I'm going to be brief and begin at the end of the day.
Chocko and I closed out the day at the New York Comic Con by seeing Rodriguez at Radio City Music Hall. It was great, it was wonderful, and it was a nice capper considering we were seeing him from a distance after previously seeing him as up close as you can get at Tribeca (we sat front row and then got to meet him and talk to him as he signed autographs). The chance to hear him do I Wonder with a band was a highlight (I love the bass line)
The best part of the day/evening was seeing the Swedish sisters who record as First Aid Kit open. These girls rocked the house with a country twang and made me wonder why the hell aren't they huge. I mean the pair took a guitar stepped to the edge of the stage and sang sans any microphones. I mean they filled the place with magic- and you stopped watching the screens and just watched them in the distance because that's where the sound came from- two girls all alone on stage. It doesn't get more OH WOW than that.
Comic Con is better and worse than in previous years. I have lots of notes about the day which will result in stories in later post- its well after 1 AM as I write this but my over all impressions are as follows:
Its lovely not to have construction. Everything thing feel bigger and more open....
...when its not crowded with all the people who bought Thursday tickets. Who's dumb idea was that? Thursday was a nice quiet day with 4 day pass holders, exhibitors, pros and press milling around getting a handle on the layout. With the addition of the hordes of single day people this was a crowded noisy mess that made the day just like any of the other days except full of people who were there only because of people who needed a clue.
I'm sorry I had several run ins with people with Thursday passes and stepped away shaking my head. The key problem was that they seemed to think that the pass allowed them entry at 10 AM or into areas they weren't allowed to go. I'm trying to help my brother get his stuff into the hall and they are asking me why they can't go in and I can- they couldn't seem to get the concept that the show started at 3 PM. I'm not going to go into further details (there are a couple more stories) but dealing with the Thursday badge holders had me wondering... I know there were some nice people in there- but many left me shaking my head.
Public aside the idea of a Thursday badge makes me less likely to come back next year. I liked that I got a day to find my bearings. That's gone now Fighting the crowd from second one is not fun and not something I want to do.
I want to say I'm reserving judgement on the new scan in and scan out badges- more on that in a later report.
I want to end on an up note and I want to say that the staff at Comic Con are wonderful. Everyone I've talked to has been great and helpful-even when I had badge trouble. They are the reason I may go next year even as the crowds get out of control.
Lastly another look at Radio City Music Hall marquee with the man- Rodriguez listed as playing tonight.
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