Dragon*Con 2008: Saturday

James Marsters

The first panel of the day was Torchwood with Anthony Lewis, Gareth David Lloyd, and James. Frankly, I don’t watch the show. I tried when it premiered here in the U.S. but I just couldn’t get into it. I wasn’t interested in the panel, but I realized something the night before. I paid a lot to go to a party featuring James and this dude from TW. I should at least find out what he looks like. Plus, the panel took place in our own hotel, meaning very little walking was needed. Always a good thing at a con.

Since it was the first panel, people were let in to the ballroom early… unfortunately, I had just run off to the restroom when they did, so mad_brilliant_ tried her best to save a seat for seapea and myself. We were off to the left side, second row. Not a bad view, but at some point while we waited, one seat closer to the center aisle opened up and I took it. Worked out perfectly because then we had a seat for lightdependent.

James Marsters

If I recall correctly, the panel was interesting and funny. During the first half hour, a moderator asked the guests questions and then the floor was opened up to the audience. Different format for Dragon*Con, but I think it worked out well because then all the actors had a chance to say something. When it was the audience’s turn, I think most forgot that Anthony was there, too. Granted, I don’t know what kind of role exactly he played in the show, but I’m guessing it wasn’t big enough to really draw the audience to him. And hey! I got to see who this Gareth dude was… he was funny.

After the TW panel, oanimation, jaesha, seapea and I got in line for… I think it was a Smallville panel, although I’m not sure. All I knew was that it featured Michael Rosenbaum. There was a BSG or Stargate panel in between, so we waited until that line went in before we lined up. While we queued, I did a quick food run to Subway. They had a very efficient line going at Subway… I guess they’ve had plenty of practice by this point.

Michael Rosenbaum

In a nutshell, Michael’s panel? *swoons* He brought out his friend Chris, who for the most part, talked only when prompted by Michael. From the get-go, Michael was very entertaining. Apparently he didn’t like the mics the panelists were provided with, and as he went to get the cordless mic he requested, he made note of one “excited” mic. *shakes head* Michael is much like James in the sense that he has boundless energy, however, Michael is a comedian and seems to really enjoy being the entertainment and making people laugh. Once he went cordless, he didn’t want to sit down and half-way through, he even jumped off the stage because he wanted to be down there with the audience. Although that was totally awesome, the problem with that idea was that there were no lights on the floor and people in the back could no longer see him, even through the big screen. To rectify that, Michael walked towards the back of the ballroom and interacted with the audience there. Ooh!! And there was one cute little girl named Marion. I can’t remember the affiliation between her name and the show Happy Days (I’ve never watched it), but her name reminded him of the show and he instructed her to say, “Happy days” whenever he sang the first part of the show’s title song. And she would! Every single time. Considering I heard Michael talking about her later on in the day, I figure he was very taken with her.

After seeing Michael’s panel, jaesha and I were convinced that we had to get an autograph and another photo op with him. He was just too much fun to pass up. We got a joint photo op for the following day and got our autographs that afternoon. I didn’t really say much except that his panel had been awesome and I looked forward to seeing his comedic projects. He did get a kick out of the “awesome” comment.

That afternoon I also had my first photo op with James. For the photo, we just did the huggy one… I’m not sure if that was his intent, but that’s the one we ended up taking. Before I left, I asked him if at that night’s party, if there was any chance he might sing “This Town.” He said he might. I followed up with a, “Please,” to which he responded, “You know what? I will.” I beamed at him. I’m sure I did anyway. Soon as I was out the door I literally bounced my way to my friends. I *love* “This Town” and it’s been a while since I heard him sing it. I figured there was no harm in asking.

Once we were done with photo ops and at the Walk of Fame, roomies and I headed up to our room to relax and eventually get ready for the uber special party. We mostly relaxed. :o)

We headed out fairly early to the shindig because we wanted to make sure we snagged a table that would allow for all our friends. Himber & Co. were a little late to start, but as it turned out, it was due to the restaurant changing the venue on them. Rather than hosting the party in the upstairs part of the restaurant, it had been moved to the back patio. Logistically, this proved to be a problem. The area was small; there was hardly any room for the 60 paying customers, plus tables and chairs, not to mention the space James would need for the mic and stuff. There was no space for the guitar’s amplifier and generally, the sound sucked.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not particularly fond of JMLive and their oft disorganized events. However, on this occasion, no way can I lay blame on them. Everyone was thrown for a loop with the venue change, but tried their best to make it work as best as possible. Rather than the originally planned 10 people per table, I think we ended up with 12 or 13– 2 or 3 new faces to meet.

