I'll list the photo galleries first. Some commentary about the con follows. I'm not sure I can recall now what happened each specific day. :)
D*C 2004 was mediocre in guest and band pickin's. C'mon, the best we could get from Lord of the Rings was John "Denethor" Noble, who then cancelled and was replaced by the guy who played Haldir? Can't we, ummm, get a hobbit? Or any member of the Nine Walkers? Faramir, maybe? Sheesh! And once again, the list of established authors as guests shrank. We had some excellent talents, including Harlan "can I start some shit this hour?" Ellison, and of course Storm Constantine from England, but every year the number of authors D*C actively pursues seems to shrink. Further testimony to its evolution as a media show instead of an SF convention, I suppose.
As for the bands, I think the bands we had were pretty good -- with
just a couple of exceptions -- but there just weren't enough of
them, and there were some very odd choices. Chick Corea and his
band were supremely talented indeed, but seemed an odd choice for
Dragon*Con....until I realized that their appearance was tied to L.
Ron Hubbard and the Scientology crowd. Similarly, Norway's Hangface
was an odd choice, until you realize that their appearance was
basically sponsored by longtime music insider Eddie Kramer (no, not
the Ed Kramer formerly of Dragon*Con). Darker, from Chicago, were
an odd choice also -- why have an unknown band play on Friday night?
Not only did no-one know who they were, but they only had a few
hours on Friday to promote their show. Seemed kinda pointless,
except that they presumably played for cheap, or free.
Once again, the stalwarts came through, though: longtime D*C
performers The Cruxshadows and Ghoultown did well, and newcomers
Faith and the Muse did well opening for Cruxshadows. Other
returning bands were primarily on the Concourse stage, like
Opland-Freeman, the Changelings' Paul Mercer, and Three-Quarter
Ale, and all had good shows (the latter drew many more people than
last year, building on last year's success at D*C).
Some of the bands we had -- popular ones at that -- were woefully underutilized. Voltaire wasn't given a full stage slot of his own anywhere, which was a shame, because his many fans had no choice but to try to see one of his two performances on the Concourse -- a venue not designed for five hundred people -- or his performance in the Art Show, which drew about 300 fans and caused a lot of trouble. Similarly, Emerald Rose weren't scheduled for a full stage slot during the weekend except for the Evening In Bree event, which was puzzling, since ER help Dragon*Con out in so many ways. Not even a Thursday night show for them, which they offered to do. Instead fans had to be content to see them on the Concourse -- those shows drew almost as many as Voltaire's -- and at the Bree party.
While the convention badges looked great -- more on that below -- the t-shirts were only so-so.
Harlan Ellison once again overstayed his welcome. Granted, he's a great writer...but his "let's get in people's faces and be an asshole to perform in front of an audience" schtick gets really old, really fast. Calling a friend of mine from the Cruxshadows a "bitch" in public doesn't really thrill me. It didn't thrill the cops, either.
So much for the problems and the mediocrity...now for the good stuff!
The performances on the Concourse -- for which I was responsible, as Hyatt Concourse Director -- sounded great. This is all thanks to the guys in Emerald Rose and their sound-wench, Cayce, who handle the sound system for the Concourse mini-stage. We were trying to balance the sound requirements for the Concourse area with the programming events in the vicinity, and I think we struck a happy balance. I was pleased with the overall quality of bands on the Concourse: the old-timers like Voltaire, Emerald Rose and Paul Mercer turned in their usual quality performances, but Faith and the Muse's acoustic set sounded great and was well-received...and the surprise of the weekend, an acoustic set from Norway's Hangface on Sunday evening at 7 that I hastily added to the schedule, sounded terrific. It was a great way to close out the Concourse stage for yet another successful year!
The convention badge, featuring the "Dark Rider" artwork by British artist (and friend) Anne Sudworth, looked really good this year -- one of the best-looking badges we've ever had.
Other bright spots included the Art Show, which looked great this year; hall costuming; the Exhibit Hall, which wasn't too cramped and had a fair variety of things on display (the metal-formed Alien coffee table was stunning!), and the fact that the overall size of the crowd was a bit thinner than last year. Far from indicating a weakness or a problem with Dragon*Con's finances, it marked a backing-off from the crushing crowd of 2003 -- much of which was due to James "Spike" Marsters' presence as a guest.
So, Paul, what went REALLY well?
A few things! The Gothic Journeys track, coordinated by my friend Storm Constantine (and accidentally named by yours truly), was a great success! Many of the panels played to a full room, or a capacity-plus-twenty crowd, and at least one, the "alternate sexuality" panel, packed the room and had the crowd standing out in the hallway straining to hear. Even a late-night panel on reiki magick, which we thought would be lightly-attended, drew a capacity crowd including two other reiki masters and several other practitioners, as well as many interested people.
Storm's UK-based publishing house, Immanion Press, turned a profit for Dragon*Con, which is always a plus, and our friend Anne Sudworth sold almost all of her prints at Dragon*Con on the strength of her badge artwork and the quality of the pieces she brought. (She's also a delight to talk to, as many people discovered at her table.)
In general, things seemed a bit more relaxed than last year, crowd security-wise. It didn't seem like the fire marshal and hotel security people were quite as nasty to us this year. That's always a plus. :)
More comments and, perhaps, a few anecdotes to come!