Summer of Sonic 2013

[DaN]

C'mon rory, you were absolutely amazing. You're a really talented guy. It was improvized but it was a really funny thing u did, and it revealed to be a nice touch to close the show

On Stage it happens most of the times that improvized things are the most appreciated.

[JezMM]

The only part of the day that sounded really bad was (depressingly pretty crucially sound-requiring) the Sonic CD remix album trailer.  Some points were just BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBASS with the music underneath completely indiscernible.  Such a shame.

[SegaSuperStar]

At one point the guy starting to hurt my ears when he hit those high notes.....he's no Johnny gioeli, but he didn't do too bad. The girl i could hardly hear...needed to be louder. Oh well a great experience none the less. Jun Senoue rocked as always on stage. Too bad Live and Learn wasn't played...i know everyone wanted it. Too bad.

[Badnik Mechanic]

And as usual, here is the tour video.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA28VrLnyXo

 

See if you can spot yourself, it was filmed around 10 min after Buzzbombers.

[Roareye Black]

At one point the guy starting to hurt my ears when he hit those high notes.....he's no Johnny gioeli, but he didn't do too bad. The girl i could hardly hear...needed to be louder. Oh well a great experience none the less. Jun Senoue rocked as always on stage. Too bad Live and Learn wasn't played...i know everyone wanted it. Too bad.

You were obviously watching the live feed. This was the first year we used a crowd mic AND used a professional mixing desk solely for the Live Feed. As such several mistakes were made in the mix, and that's why Dan came across as too loud. Live on the day, Jun's guitar was loud and punchy and the voices matched HIS lead. Susie was also loud enough to be heard. A shame there was a sound issue on the stream, still hoping one of the two documentary teams got a more accurate representation of the audio.

 

As for Live and Learn, it was considered however Jun Senoue and Johnny Gioeli are against other people performing the Crush 40 songs without them both involved. It's fair enough. It'd be like asking Aerosmith to play and putting a fan as the lead singer at the gig. The omission of the track wasn't down to laziness, I can assure you. Jun worked on this (Accumulating and remixing master tapes for the event) and 3 whole titles all at once. The dude was overworking himself as it was for a gig on his own birthday. He's a proper trooper.

[Rurifuu]

And as usual, here is the tour video.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA28VrLnyXo

 

See if you can spot yourself, it was filmed around 10 min after Buzzbombers.

Me dying on the floor from the heat of my costume at 1:03  also waiting for my friend to finish in the Sonic Lost World line. 

 

Awesome tour video. I missed seeing a lot of things like the comic tables (Something I wanted to check out but a mixture of long lines and being worn out stopped me). You did a good job showing off everything on offer that day.

[SegaSuperStar]

No i was standing near the front row actually.....and still couldn't hear Susie that much on some lyrics she sung, but she was very brave and it takes guts to go on stage and sing so fair due to her. Indeed Jun Senoue was fantastic. he always goes all out for his fans.

[Badnik Mechanic]

By the way...

 

The view from the front doors of every past SOS...

 

2008:

 

No really, thats how small the street was!

 

2009:

 

 

2010:

 

 

2011:

 

 

Technically this was the back, but... you more or less went this way to get to food/money/transport etc.

 

2012: before we had to move...

 

 

And even then the 'front' of the second venue was brighton beach and the seaside.

 

2013... ... ...

 

 

And if you walk to the edge of the street...

 

 

The phrase 'Bugger me' comes to mind when you look at the difference from 2008 to this years.

 

Mind you, if you look at the difference in the 2010 tour video I did to this years, just pay attention to the layout of the place and access... the difference is shocking.

[Stasis]

We were that close to Big Ben!? I had no idea!

[xSinisterStrike]

We were that close to Big Ben!? I had no idea!

 

We were also close to London Bridge. xD

[TCB]

I'm from the U.S., and even I have played attention to the growing scope of each year's venue. That's just mind-boggling how in 2008 it went from that little thing to something that awesome in 2013.

 

I even made a tweet about the event's venue:

 

https://twitter.com/TheChaosBlue/status/363697020390739969

[Badnik Mechanic]

We were that close to Big Ben!? I had no idea!

