Puzzlebox Music

Read the reviews and favorite memories of the various conventions we've been to during 1999

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1999

12^th Concert: Gamecon ‘99

Where:	Masonic Temple, Pleasanton, CA
When:	May 29, 1999
Duration:	45 minutes
Set List:	Sir Brian
	The Dark Man
	Persian Rose
	Caledonia
	Merlin
	My Jalapeno Man
	Nuts
	Fly Freedom
	Born Out of Time

Well, it's Memorial Day weekend again, and around here that means Baycon! We had two concerts at Baycon last year. This year, we had two concerts during the weekend, but one of them was elsewhere...

Taunya has been a participant in a live-action role-playing game (LARP) for something over a year. The game has a broad world, being played by groups all over the country, their various stories being interwoven by the storytellers (game-masters of each group). And several regional groups met at Gamecon in Pleasanton for an evening of socializing and political maneuvering. How does Puzzlebox fit into this? It seems that some members of Taunya's group had heard about her endeavors with Puzzlebox, and they invited us to provide entertainment during part of the event. So, on Saturday evening (after spending the day at Baycon having brunch with Scott and Amanda Snyder, saying our hellos to several fen-friends, and checking out the dealers' room) we left San Jose to go to Pleasanton, where the vampires were gathering. Yup, the game's participants play vampires. And Taunya's gypsy character (with Alisa and Paul also in gypsy attire as her minions for the evening!) took part of the evening to act as the band in a bar.

It was fun to watch and be a side part of the goings-on. We arrived and got our equipment set up (Alisa was using a piano that was already on the premises, and we didn't have a PA system, so our setup mainly consisted of unfolding the music stand and making sure the guitar was in tune with the piano). Then we met a few people and watched the head storyteller lay down some basic rules for the evening's activities. After a little general conversation, most of the people convened in the "bar" (one room of the hall where the gathering was being held).

We were introduced and began our set. I think we got to find out what it's like to play in a real bar, here...lots of people, talking to each other, while the band gets only slightly more attention than a CD player would have from most of the people present. People who'd traveled from other states to interact with other gamers weren't there to focus on the musicians. And that's fine. It didn't get too noisy, and there were a few people at the table nearest us who were attentive throughout the set and applauded. We did a pretty good job. We started off with a slightly modified version of "Sir Brian", re-casting a somewhat arrogant bigwig of the game world named Romero as the main character in the song. :) Fun to personalize the material that way.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the concert was when we played Maya & Jeff Bonhoff's "Persian Rose", and Angie (Taunya's eldest daughter, who's also in the role-playing group) danced a tango with someone. They were fun to watch, and caught the attention of most of those in the bar. The bartender came to the front of the room and got us a round of applause at the end of our set.

After we were done, Taunya went off to role-play, Alisa changed out of her gypsy outfit, then she, her honey Luis, and Paul played a hand of Magic the Gathering at one of the tables in the bar before leaving. A few people told us that they'd enjoyed our music, which was nice to hear. The bartender felt moved to sing us a couple of amusing songs, including one about a Scotsman with a kilt malfunction.

Anyway, a fun and interesting evening. Our thanks to Ronni Eloff for giving us the opportunity to play at this event.

Special Memories:

The gay barkeep hitting on Luis. Seriously! Alisa couldn't decide whether to laugh or get offended...she ended up laughing for the next hour whenever she thought about it.
Angie & her dance partner's tango during Persian Rose. Oooo la la!
Playing by candlelight.
The poor woman who got stuck at the table nearest to us and felt like she needed to give us her undivided attention because nobody else was paying any attention to us at all!
Taunya's jingly anklet making noise during our quiet, serious songs until she finally took it off.
The 3-handed magic game...Alisa spent the whole [long!] game trying to prevent Paul from being taken out by Luis, and then ended up making both she and Luis lose to Paul. Scoundrel!
The costumes. Everything from Southern Belle to Black Leather Biker to Gypsy to Scotsman.

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