The Concert

In a word, Jonathan Coulton was awesome. Absolutely, unequivocally, 100 per cent awesome. It was fucking, deep fried awesome covered in awesome sauce.

First of all, I haven't laughed that hard at a comedy movie or show, much less a concert, in some time. Paul and Storm was funny, as was JoCo, however the combination of the three of them were too much for our tender sides to handle. The ease with which they interacted with each other and the crowd was amazing to watch. It was effortless. You could tell that they all really liked each other, as well as really enjoyed performing. On Jonathan's site today he apologized for the energy being a little off, no doubt because he was still jetlagged from London, but if that show was one with off kilter energy, his normal shows must blow the roof off.

He did a really great selection of songs, including all the favorites such as "Code Monkey", "Mandelbrot Set", "Skullcrusher Mountain" and "Still Alive" however my favorite by far was "Shop Vac". I wasn't familiar with the song and never has the soul crushing ennui of suburbia been captured in such an upbeat song. It was a really good set, with a very good variety of songs and it showed off his range as a songwriter well. I liked the set so much that I bought the "Thing a Week" boxed set after the show, complete with autographed shiny tin. Hodge bought one as well, so impressed was he.

After the show I got an opportunity to chat with JoCo a bit, although in retrospect I used most of that time to get his autograph for the auction and to blather on like an idiot as I am wont to do when in the presence of musical genius. Along with the Portal shirt, I also got my Skullcrusher Mountain shirt autographed and believe me when I say that I may never wash it.

Here's a picture of the guys all on stage. Jonathan is in the middle. I took it with my phone's camera, hence the crappy picture.

Here's a picture of Jonathan and I. Look how cool he is! I continue my tradition of rocking monkey based Overcompensating.com t-shirts while hobnobbing with musicians. I hope Frontalot isn't jealous. He'll always be my first.

In other news, the auction is off to a rousing success with the shirt already up to $76 bucks. I had hoped for 50, so I'm absolutely thrilled to death. I emailed a bunch of gaming sites, none of which posted anything about it save for Cheapy D at Cheapassgamer.com. Cheapy D, you are a gentleman and a scholar. You folks at Joystiq, Kotaku, Destructoid and Wired's Game | Life blog still have time to raise yourself up to the same super awesome level as Cheapy D, but you better get cracking. JoCo eclipses you all though as not only did he sign the shirt, but posted about it on his site. Rock on Johnny C. Rock on.

For those of you who think that 76 bucks is too much for a shirt, it is for charity, so get bidding!