MEGACON - March 2014

[salchli]

MEGACON - Friday

WAY TOO EARLY FLIGHT - Met up with Rosie at the hotel for breakfast and then off to the madness of MegaCon. Rosie had VIP so it was a VERY short line for her and I got to join the INSANELY LONG pre-order line. 1 HOUR later wristband in hand it was the short wait to get into the dealer's area and off to James' area meeting with Jessie, Jean & Rosie. Gareth arrived so I left James' line (he wasn't there yet) at I congratulated him on being a Dad and asked if he had picked out names for the baby coming (Isla or Eli FYI), and then went to get my photo-op tickets for the weekend.

Photos went VIP then all others (3-day/Friday only). I entered - James being surprised to see me and asked what he was game for. So I got one I had been thinking about for a LONG time but finally had the guts to ask him for.

Friday Photo

Back to the autograph area and Video here and what I got signed (DO NOT SHARE/RE-POST)

A long day finished - we met up with Sister C & Berengaria at their hotel for dinner. While we were waiting Peter Mayhew passed us and I guessed we were at the Guests' hotel.

It's great company and good conversation that make a great weekend

At the show and an AWESOME dinner made a great first day!

[Rainbow]

sounds like you had a great time Stephen. Love the photos

[Pluto7077]

Yeah, one very happy man

Love the teeshirt

[salchli]

MEGACON-SATURDAY

First off - some things I forgot on Friday

- All the ladies/girls behind me reaction to my Photo-op on Friday was giggling

- Everyone's ogling over James as Todd Kemp's photo I was getting signed (and joking threads to steal it)

- Seeing Erin Grey as a manager, rather than a guest (I think she was there for John and Wil)

Rosie and I had breakfast at the hotel and right to the center to line up for the Q&A. Rosie went to the VIP line and I was on the other side of the room, joining the 4 other people already there. We were let in at 11AM and told there was an automobile accident, so James would be late and that they would extend his time a little (ended up being 'til 12:20PM then) Partial Q&A Vid by Kathryn Hoffpauir (I'm at 3:47) The Con staff thried to wrap it up but James kept ignoring them for about 5 minutes and then he got the stage signal - they TURNED THE LIGHTS OFF!

Downstairs to photo-ops where we were told there would be NO Ghost of the Robot photo-ops (I think there wasn't enough pre-orders IMHO) - but I did my photo-op for a friend who couldn't be there (if she decides to share, I'll edit and post a link). James insisted I join in the shot and I got James to rub the sign on his face for her.

Off to the autograph area where there was a long line for James already so I went to Gareth's area (short line) and got Enoch the Traveler and it signed (Photo here) and then to James' area. Sullivan was selling merchandise, and looking a little tired, went to him and said he looked like he needed a pick-me-up. I gave him Orange Slice candy (Photo) and he was shocked by it. He said it's his favorite candy and how did I know. We've been friends on Facebook and had never met, but he forgot I asked him on Facebook. He had some T-shirts I had pre-ordered for me and then Mark stopped me. He thanked me for the Reese's cups from the day before and said I was a bad man for bringing them. I guess he had 3 packages on Friday night! I didn't get anything signed that day, opting for a photo at the table instead (save the digits for the concert) and got a photo with the Marsterses (James & Sullivan) and wandered the dealer's area for a while.

I found a place that had SALAD (Caesar) and had that for lunch while waiting for photos with Gareth (I know - I went to see someone OTHER than James). The Torchwood photos went as follows: John, Eve, Gareth; John & Eve; John & Gareth; Eve; Gareth; John.
Going in for photos I asked Gareth if I could get a photo like I did with James yesterday. Saturday with Gareth and Eve & John were still waiting inside and they started laughing hysterically. I jokingly went to John and said that was to make him jealous and John fell out of his chair. The girls behind me had a good laugh also. I went back to the dealer's room and waited for my Gareth photo to be done.

Concert coming soon.....

[salchli]

MEGACON - SATURDAY NIGHT A.K.A. GHOST OF THE ROBOT ROCKS THE F***ING HOUSE!

VIDEO LINK NOT TO BE SHARED

After dropping off some things to the hotel and changing, it was back to the madhouse of MegaCon about 6PM. There was some confusion as to where the Ghost of the Robot queue would start. There was a cosplay contest going in in the concert room and it was running over time. Rosie and I noticed Charlie, Eddie & Jordan coming up the escalator and went in to the room through the guest (back) door. Sullivan & James came up a little bit later.

After locating a Megacon staff member, one of the head people came over and formally started it around 7:10PM moving the stretch dividers over against the observation wall. VIPS basically walked in after the cosplay was over and policed themselves for the occasion. Some were late but polite knocks to the door got them in as the doors were locked from the outside. At one point Sullivan came out to use the facilities but got locked out! He had to go back in through the back door.

After the soundcheck which we could hear a little of outside, Jean came out to check tickets and collect money at the door and we got marked with a "GOTR" in Sharpie on our hands. Then it was in to the freezer (the rooms AC was malfunctioning) and glad I brought my sweater - it was COLD! Jessie was at the merchandise table at front where the band did some brisk sales both before and after the concert.

The concert itself? F***ING AWESOME! The best concert of James I had seen for a long time - right on par with Union Chapel in 2007.
I recorded most of it - but the sound quality is vastly inferior than to actually being there. VIDEO HERE After he concert James flung his set list out into the audience and I caught it! James' Set List

Rosie and I stayed 'til the end having a dinner engagement with Jean & Jessie and the band came out one at a time (to pose/sign/clean up), so I got them (-James) to sign it Signed set list. James did come out but he said he wasn't posing for pictures/signing after having done a LONG day at the convention. Rosie & I got to talk to everyone: the band thanking me for all the candy. and Mark giving me a hard time about the Reese's, saying that "they were as tempting as a naked woman" (his words), and he was up to 5 packages by the point. Sullivan and I had an interesting talk about "fan-girls" and his wanting to be the business/merchandise manager for the band and Charlie ended up taking my pen for all of the signing requests for him. I gave James a well-deserved "I'm not worthy" bow, to which he laughed and said Thank you. Then it was off to Red Lobster for dinner where we closed the place around 1AM. A GOTR Evening