This is a guest post by AMP 2-11 Guardian of all things LOUD! Defender of everything with blinky lights! Champion of full frontal nerdity! Zombie by day, Rockstar by night AMP 2-11 loves taco carts, anything featuring David Grohl and long walks on the beach. You can catch more of his nerdalicious work (and free swag!) at TheTNTShow.com.
It’s 11:50 pm in Los Angeles and the night is young. My bandmates and I are here for Blizzcon, one of the biggest gaming conventions in the world, and quite frankly one of the most exciting. The shindig doesn’t officially start till Friday but already people sporting Blizzard name tags and swag are amassing. There’s a bit of a party starting in our lobby as I type.
So of course, I am in my room ironing. Let’s make this clear: I don’t iron. I don’t care what GQ and Esquire have to say on the subject. Ironing is a colossal waste of the single most limited resource that I possess: Time. I don’t even iron my suit for work.
So why am I ironing now? Because THIS is important. THIS. IS. BLIZZCON. Tomorrow morning my band is scheduled for a full technical rehearsal on the conventions mainstage. Yes, it’s just a rehearsal. But this is the very same stage upon which have walked the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, the Foo Fighters and, of course, the Elite Tauren Chieftains . This is no mere rehearsal, this is a walk in the footsteps of the gods.
But before that, to paraphrase John Byrne, we might ask ourselves, well, how did we get here? One of the highlights of Blizzcon is the talent and costume contest where fans are given the chance to return a bit of the favor and entertain the folks at Blizzard a bit. The submission process is open to all fans. Call for entries opened in May with a deadline of July 22. The entries call for a video of 2 min or less showcasing what you can do.
Our band was assembled from a group of musicians who met thru playing Diablo 3. Which is awesome. Until you consider that we are scattered across the country from San Francisco to Tampa Bay. It was a bit challenging (read: impossible) to get everybody together to play. We ended up filming everyone separately and then assembling the thing in post (you can check out the result on The TNT Show’s YouTube page). Frantically finishing the final edit we got everything turned in on the night of July 21st. Yeah, I never procrastinate…
And then we waited. And waited. Nothing.
By the time the Salt Lake City Comic Con rolled around at the end of September we figured we didn’t get in and that was that. I had three days at Comic Con so filled with AWESOME that I never checked my email until well after. Goosebumps tingled as I opened my email and saw “Blizzcon 2015 Talent Contest – Finalist Act!” They had written us Day 1 of the Comic Con. I was four days late in responding – eek! Fortunately we were still in time to answer and we were off and running.
Long story short, for those interested in entering the contest, Blizzard waits a long time to let you know if you get in. Also, as I found out last year, if you don’t get in you don’t hear anything at all. But more on that tomorrow. Lok’tar gar!