lives being ruled by GPSs and mobile phones, the humour in both the banter and the songs themselves really made the closing set of the festival something special.
Highlights & Next year?
For me the ultimate high points were Frost* and Magenta, with my new finds being Quidam, Glow and The Tangent. I’m now eagerly awaiting next year’s Summer’s End festival. The organisers announced that there will definately be one, and that it will definately be in September in Gloucestershire. I’m sold. If the quality’s half of what it was this year, It’d still be worth the money.
Fields of the Nephilim are one of those bands that I thought I’d never get to see live. I first started to listen to their music around 1991, just after they’d split up. Since then there have been a few abortive attempts to revive them and a large number of ever fragmenting spin off bands, but it’s only in the last couple of years that it’s looked like one of these attempts might actually succeed. Of course, by this point there’s only one original member of the band left. Their most recent album at the time of writing, “Mourning Sun” (2005), was performed by singer Carl McCoy and what he refers to as “Ghost Musicians”. For the touring band, everyone else is new.
So when I was presented with an opportunity to go to one of these two shows (only their second and third UK gigs since the last album, if I recall correctly), I leapt at the chance. I’ll tell you now, I was not dissapointed. The queue outside the venue for Sunday’s gig, which was named “Ad Vitam” in a typically occult manner, seemed oddly subdued. It was quite a curious experience, seeing everyone around me dressed in either their trad-goth finery or the band’s signature goth cowboy look… whilst I was there in black combats and a black nepalese shirt.
I used to be able to pull off the goth look, and to be honest, I could probably still give a reasonable showing in the Nephilim look, but on short notice I just didn’t have the wardrobe for it. Besides, in the baking sun I didn’t really fancy having to lug around a heavy, weathered leather duster, or even wear the multiple layers that make the look work.
Support Act and Venue
When the doors opened, it became apparent that people who’d been for the previous night’s “Ad Mortem” gig knew that there would be an hour and a half between the doors opening and even the support act coming on. So there was a fair bit of standing around to do. Since I’ve never been particularly inclined towards throwing myself around at a gig (I’d call it dancing, but for me that’d be a real stretch), I aimed for my usual gig spot… as close to the sound or light desk as possible. There I lurked until “[url=”http://www.myspace.com/pythiamusic”]Pythia[/url]”, the support band, appeared on stage.
I’m not going to dwell on them particularly much – they were always going to be outclassed as a support act for Fields of the Nephilim, especially as they’re a bit of an odd match. They were reasonable, if not to my taste and a little derivative (Nightwish called – they want their act back). What I will say in their favour was that they had good stage presence and didn’t fall into the usual support band slot of performing like they’d been nailed to their spots on the stage. (as an aside, I’m also amused by their [url=”http://www.myspace.com/pythiamusic”]MySpace page[/url], simply by the band member photos down the left hand side.)
Once they left the stage, the venue started to get more and more crowded, and two things became apparent to me. One: Fields of the Nephilim fans are, on average, unnaturally tall. Two: The stage at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire is too low. It was rapidly becoming clear that I wasn’t going to have the best of views, which did make me wonder if perhaps I should have headed for the front after all. It seems that I’ve become too used to other venues where the view is at least passable throughout.
A Powerful Opening
It started quite quietly and quite subtly. I think a fair few people missed the first, plainitve cry from a distant harmonica, but when the rest of the audience picked up in sudden anticipation they certainly heard the second. Using samples from Ennio Morricone’s soundtrack from “Once Upon A Time In The West” ([url=”http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064116/”]IMDB[/url]), The Harmonica Man is one of the most recognisable introductions you could ask for, and it immediately sets the tone for the gig. It immediately builds audience anticipation – they’re starting with a classic opening. Real, classic nephilim. The opening from their first album, in fact, which immediately puts to rest the idea that the band would only be playing newer material.
The fact that it lead straight into the instantly recognizable drumbeat of Preacherman practically sent the crowd into a frenzy. This is pure blooded goth-rock stomp, and it cements this gig as something special. At this point, my view of the bad isn’t too bad, provided I don’t want to see anything below the level of their chests… but the staging and lighting are good, so I don’t mind. I also know that my view is about to get worse. You see, where other bands have stage-divers, crowd-surfers and the like, Fields of the Nephilim have a long standing tradition of human pyramids.
