I will admit to being scared.  Any time I leave my comfort zone and go to a geek heavy situation I get… well, fucking terrified.  This is because I have goldfish memory about geeks.  I forget that, while we are seen by the rest of the world as pedantic and oh so very aloof, when crowded together we are some of the friendliest and most inviting people in the world.

I was reminded strongly about this during the Jonathan Coulton/ Paul and Storm extravaganza I attended last night.

I arrived early, as is my way, but almost immediately started talking to one of the lovely people in the room, swopping geek one liners and the blank stares we would get when we tried to talk about the concert.

Paul and Storm.  I’ll admit that I had only heard of them in reference to JoCo but now I have placed myself firmly on a magnificent road of discovery. They were, what’s the word, amazing.  The songs were witty and catchy and totally relevant… sounds weird to say this but they spoke to every single person in the room.

Audience participation.  Normally these two words make me cringe and run to the back of the room but the uncomfortable feeling never came.  They were the perfect opening act.  I know I shall be singing The Captains Wife’s Lament, Nugget Man and Count To Ten a lot.  Yes.  I bought the CD… and a t-shirt.  Hey, idea! You should too!  Go here to buy things – you won’t regret it.

After a short intermission, the man himself.  He walked onto the stage in such an unassuming manner that quite a few people didn’t even realise he was there.  I always imagined him to be so… It felt like you could sit and have a pint with him.  Lovely.

His set was perfect.  We all sang along to the ones we knew, and listened intently to the ones we didn’t.  He made jokes only geeks would get (but never excluded anyone) and then called us on it.  Yes, I have been called a geek by Jonathan Coulton.  Well… not personally but as part of the crowd.  I feel defined.

He asked us to be a little more ‘zombie’ and a little less ‘choir of angels’ during Re: Your Brains so he moaned and mis-sing through the chorus.  But this was just one way in which he brought the songs I love to life.  Every facial expression brought the songs closer to life.

When he did Mr Fancy Pants using his iPhone – how freakin’ cool is that? (there was a little Rick Astley) – before leaving the stage in a Radiohead cacophony of sound… Brilliant.

For the encore he brought Paul and Storm back for Creepy Doll – which after the first verse he stopped, saying there just wasn’t enough creepiness… so he wondered if there as someone in the audience who could help with that.  Surprise, surprise… there was

Neil Gaiman.

Geek-gasm a go-go!

He read the second verse after the audience calmed down and then shook a little tambourine.  Just a little cool… just a little magnificently cool.

As they left the stage for the last time my buzz carried over into the moment when I looked at my watch and realised that I had to get across town in 15 minutes to make my train so I had to time to meet and greet and get things signed (dejected arrrgh) and that there would be no second visit to the merch table (double dejected arrrgh).  Thank the internets for the JoCo Store!

There is joy in this world. It is brought to you by Paul and Storm and Jonathan Coulton.

P.S.  There will be pictures when I have them developed.  Film.  Honestly… how did we do it in the past?  God, I miss my digital camera.