Ellen and I arrived at the park at 4:30. Plenty of time to go checkout all the fun stuff before the concert. A few people from the costume contest were hanging out front killing time. One guy had an awesome Link outfit. Even the sword looked pretty real.
While we were roaming around, I looked over at the other side of the planter where we were sitting and spotted Keith Robinson, one of the original programmers for the Intellivision! I hesitated before approaching him because I totally forgot his name. I enventually got the courage to just go up and say, "Hey, sorry I can't remember your name, but I love all the work you put into the Intellivision!" He quickly shook my hand and introduced himself. I must have chatted with him for about half-an-hour. He was so enthustastic talking about the good ol' days at Mattel. He then goes, "Want to see something nobody else has?" and pulls out a Nintendo DS . . . with an Intellivision cartridge! It was so awesome. The top screen was the playfield and the lower had the controls . . . with what looks exactly like the original controller overlays! Keith said he was having problems finding a publisher that was willing to distribute the game. All the games were on it though. We marveled on nostalgia for a few minutes before I asked Keith if I may get a picture with him, which he gratefully accepted!
Ellen and I waited in line to move on to the Meet and Greet section. There must have been over fifty people there, all video game personalities. Among the group was one of my idols, Steven Lisberger, the creator of Tron! I knew he would be there so I brought my Tron DVD to be signed. It was so great to meet him. Richard Taylor and Frank Serafine were also present to sign my DVD!
All the standing around made us hungry, so Ellen and I headed to the Rooftop Grill to grab a bite to eat. We could see the stage from where we were sitting. I recommend packing in your own meal unless you don't mind paying fifteen dollars for a burger.
We finished our meal with thirty minutes left before the concert, so we headed down to our seats. I didn't realize how close to the stage we were going to be until we got to our box. I couldn't ask for too much more! I guess I got some pretty nice tickets!
The concert started with an opening act from famous electronic recording artist Brian “BT” Transeau previewing selections from his new album “This Binary Universe.” Legendary guitarists Steve Vai and Dweezil Zappa performmed along with the orchestra, as well as live electronic drumming by Irwin.
Next came the retro opening sequence conducted by Jack Wall. You can view this segment from an earlier concert here: LINKY
There were so many good segments! Everyone was anticipating Halo 3, which was saved for the very end. Sadly, there was nothing special shown. Go see for yourself here: LINKY
Of course, Tron has a special place in my heart: LINKY
If you desire more, feel free to search on YouTube. There are plenty others there. There is also my photo album, located here: LINKY
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