Pyramid Schemes
Sure enough, it’s part way through Preacherman that they begin to form. Nothing serious yet – just a couple of people held up with their shins at chest height. You’d think that this would detract from the gig, particularly as it block my already poor view of the stage… but it actually does the exact opposite. It changes the atmosphere from one of passive entertainment into something special – the audience are as much a part of the event as the band on stage are. It sounds incredibly hackneyed, but seeing members of the audience lofted up into the air, stripped to the waist and just basking the music really is something special. In keeping with the band’s occult themes, the pyramids are like some form of ecstatic ritual for the audience. It’s powerful to watch and I have no doubt that it’s something even more for those involved.
Next, the band moved on to From The Fire, a song from what’s best described as an awkward period in their history. From the album “Fallen”, the outcome of an abortive reformation of several original members. The album was largely made up unfinished rough-cuts from the studio, although it does seem that this song was one of the more finished pieces. Here’s it really works, and it’s clearly had time to settle and become a much stronger track than it was on the album.
The song that followed it technically isn’t a Fields of the Nephilim song. Penetration is taken from Zoon, the album released by Nefilim – the band Carl McCoy formed after Fields originally split up. That said, it continues the ideas and feel, even if the musical style is very, very different. A much more brutal song from an album that’s often dismissed by fans of the original band. Personally, I quite like a lot of it… just for different reasons. The version they played here was quite different to that on the album – driven a lot more by a pounding bassline that really give it the kick it needs.
Classics, Old and New
Then we’re treated to Moonchild. Not only one of the band’s classic songs, but a personal favourite of mine as well. Again, the pyramids spring up, getting a little further each time. I think it was around here that I saw the first attempt at a third level. This attempt never quite made it, alas. Instead it broke apart and became several smaller pyramids. This was followed by Requiem XIII 33 and Xiberia, both from “Mourning Sun”. One slow, atmospheric song and one heavy, throbbing beast of a song. With any other band it would be strange that these two would sit together so well, but this kind of versatility is one of the things that make Fields of the Nephilim so memorable.
Special Treats
Next up was another pair of tracks, one classic and one rare treat. Dawnrazor followed immediately by The Sequel. Dawnrazor is, as far as I can tell, a staple of Fields of the Nephilim gigs. The Sequel, however, is rarely played live at all – which is a crying shame because it’s a fantastic song, and it was great to hear it belted out here. Musically it’s an oddly jaunty song, but the lyrics manage to bring across a message that mixes hope with menace.
Just when I thoug
ht it couldn’t get any better I hear yet another distinctive opening – the plaintive guitar solo that is the introduction to The Watchmen, another of my favourite songs. It’s another classic, and as ever, the crowd goes more than a little crazy when it steps up a gear after the first verse. Pyramids are still springing up all over the place, but all of a sudden there’s a frenzy of them.
End of the Set
It made sense to have the last song of the set be one of the newer songs, and they couldn’t have picked a better one than the fantastically triumphant “Mourning Sun”. I think it was around now that the successful three layer pyramid appeared, and it was a sight to behold with the guy up on the top throwing his arms wide and letting the atmosphere wash over him. Usually it’s a problem when you can’t see a thing at a gig, but for this one I really didn’t care – it was a fantastic gig anyway.
Encores
Unlike many bands, they made us wait quite a long time between main set and encore. Not quite long enough to doubt that there’d be one, but long enough that it was definately distinct from the main set. Many bands walk off stage and then thirty seconds later they’re playing again. The encore started off with another Nefilim song – Zoon III / Wakeworld, which was always one of the songs I’ve liked more from Zoon.
That was followed up by Last Exit For The Lost. I’ve never been a huge fan of Last Exit… or more accurately, I’m a fan of the last third of the song, when it picks up the pace and becomes a bit less dirgelike. Perhaps it was just the crowd’s enthusiasm getting to me, but this time around I even enjoyed the first part of the song. I’d have been happy if the gig had ended here, as the end of Last Exit… is a fantastic way to end a gig.
But that wasn’t the end.
The second encore brought us Celebrate. In some ways it’s an odd one to end on, being a resolutely downbeat song, but it’s also a very powerful one, expecially performed as it was here. It’s also a song about new beginnings. I’m hoping this is a new beginning for the band, and wont turn out to be another brief reappearance before another messy implosion. The gig came to a close with the band leaving the stage as the coda of the “Unsealed” version of the song was played over the PA.
To conclude
Overall, this was a hugely enjoyable gig. I’d given up hope of ever seeing Fields of the Nephilim play live, and even though this is a very different band to the classic lineup, the new musicians have really stepped up and do the songs justice. I’m very much looking forward to hearing more from them. I’ll even forgive them for playing nothing at all from “Elizium”.
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