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labor of love
Feb. 6th, 2003 05:53 pmThe bar's pretty empty when I arrive. The bartenders and waitresses are at the far end of the room, gossiping and watching American Idol and I slip over to the corner where we usually hold the staff meetings for the club. Tool's already there, sleeping face-down in an open magazine, and his head pops up as he hears my boots approach, and he says, "hey, what's up?" as he rubs his eyes and tries to sit up straight.
We make small talk as we wait for the others to show up. Tool's got this chill, West Coast drawl to his voice, all "duuuude" and "yoooo", and he reminds me of the skater kids I knew in junior high with their laid-back Northern Californian manners fronting over a mind full of mischief -- and our friendship is similar to the ones I had with those guys, full of talk of little consequence: what your day was like, new CDs you've been listening to, scene politics, world politics. Nothing more, and we both seem to like it that way.
Ash shows up a little later, followed by SuperHeroJen, and then Mothra. IndustrialSteve comes in talking about how hungry he is, and Laurie and Amy arrive later, chucking biker jackets into the booth next to us before settling in, and before we know it, the meeting is under way. Mothra starts off by writing up a roster of the staff, because we've needed one for a while, and we all take turns ticking off who does what. It's a pretty quick process, and it still surprises me to think of how we've gotten by with who we have.
The "idea" of Ceremony is about seven years old now. I can still remember that evening when I went into Delihaus with Tony and how he was accosted by a promoter who wanted to put together a new club night, and how we talked about it afterwards, wondering how things would turn out. It was all run on a shoestring back then, the staff were all friends volunteering to run the door or do setup and teardown; folks from the scene who wanted to get involved in something. And the first venue was a dive -- piss-poor lighting, warped and water-damaged dancefloors, and toilets that lacked doors but sometimes had toilet paper.
Those seven years have seen lots of changes. The promoter skipped town with a bunch of money, DJs were forced out then brought back in, venues folded, and volunteers came and went. The bar we're in now is pretty sweet, the numbers we draw are respectable, and we're still having fun. And that last bit is most important. We no longer run on a shoestring, but we aren't high rolling either. Most of the staff are still volunteers, and the only folks who get paid are the DJs -- and even then we only get enough to cover a month of drinks.
So, why do we stay involved? Because we get to sit down and talk about how cool it would be to do another LAN party, but with a Star Wars theme1. Because we like to sit around and pitch ideas about vs. nights and tag-teams and theme parties. Because we like to geek out on how to decorate with PVC tubing and metal chains and christmas lights. And because when we finish talking about it, we actually go out and do it, and we get to see our friends have a good time. That's about as much of a reward as anyone can hope for.
1 and, yes, I'm serious about that. We're planning on a March date, and the game will probably be Jedi Outcast. If you're interested in playing and bringing a computer, let me know.
We make small talk as we wait for the others to show up. Tool's got this chill, West Coast drawl to his voice, all "duuuude" and "yoooo", and he reminds me of the skater kids I knew in junior high with their laid-back Northern Californian manners fronting over a mind full of mischief -- and our friendship is similar to the ones I had with those guys, full of talk of little consequence: what your day was like, new CDs you've been listening to, scene politics, world politics. Nothing more, and we both seem to like it that way.
Ash shows up a little later, followed by SuperHeroJen, and then Mothra. IndustrialSteve comes in talking about how hungry he is, and Laurie and Amy arrive later, chucking biker jackets into the booth next to us before settling in, and before we know it, the meeting is under way. Mothra starts off by writing up a roster of the staff, because we've needed one for a while, and we all take turns ticking off who does what. It's a pretty quick process, and it still surprises me to think of how we've gotten by with who we have.
The "idea" of Ceremony is about seven years old now. I can still remember that evening when I went into Delihaus with Tony and how he was accosted by a promoter who wanted to put together a new club night, and how we talked about it afterwards, wondering how things would turn out. It was all run on a shoestring back then, the staff were all friends volunteering to run the door or do setup and teardown; folks from the scene who wanted to get involved in something. And the first venue was a dive -- piss-poor lighting, warped and water-damaged dancefloors, and toilets that lacked doors but sometimes had toilet paper.
Those seven years have seen lots of changes. The promoter skipped town with a bunch of money, DJs were forced out then brought back in, venues folded, and volunteers came and went. The bar we're in now is pretty sweet, the numbers we draw are respectable, and we're still having fun. And that last bit is most important. We no longer run on a shoestring, but we aren't high rolling either. Most of the staff are still volunteers, and the only folks who get paid are the DJs -- and even then we only get enough to cover a month of drinks.
So, why do we stay involved? Because we get to sit down and talk about how cool it would be to do another LAN party, but with a Star Wars theme1. Because we like to sit around and pitch ideas about vs. nights and tag-teams and theme parties. Because we like to geek out on how to decorate with PVC tubing and metal chains and christmas lights. And because when we finish talking about it, we actually go out and do it, and we get to see our friends have a good time. That's about as much of a reward as anyone can hope for.
1 and, yes, I'm serious about that. We're planning on a March date, and the game will probably be Jedi Outcast. If you're interested in playing and bringing a computer, let me know.
