Brasklapp

2017 års Swecon var tillbaka i Uppsala och på Clarion Hotell Gillet, platsen för Swecon 2012. Den hölls den 26-28 maj och hade drygt 320 deltagare på plats över de tre dagarna (endast en uppskattning på söndagens morgon). Hedersgäster var Siri Pettersen från Norge samt Kameron Hurley och Ann Leckie från USA. Dessutom hade de Saladin Ahmed som hedersgäst emeritus, då han hade fått lämna återbud några månader innan kongressen. Jämfört med 2012 så var vi färre deltagare men hade också betydligt större programytor att tillgå, så det var betydligt lättare och behagligare att vara på kongressen som deltagare: det var inte alls samma problem med trängsel, dålig luft och buller.

( Fortsättning följer )

I hadn't been at Nyfiket since Christmas and the trip to the USA, but last Tuesday I went back there. Hulda opted to stay home with thette, but as soon as I was to pay for my soup the guy manning the counter asked me if I had any more Joe Hill songs to sing. I had to tell him no, since I did Martin Q Larson's "Jag vill bo i rymden" and Nils Ferlin's "En valsmelodi" instead. A kid there that Hulda had played with there earlier also asked for her.

This week Hulda and I had a quick dinner at home before heading out again. After they had rigged the scene I opened with "Rymden är stor" (my translation of Chris Malme's "Space Is Big"), and Hulda immediately joined me on scene to do the actions. Then "Jag vill bo i rymden" again, since it had become a favourite of Hulda's friend. I rounded out the theme of the night with "Satellitsången". And just a minor flub in "Jag vill bo i rymden"!

Another singer (with guitar) had come along, so he went up and did three songs as well after me. And Hulda checked my songbook on the train home and wanted to sing "Ditt hem är fandom" as we walked from the station. She's starting to turn into quite the fan.

Note for next week: get to the library in Huskvarna and borrow their copy of Joe Hills sånger.

Went to the open mic at Nyfiket tonight again, this time armed with my new Zoom H1. I set it up on the extra mic stand, and recorded the sets, more or less having guesstimated the proper sound level beforehand. When I got there one of the people who helped me set things up last time immediately asked me if I intended to perform this time too, so I felt welcome at once. Another guy who I had spoken to last time also recognised me and asked if I were to sing.

I did four songs in two sets: "Känslans partisan", "Acts of Creation", then a pause if another performer intended to turn up (none did), followed by a second set with "Child of the Library", and "Pappersframmatningen är trasig".

Recording on the Zoom worked very well. Set it up in an extra mic stand adjacent to the PA mic, and hit the button when you being and end the set. I just listened through the recordings in Garageband, and I can tell that:

1. There's a definite quality difference to the better in my voice when I perform standing up, in public, and with no regard for neighbours, to my earlier home recordings, usually made sitting down and in the apartment. No surprise there, but nice to have it confirmed
   
2. I really need to make sure I've sung through the songs beforehand several times before I do them in public unless I want to do minor or major flubs, and this goes double for songs in English

Some of the staff were curious about the background for "Pappersframmatningen är trasig", so we spoke a bit about fanzine culture and history. Overall, a nice evening.

Archipelacon was great.

( Long con report )

All in all, an excellent con! The program was a little thin on items that fit me, but Therese enjoyed it immensely, and all the items I did go to were of high quality. I could only see a few minor issues, and most of those were fixed without any fuss. I'm especially glad that I managed to meet more of the fans from Malmö, Dave, and Päivi!