 

It's actually just obscured by some trees... but if you go out of the venue, turn left and walk to the end of the building, then look right, you can see Big Ben and parliment.

[Roareye Black]

What you likely didn't get in the 2010 video tour was the reality of the building. It should have been condemned (In fact I believe it was not long after we left). Lightbulbs hung loose up the stairs to the ladies' toilets (With sparking electrical wires in tow), power sockets were loose and pulled out of the walls and we had to re-attach them, not to mention the crazy holes in the floor we had to patch over with sofas so that people wouldn't break their ankles.

2010's venue looked so awesome on the surface, but it really was skin-deep at best. 2013's venue was far stronger, and actually gave us about twice the space of 2011 (The two halls were both not far off the size of the one 2011 hall) which meant everyone had more personal space.

 

I'm gonna be a douche and rate the venues.

 

2008 - Tiny, no air con, but cheap and accomodated us no end. 5/10

2009 - Small, bad acoustics, poor use of height, but outside area was bliss. 6/10

2010 - Large, no air con, excellent potential but horrendous electrics, poor security and the worst paid soundman in the world. 3/10.

2011 - Smaller, air con initially but broke on the day, cramped but good access, hotels and tech. 5/10 (If working aircon came back)

2012 - (The one we used) Air con, two rooms worked surprisingly well, easy layout but poor height for the gig. 7/10

2013 - Air con (But not turned up high enough), "Gold Ring Security Services", great size but no interior food court. 7/10

 

Of course, I'm just looking at it from the production side. I know for a fact that normal attendees would put the 2010 venue quite high whereas for me it was the worst of the lot. It certainly had the most potential for future gigs, if only it weren't so poorly maintained and poorly managed... or condemned.

2013 and 2012s venues worked surprisingly well, easily the best of all the venues. I liked the fact that 2012's venue allowed for food and drink, but the proper stage in the 2013 venue unlocked better acoustics and presence. Be interesting to see what people think.

[Vertekins]

I only have attended 2008's, 2010's, 2011's and 2013's SoS' and 2013's easily takes the award for best venue so far.

 

I recall hearing bad things about 2010's venue - Previous hall-users hadn't moved their stuff so it allegedly put more work on the organizers, equipment went missing and at least one disabled attendee was questioned about his crutches in a completely unreasonable manner.

 

2011's was much too hot IMO and needed more room.

 

2013's was great. Wasn't as hot as previous years, noticeably roomier, cooler locale and it had a place to buy drinks and food in and sit down to eat

[xSinisterStrike]

 

2013 - Air con (But not turned up high enough), "Gold Ring Security Services", great size but no interior food court. 7/10

 

.

 

I thought the air con was good at times. I liked the cafe because I got hot during the day so it was a nice place to go to for a drink and a rest.

[Badnik Mechanic]

What you likely didn't get in the 2010 video tour was the reality of the building. It should have been condemned (In fact I believe it was not long after we left). Lightbulbs hung loose up the stairs to the ladies' toilets (With sparking electrical wires in tow), power sockets were loose and pulled out of the walls and we had to re-attach them, not to mention the crazy holes in the floor we had to patch over with sofas so that people wouldn't break their ankles.

Well with SOS 08, didn't have a video camera, hence no video. Same with SOS 09.

SOS 10, had the camera and whilst I was 'staff' I wasn't authorised/asked to come in and help with the set-up and the strike. Even when I asked Kev at the end if he wanted me to do anything I said "Or is there some kind of health and safety/form which means I can't?" and he said something along the lines of 'he'd love me to help out, but due to the forms that had been filled in I couldn't.'

Now I was however allowed in the staff crows nest (Urth authorised me), and I did get an idea that the venue wasn't exactly quite as good as the building owners made it out to be, not just the piss poor security, but at one point during the day, someone comes out with a huge ladder and begins to climb up a wall to adjust the light, I'm not sure who I was with at the time but I distinctly remember conversation going "What the fuck! What the fuck! What the fuck is he doing! What the fuck is that!" As they pointed to the guy with the ladder.

