FKO con report


Friday at FKO

I arrived at FKO around 4 o'clock on Friday and was pounced by so many people while I was checking in that the poor guy behind the desk probably wondered if he'd ever get my credit card information. I had a good time catching up with decadentdave (whom I was rooming with) before heading down to registration to get programs and stuff. I missed the Tie and Tails Reception (which is kind of a tradition for me - I always manage to miss the opening receptions/parties at conventions - through a combination of needing food and wanting to let my back rest a bit after the flight.

I caught some of the mini-concerts (Howard Scrimgeour and Carolyn Brown) through the doors; I was outside in the hallway hugging people and chatting. My all-time favourite person of the evening was oreouk because she brought me chocolate digestive biscuits. I worshipped at her feet for it.

I headed in to the main hall (pouncing on filkertom, who was not supposed to be there, on my way) in order to hear the Boogie Knights. I always enjoy their shows, although apparently people thought it was strange that I would bring my grading to do at a concert like that. Hey, given a choice between sitting at home grading symbolic logic homework or sitting at a Boogie Knights concert grading symbolic logic homework, I know which I'd choose.

This degenerated into open filking, and I know that I was there. I know I was there for a long time. What I don't remember is what I was doing before I got to the open filking, since the open filk started at 10.30 and I don't remember getting there until somewhat later...oh, wait, yes I do! I dragged demoneyes off to chat in the con suite. I haven't seen either Phil or Lissa for, wow, 3 or 4 years and it had been way too long - I enjoyed catching up on their news and hearing about Far Isles and filk stuff over in the UK.

I went down to the filk and, umm, graded more while listening to people sing. The highlights of the Friday open filk were:

1. John Hall doing the talking blues version of Horsetamer's Daughter. I had never heard this before. I thought I was going to die. In fact, I think more people ended up watching my reactions than his performance...but I don't really know because I stopped being able to breathe from laughing so hard.

2. Hearing Phil sing Orchestral Winds. See, sometime during my first year in grad school (which was 98/99) Phil sent me this set of lyrics. I put a tune to it, although he didn't get to hear it for a couple of years. And I'd never heard him perform it...it was very cool!

3. Hearing sexybass do Lady of the Sea. (At least I think this was Friday night. If not, move this mentally as appropriate.) I adore this song, and I always love hearing him sing it!

4. billroper. Just in general.

See, I now have to pause for a little digression. [Actually, it didn't end up so little.] It's pretty well known that if there are multiple circles going on at a filk con and you're looking for somewhere to play, you'll probably poke your head into a few rooms before deciding where to go. Finding the right room involves a combination of factors. You want to find somewhere that has physical space for you; sometimes rooms get so packed that you literally can't fit. And you also want to find somewhere that is the right size - if you want to listen, then you'll probably want a nice big circle with lots of people in it. If you want to play, you'll want a somewhat smaller circle, so that you have a chance to play more than once every three hours. But you also want a circle that's big enough that it won't die out if one person leaves.

Moreover, you want to consider what the mood of the circle is. (This is true for both listeners and performers.) Sometimes circles get into rock-filk or funny-filk or serious-filk or whatever - it's good to make sure that your mood matches that of the circle.

And, lastly, almost everyone has certain people they look for in a circle. Maybe you worship decadentdave (who wouldn't?) and want to make sure you hear him. Or maybe there is someone there from far away who you don't get a chance to hear very often (like, say, katyhh and shannachie). Or maybe there's just someone you play off of well.

I have a very easy rule for finding a filk circle: I pretty much always look for billroper and daisy_knotwise. There are a couple of reasons I do this. One, I love their stuff, both Bill's solo stuff and the songs they write together. I like pretty much everything I've ever heard either of them sing. (I say "pretty much" so it doesn't sound like a challenge...I know them. *grin*) Two, I love seeing them perform, again both solo and together; the interplay between the two of them on things like Apology and My Husband the Filker is just fantastic. Three, most of the cons I see them at they are dealing, which means they're going to go to bed early. So I have to squeeze in my Bill and Gretchen time while I can. And, lastly, my repertoire and Bill's mesh nicely; I always know there's at least *one* person who won't mind if I change the mood to something depressing...*grin*

FKO is great because I get much more Bill and Gretchen time than usual; they don't deal, so they don't have to go to bed early.

Okay, enough of the Bill and Gretchen lovefest. This con report is to be continued...but, hey, I'd already had a great time and it was only Friday!