San Diego Comic-Con 2011 Music Wrap Up
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| Daft Punk, DeadMau5 and an Italian walk into a club... |
San Diego Comic-Con has come and gone for 2011. It feels like it was aeons ago even though its been less than a week! Despite the focus of Comic-Con being about comics, movies and games, there is always a little bit of the music scene bubbling under the ink and free swag.
The above picture was the first brush with the music world I encountered in San Diego: a trio of cosplayers decked out as Daft Punk and DeadMau5. Major kudos to all three of these guys for their costume choices. The influence of the mouse-head electronica artist was very apparent as there were actually several people who donned hand made DeadMau5 heads spotted around Comic-Con.
If you don't journey your way to the far north end of the San Diego Convention Center, then you would never know there were not one, but a pair of record labels with booths on the show floor. This year I resisted temptation and didn't pick up anything from soundtrack specialty label La-La Land Records, but I did from Century Media.
These metal specialists had a very wide selection of albums available at their booth, with some priced very competitively, and a team of incredibly cool dudes running things. And what better time than Comic-Con to pick up the newest release from Finnish band Turisas, the founders of Battle Metal. Century Media was joining the free giveaway festivities so prevalent at Comic-Con by handing out a 12" vinyl EP from Enslaved called The Sleeping Gods. Two sets of horns way up to Century Media for this! \m/ \m/ And while it isn't vinyl, you can download the EP for free below!
Another bit of temptation I resisted was picking up a print of KISS drawn as pinup girls. The art of Laurie B! was quite fun and very well done, but there was just something that felt odd seeing The Starchild, The Demon, The Spaceman and The Catman done up as curvacious comic-inspired hotties. It would have been wrong to photograph the artist's work for this article, but I encourage you to check out Laurie's other amazing pinup art.
Saturday night of Comic-Con, I found myself among several hundred steampunk fans for a concert headlined by the leading artist of the steampunk music movement, Abney Park. Also on the bill was an interesting band of the same particular style by the name of the Unextraordinary Gentlemen. I will have reviews of both bands, including pictures and videos, posted here soon.
Easily the music-related highlight of Comic-Con came in the form of one of those brief, fun moments that just happen and you never forget them. I was seated next to actor Zack Pearlman (The Virginity Hit) waiting for a panel to start, when Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son" began to play from the room's speakers. Simultaneously, I began air guitaring and Zack began air drumming. It only lasted a few bars as the panel was beginning, but it was indeed an awesome moment.
Since I hadn't begun this blog until well after Comic-Con of last year, it's worth mentioning finding things of a Euterpean nature this week wasn't an anomaly. Last year I was lucky enough to win a ticket to see Cheap Trick at a private party, enjoyed a set of electronica and Tron Legacy music spun by DJ Jason Bentley, saw a performance by a two-man band called Heavy Young Heathens and got to enjoy a set from one of my favorite up and coming So Cal bands, Gorgeous Got a Gun. So as you can see, there are many music-themed adventures one can have during Comic-Con, if you know when and where to turn the page.
Check out this performance by Gorgeous Got a Gun at Comic-Con 2010!
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