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the Star Trek Convention - Cobo Hall

Last post 02-18-2008 11:55 AM by timprosser. 1 replies.
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  • 02-16-2008 11:54 PM

    • hhitch
    • Top 10 Contributor
    • Joined on 02-12-2008
    • Miami, FL
    • Posts 59

    the Star Trek Convention - Cobo Hall

    yup, we played a Star Trek convention, StarCon 72? (someone correct me on the date). One of our very first gigs, it was so exciting... downtown Detroit... got mobbed by 14 year olds with rubber ears... I was barely past 14 myself... but seriously folks, it was a real hoot.  The Star Trek people had gotten wind of our act, and that we opened with the Star Trek theme, so they wanted us to open the convention. However, I don't think they realised that we satirised the theme song and didn't actually play it. So after we played our opening Star Trek comedy / jazz-rock spiel, there were some disgruntled trekkies about. I mean, if you were a trekkie, and the lights went down and you heard "Cheese, the First Frontier!" wouldn't you be a bit upset?

     But it was still really fun. I think the highlight of it was an event where Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov were the two panelists, and each had his own microphone, and the two of them had an insult contest. You could probably imagine the insults these two could come up with were quite inventive.

     I remember in those days my wardrobe was quite lean and I had decided to buy some pants in Detroit before the show. We were in downtown Detroit, so... I ended up getting, shall I say, pimped out real good... some nice wraparound snaps and summer espadrilles... I was definitely stylin' for that gig :)

     Oh, and it wasn't actually in Cobo Hall that we played, although I'd like you to think so... it was AT Cobo, down the hall  in the convention room LOL...

    "Captain Jarvis"
  • 02-18-2008 11:55 AM In reply to

    Re: the Star Trek Convention - Cobo Hall

    Still ... I remember that gig, too.  We were pretty green all around.  We backed our vehicles up to the loading dock and discovered that, due to union rules, we weren't allowed to unload or touch our equipment ... it all had to be done by union employees  (this IS Detroit, after all).  That was a bit perplexing and frustrating -- we were just too green to understand how these things work in the big city.  None of us got "written up" by the union, at least, but, if I remember rightly, we had to wait and worry about our gear until it was finally delivered to the room in which we were to play.

    The crowd were pretty bizarre, too, but not all that extreme for any sci fi con I've attended.  The costumes were sometimes amazingly accurate to the TV show, or just plain odd, and there was a certain sense of humor to the whole thing that I enjoyed.  Events like that just aren't that well known to the main stream of society, nor are they large enough to involve large numbers of people, so most people are never aware that they exist.  But the ARE a lot of fun.

    I agree that the fans probably didn't know what to expect from us, and our newness as a band ... well, I'm sure the performance was acceptable, but possibly barely so.  Maybe we were even too far out for many of the assembled Trekkies.  Some people always take themselves too seriously,  unfortunately, but it was a cultural happening, and a gas overall.

    Good times, man!
    Keep on jammin'! - Mumbles

    "the mandolin maniac"
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