Once we’d all settled into a table, Froggy came in and took photos of everyone’s table, including James and Gareth. It was pretty neat! The concert began immediately after the photos were taken, which caught me a little unprepared. Was the idea for James to sing while we all ate? Ha. So not gonna happen. I took out my camera and tried to take advantage of what little available sunlight was left. It was difficult, seeing as how it was well past 7pm at this point, but I did take some at the beginning. I was waaay too close to James to even consider taking photos using flash. I’m sure I would’ve completely blinded him.

James Marsters

James began the concert with “Katie,” which I was very happy to hear. It’s a fun upbeat song, and another one he hadn’t played in a long while. What songs followed exactly completely escapes me, however, he did sing “This Town.” And he didn’t just go right into it. No… nope. He mentioned before starting the song that someone had requested it. He looked at me, I guess unsure whether or not it had been me, but if he’d doubted it, I heard oanimation and jaesha helped him along by pointing me out. When he looked at me for confirmation, I nodded and he told me the song was for me.

• Flaming-red face: Check
• Desire to suddenly disappear: Check
• Warm squishy feelings: Check (although it might’ve been the apple martini)

Every time he looked at me during the song, I got terribly self-conscious. I’d smile, but it was a little weird. Not entirely unpleasant, mind you, just strange. It was pretty darn neat though and I got to hear my favorite song. Yay!!!

Throughout the night, our entire table got a lot of eye contact with James. Good table, nice table.

The concert didn’t last long. James did mess up some and he would start songs he’d already sung. When he meant to start “Not a Millionaire”, he began playing a song he’d already sung and couldn’t remember at all how to play “Not a Millionaire.” He skipped down to another song instead, but I think that ended up messing him up even more because later on, he began playing it again. It wasn’t until about 1/3 into the song that he realized he’d already played it. After that, he played “Birth of the Blues” and that was the last song we got. Not a particularly long concert.

On top of that, during “Birth of the Blues,” one of the strings got messed up. James and Gareth had apparently worked on something together but because of the broken string, James did not feel confident they could pull it off. Rather than sucking, he called off the musical portion of the evening and began doing his rounds at the tables. Before he did, though, I thanked him for singing “This Town” although I think he thought I was thanking him for the entire concert. His response: “I tried.”

James began at the table behind us, and while we waited, we chatted. I told mad_brilliant_ to prepare her story because she’d be telling it to James. I’m not sure if she believed me when I said that.

Soon after James got to our table, jameslovin1 presented him with a drink, but he told her that he was sticking to the red wine that night because Steve had told him that some people thought he was falling apart or something like that.

My goal had been to have mad_brilliant_ tell James her story, so I got his attention and told him that. Someone on the other side of the table said something, and I recall there was a toast after that, but soon as it was over, James turned his attention back to mad_brilliant_ and asked her to share. I think it’s best if she shares her story, but it was really awesome and James, I think, really appreciated it. We toasted again afterwards.

I’m sketchy on the details of what happened next, but I know that mad_brilliant_ took good notes after the party, so I’ll leave the rest of that up to her.

Once James left our table, I thought it was over. I’d completely forgotten about Gareth. Oops. Since most of us moved around to chat with the people at our table, by the time Gareth made it to ours, I had no chair. I was standing across from him, behind oanimation, I think. He did ask me if I wanted to sit down, but I was fine standing. Frankly, I don’t remember anything of what he said at our table. I partly blame the alcohol (mine and his) and partly the fact that I have difficulty enough understanding accents when completely sober… trying to understand a tipsy person when I’m tipsy myself? Really not going to work out too well. Hee.

Before the night ended, Steve asked that everyone sing happy birthday to James, as he stood on a chair in the middle of the patio. It was funny because James really, really didn’t want that. As he stood on the chair he looked down at me (I was sitting at this point), and he told me, “This is not good.” I just shrugged at him. Nothing he could do!

And so ended our night at Max Lager’s. Several of my tablemates and I continued our festivities at the Marriott’s High Velocity sports bar, for a few more drinks and nibbles. We waited a long time, but eventually we got a table. As we waited, we chatted and people watched… lots of good costumes and some that were just… interesting.

It was a good night. A really good night and I’m very glad that I did end up going to the party. It was fun, despite all the technical glitches. Granted, I usually have fun at these types of events because no matter what, I know my friends and I will make the best of it. And we did. :o)