Dr. Milo T. Pinkerton III's Journal

Do the Creep, visit the Lab, get a Placebo at Babelcon!
Well, that was how a con C.O.G. concert was supposed to go down! (now, if only we could go back and perform THAT show at DragonCon!) Lab Girl Trixie's inaugural lecture was a great success, and we rocked a small but very devoted crowd well into the night, until everyone was pretty well exhausted. That might well have been the lengthiest C.O.G. show ever performed!

The usual technical problems didn't ruin the experience, but I wish I hadn't been so distracted by them; I didn't even think to run back to the car and get my video camera, but neither did anybody else. I'd love to see what we looked and sounded like in action. RATS. Also, I should have had the video transmitter up above the computer rack; the computers added way too much interference to the picture (but fortunately didn't ruin the view completely, like at DragonCon.)

Big thanks go out to:

- Filbert for lending us his powered speakers (there's no WAY we could have made it through that gig without them. The con's PA system was barely adequate for stage monitoring, and the C.O.G. PA is WAY too bulky to bring on the road.)

- Cos Solo for the tireless roadie work.

- Chris for contributing a whole extra covered pickup to haul equipment & the extra roadie effort, and his wife Amy for photography.

- Tiki Billy for the lend of the really tasteless looking (but easy on the fingers) keytar.

- All of you who came out and rocked with us, especially those of you who were inspired enough to BOW TO THE COG!!!

The good: Lab Girl's singing & Z and Rachnid's playing (when we're well rehearsed, we can work wonders!) My new Theremin and Vox amp. Being told by a personal friend that it was the tightest C.O.G. peformance he'd ever seen. Being asked by new rabid fans "why haven't I heard of you before?" Making great merchandise sales - better than the last few gigs!

The bad: Small stages that don't permit enough movement. Horribly heavy & bulky equipment, including our main computer rack, Z's bass speaker, the lights, and Rachnid's amp case. Surely there's a more streamlined way for us to put on a show! And of course, things that I intend to do something about before next show - such as our lighting (not enough light on our faces, not enough bang for the weight) and our backscreen video (based on unwieldy/ridiculously-antiquated computer equipment.)

The geeky: Pirate contingent arriving just in time for 'Bucket of Blood'. Green harem arriving just in time for 'Funky Fresh'! Massive applause for our cover of 'Doctor Who'. (I suspected that would result if we pulled it off, and we did!!!)

Now back to work... time to pick up with all the people I had put off due to the impending gig. Gotta mix a reggae track for Will and cut a live video for Beth. Also, it's time to rebuild my cel phone again (the damned screen went off just in time for the weekend trip! Good thing I'd memorized most of the necessary numbers.)

More good news - I finally got the Vectrex that I've been wanting for years! Got it for a song too... it just needs a little tweaking (and possibly a cap kit.) But the screen's good and bright and it's very playable. Nice!

Current Music: Vectrex bleeps

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