2013 - Air con (But not turned up high enough), "Gold Ring Security Services", great size but no interior food court. 7/10

They did have the cafe, and that quick take out cafe place.. but my god it was expensive. £8.30 for a small fish and chips and £1.20 for a can of diet pepsi.

There was one really lucky benefit we had with this years venue... the wind. Though you'd only notice if you were in the comics room. The way the wind was blowing meant that it was coming in through those huge open windows, but of couse, due to the closed off hallway segment, wasn't getting to the stage area, hence the huge difference in temperature.

Oh yeah, and much better backstage access this year.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Been going since 2010, I can throw in my two cents on venues. 2010 from my point of view was ok. Good for a 1st timer but I was way too warm. Then I heard of the problems & I couldn't really trust it anymore. 2011 was incredible. Huge space, seperate room for food, still felt a bit warm but meh & a lot of seats! 2012 was good. I'd rate it higher than 2010 but it felt way smaller, even with two rooms. 2013 was perfect. Plenty of space, cool, it was a venue to remember.

[kimplix]

Quick question Hogfarther. Is there going to be a Summer of Sonic 2013 Goodie Bag Unboxing some point this year?

[Badnik Mechanic]

Quick question Hogfarther. Is there going to be a Summer of Sonic 2013 Goodie Bag Unboxing some point this year?

 

I will be doing one, just have to re-film it since it's kinda long right now and didn't come out quite as I wanted.

[JezMM]

I actually thought 2013 was the best food-wise yet.  It was such a huge area it meant it was never crowded like 2011's, and was a really nice place for parents to sit who didn't want to get involved with the convention.

 

The food was a little pricey I agree, but dunno what you guys had but the veggie lasagnes, chips and mixed veg were totally delish.

 

 

Overall I do think this was the best venue yet, just needed a little better queue handling, what with those snaking patterns people made (though much kudos to keeping the shape of the queue without barriers).  The main problem was the signing queue, which made it a pain reaching the art area.

 

Having two entrances to each room eased congestion considerably though I must say.  You never had to stand around long to get around.

Edited August 6, 2013 by JezMM

[SegaSuperStar]

I've done a Summer of Sonic 2013 Goodie bag review myself.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2tHv1Gq-Vc

[Tani Coyote]

Looking over it, I think perhaps the coolest thing to me is that they actually printed Sonic the Comic Online's issue; it looks like a 100% legitimate print!

Actually no. It is SEGA's official Sonic suit. As far as I'm aware, the Sonic costume we had this year (And most years) is Sega Europe's official outfit. However last year SEGA accidentally forgot to bring the costume! Luckily (I think) Sega Merch brought a cheap and quite badly knocked-up outfit of Sonic so we were forced to use it - despite the fact it isn't the official suit nor as good as the official one. However we had the Official Suit this year, so it is legit. Not fan made.

Ah yes, I see!

They look very, very different, that's for certain. With how strict SEGA can be about uniform appearances (the mandates for the Adventure looks in the comic books come to mind) I wasn't sure if they'd be okay with SEGA America and SEGA Europe's suits diverging by such a fair amount.

GIFT? What's that?

Pardon the language, but it's the "Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory." It basically says that a perfectly pleasant person can become incredibly rude and cruel once granted an audience and anonymity, particularly via the internet.

We know quality, and singers are rigorously screened before getting the gig. Daniele Narducci and Susie Brown were both fantastic, and both did the gig for free. The only singer on stage who deserved some flack was me, for Robotnik's Tea Party and for some reason this fanbase is lavishing me praise (Pete is still a git lol. Love him though).

I figured there was something more to it; the stream was shouting such hurtful criticisms, but none of the people who actually attended were. It's clear that any "bad" part of the performance is on the fact it was viewed via a stream, not the singers themselves. It sounds like it was wonderful in person.

I dropped myself in it stupidly by suggesting the only song left was me singing Robotnik's Tea Party. I was rather hoping people would take that as intended and stop asking for more. Instead they called my bluff. And before I said "No, that really is the end. Have a good night and safe journey home." Pete Nethercote came along to sell the gig to the audience and force me into it - which is why the video shows me calling him a git.

