Mel and I went to Return of Zod last Saturday, and I must say, it was hella fun. Event photos of course can be found online at ubersonic; I'd have my own to post, but alas I forgot the memory card for my "digi-cam". On a brighter note, Mel and I did score a Zod themed apron, perfect for grilling and other cookery. Musical highlights included Photovore09 who rolled in from Minneapolis to spin a bangin' ghetto-tech set, and forcedperfect assaulting the stage with breakcore live PA. Of course, I must mention my good friend D3F1L3 who will be crossing the ocean to the land down under. I wish him him well as he embarks on amazing Australian adventures.
The venue was a privately owned chunk 'o' riverside property near Iowa City. The owners gave us the evil eye as we pulled in, but that aside, the vibe was generally quite positive- it's hard to go wrong with a few dozen party kids camping next to a river. The geodesic dome I helped Hoeken build was in full effect; I'm actually rather impressed with that homebrew project. Since camping was involved this meant fire, and being the pyro I am, the first order of business was inspecting fire pits for hot coals. I managed to resurrect one fire and used that to build a new one at our campsite.
Musically, personally, spatially; the party was quite good. My only real complaint was one shared by Mel- the music was incessant. We were simply unable to sleep through the unrelenting and life-suckingly mediocre house music blaring through the dawn hours. It was so bad that we almost left the party without saying goodbye to our friends- even Jake who is leaving for Australia. This particular problem gave me serious doubts about attending similar outdoor events; I need sleep too much- I just can't function without it. In contrast, I did attend Blueshift last summer, and at that event there were blissful breaks in the music for sleep.
Unforunately I won't be able to make Blueshift 2 this year, but that's perfectly acceptable- I need to complete my transition to Des Moines. At any rate, I'm lending a hand with party decorations. In this case it is plywood robot silhouettes in fitting with the ubersonic tent robot theme.
Yup, those are plywood robots.