Birmingham's first sci-fi/fantasy convention, OmegaCon was a raging success this year. Coyote Run got to enjoy sharing the stage with a lot of talented bands, and make connections with a whole plethora of new people, as well as a couple of diehard CR fans who made the long trip down from VA much to our delight and surprise.

One of the highlights of the trip included the costume ball, in which the best costume was awarded to "Darth King" who was basically Darth Vader with the Burger King King mask on. Yikes. Somebody somewhere has a picture of me with this guy and needs to send it to me though. I faced my fear to pose long enough with the King. The actor who played Chewbacca on the original Star Wars movies was floating around, and lots of other sci-fi pop culture icons could be seen signing books, giving speeches, taking photos, one Richard Hatch among them. Cat tried to be all cool and detached about shaking his hand, but you could tell she was a diehard fan and kinda wanted to burst a little, so yeah, pretty cute.

This awesome event took place at a ginormous Sheraton hotel in downtown Birmingham. I felt like a worker ant up on the 14th story of this vast facility, as I gazed down with a sensation not unlike vertigo at a massive cylindrical space colony...the place was like a small airport, only without security confiscating your sgian dubh. Actually, the security and staff were very hands-on and helpful, and helped me out on a couple of occasions when returning lost items and posting flyers. Anyways,the second night in, we decided to sample some of the local flavor, and enjoyed some of the best barbeque I've ever tasted...and being a Carolina native, I ain't just whistlin' dixie. I really didn't know that anybody served potatoes that were bigger than the patrons' heads...so yeah...David ordered a baked potato which turned out to be one serious spud. Our in-house sound technician, Doug Horvat got very animated with a story, and jumped up from the table clashing his head on the low-hanging light, which was pretty funny to behold...unfortunately his point got lost in the tumult. Probably something about meeting Richard Hatch, no doubt. Much to his credit, the man was a beast and worked overtime. We all did on that one...whew, what a drive! Crucial drive. Brutal. Crutal even...but on the flip side, at least our van got us there and back again and didn't leave us on the side of the road this time!

So as usual, I didn't really know what to expect, going into this one, but was very keen on experiencing a new adventure with the band. As it turned out, I got to wear all of my forest elf/hunter garb, and there is actually photographic evidence somewhere out there, of me playing hackeysack with at least a dozen Con-goers, including American McGee's Alice, a Sith Lord's gorgeous girlfriend, at least two vulcans, some chaka zulu rave kid, and several members of LA band, "Mankind is Obselete." A whiskey-sampling contest was a great way to unwind for me on Saturday night, and I actually learned a thing or two about Scotch and Whiskey, mainly that it all actually doesn't all taste like burnt wood. One of the neighborhood belly dancers, Laurie started to gyrate rhythmically after I started an impromptu jam session with a steel guitar player and a guy with a doumbek. I partied on into the night, and crashed around 4 a.m. after the seance in the paranormal room. There were a couple of suite parties that I hit here and there, making the rounds and spreading the word, trying to build our audience in 'bama...speaking of which, the Saturday show was by far the most successful, pulling the largest, and most enthusiastic crowd. Incidentally, a group of Irish step-dancers actually canceled one of their events to dance with our band on the following day. We made lots of new friends and connections, all around good times. The musicians we shared stage with were all very personable and there was a general sense of support among us all over the weekend. Personal highlights include: I got to shake my booty with Wonder Woman, mosh with some teletubbies, and I was presented with a golden brooch by an Urban Samurai who liked our music. My only regret is losing contact info for several folks I met on the trip, but there's always the chance that our paths will cross again. For the record, we do have personal emails which you can find somewhere around here. All in all, not a bad gig at all, (much drive-time aside) and I can't wait to do it again next year! Live long and prosper yo.

^v^ Zack