I'm not surprised at all they cheered you on for it, actually; people love getting others to do something they're really hesitant about doing from my experience. I think it's that inner troll in all of us; we know the other person is uncomfortable about it, and yet... we press them on to continue.

 

I was surprised how many people knew it. More people knew that than Adam Tuff's Star Wars comment during Buzzbombers.

 

I was most impressed at the number of folks singing Seaside Denied when Jun was playing Seaside Hill. That's impressive and something I'd kill to replicate at Boom.

 

By the way...

 

The view from the front doors of every past SOS...Mind you, if you look at the difference in the 2010 tour video I did to this years, just pay attention to the layout of the place and access... the difference is shocking.

I have to give props to the SOS team for keeping an event going for not only seven years, but displaying the professionalism and work ethic necessary to go from such a humble start to a fanbase-renowned convention with official recognition. Seeing how far it's come really gives me the enthusiasm to try and help others such as Sonic Boom West also become successful, and particularly grateful that the SoS team have done so much to reduce barriers to recognition for other fans.

[Mollfie]

I thought that this was the best venue so far. I liked that there were two rooms but they were nearer to each other this time, which was more convenient.

 

I did think that the drinks etc were pricey (£5 for two ice-teas and a bag of crisps!) but I really liked the cafe. It gave parents a place to sit if they didn't want to be involved with the rest of the event. It was a nice place to cool down. The food was great. It was also huge, so it felt very calm even when busy.

 

The queueing wasn't great but it didn't bother me personally, I got to play on the WiiU and 3DS. However I did find the queuing in the art room to be frustrating because it cut across the room, making it hard to get through to the art area.

 

Once again I also found it frustrating that the art area was full and not everyone was actually drawing or taking part in the art class. I know that there is limited space and people will want to sit with their friends, so there isn't much you can do about it. But it's a bit annoying. I did manage to sit down and quickly doodle two small pictures because they took away all the pens though.

 

I wish that there had been better access to the 'artist alley' area. At first I didn't realise there were any other artists around at all. Then once I did realise it, they'd closed the art area off for the second art class. Jez and our friend did manage to go over in the end though and get some postcards. It just seemed a bit, out of the way?

 

I thought that there was a great range of merchandise on offer, but I didn't buy anything. My friend bought some coasters, the Sonic and Tails ones. I just think there could have been a bit more variety in characters? But again, limited space and it's not like I can't buy most of it online if I really wanted to.

 

For once I didn't find this venue too hot. Towards the end of the evening it was getting very warm, during Jun's performance, but that's to be expected. However throughout the day I found it to be tolerable.

 

I found the sound to be fine overall. Jun's performance was great, the singers sounded fine most of the time (there was the odd moment where I felt that the female singer was a little drowned out) but I did find it hard to hear some of the interviews and Buzzbombers every now and then, but I think that has less to do with the system and more to do with people just generally not always speaking clearly/loud enough? Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Looking over it, I think perhaps the coolest thing to me is that they actually printed Sonic the Comic Online's issue; it looks like a 100% legitimate print!

 

It is 100% legitimate and official.

 

The only possible... possible nitpick you could have with it, would be that it's numbered 261 and not 224. But thats only if you were gonna be an absolute purist.

 

For me, this means nothing. It's been green lit by sega, given out at an event in which everything has to be green lit by Sega, is covered with the Sega logo handed out at an event overseen by Sega.

 

This IS an 100% official product. It's not like someone just went to STCO and printed off one of their strips. Not to mention, Nigel Kitching wrote the script, Nigel Dobbyn was one of the artists on the strip and did the cover art.

 

This is an official STC.

[Tani Coyote]

It is 100% legitimate and official.

 

This IS an 100% official product. It's not like someone just went to STCO and printed off one of their strips. Not to mention, Nigel Kitching wrote the script, Nigel Dobbyn was one of the artists on the strip and did the cover art.

 

This is an official STC.

I didn't mean such in an offensive manner, and I'm sorry if it came off as such.

I had presumed the fans had gotten together their resources and managed to get quality prints of the latest STCO issue; I had no idea SEGA had any part of its printing.

Now. To board the hype train hoping SEGA learned from this that people still care about STC and will try to revive the license... (I can dream)