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Photographs by Thomas Crone
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The value of bouncing up and down the halls of the annual Archon convention is that you’re pretty much guaranteed to come across a strange, unexpected or delightful moment. You can go into it with a plan, sure. Or you can go in, and just let good things happen around you.
This past weekend, Archon returned to the Gateway Center in Collinsville for its 37th year. It’s a facility that seems the perfect size for St. Louis’ freewheeling sci-fi, anime, gaming and fantasy convention. As always, the various meetings rooms and banquet rooms were transformed by panel discussions, gaming stations and media screenings. Impromptu, unscheduled events (like light-saber battles) broke out on the grassy fields nearby. And, of course, the packed hallways were a perfect place to simply people-watch, as attendees strode through the con in every manner of gear and attire.
Back to the notion of finding something special and fun amidst all the visual and aural enticements…
On Saturday afternoon, I found myself with a few solo moments. I headed into the darkened LaSalle room, thanks to a visual catching my eye. It was a graphic of the late, lamented, sci-fi show Firefly. It’s the kind of program that’s forgotten by most folks in the general population; but within the halls of Archon, it’s nothing less than a touchstone television series, forever loved for its brief, 14-episode existence. The quick screencap of the Firefly cast was followed by a variety of other pop-cultural slides and video clips.
The great Luke Ski was onstage for one of his weekend concerts at Archon. Ski describes himself on his website as “the musical jester of sci-fi, the emissary of rap dementia, the pimp of the geek nation, and a prominent bacon enthusiast.” Even after a few minutes of catching his set, you could figure out the basics of his act. Creating amusing storylines, Ski occasionally sets his vocals against the original clips, allowing the audio from the clips to bounce against his own lyrics. This creates the need to pay attention to the screen, as well as the performer. Ski’s presentation doesn’t have a lot to distract you, as he simply stalks the stage from left to right, and then back again. Even if it was relatively easy to keep eyes on the screen, his lyrical references come fast and furiously.
As someone who found Firefly years after the original air dates in 2002, catching Ski’s humorous tribute was an amusing little anecdote from Archon. In fact, it was one of many such “a-ha” moments on Saturday.
And that, of course, applied to the various entertainments taking place at the DoubleTree Hotel, neighboring the Gateway Center and the official post-Masquerade party place. Featuring theme rooms throughout the venue, a very active disco, and a never-ending supply of Natural Light, the DoubleTree’s late-night conclusion to the full day of Archon’s Saturday programming is always a treat. It’s where we found most of the photos accompanying this piece, with the balance coming from inside the Gateway Center.
Larger versions of these photos can be found here.
Photographs by Thomas Crone
