The Computer Crossroad 1993
Party Report
Submitted by wackee (wacek) on January 20 2011
Written by Incubus of Triad
The Computer Crossroad'93 Party Report
When I first got to know about this event, at the bus heading for the
Aars '92 party, I was convinced. The parties I'd been to before, especially
the Brutal one, had had SOME lack in organisation. But when I saw the pre-
view of the invitation sheet for the Computer Crossroad '93, I was sure
that this was to be THE party. EIGHT host groups! Three months later, I
finally received the real invitation booklet.
As a matter of fact, I received THREE of them (which made me feel very
important!). A very professional one, which let me know that: - There were
going to be competitions for Amiga, C64, Atari and PC (not only Arniga and
C64) - The entrance fee of 180 SEK included free entrance to the great
amusement park Liseberg, free parking space and one years membership in
the TCC club. - There was going to be a Kyd/Balle video demonstration, a
computer exhibition and lots more. In brief, the most well-organised party
so far.
But I couldn't stop thinking about the earlier parties, when they'd
promised likely things, but not at all kept their promises. But somehow I
felt that this party was going to be something different... I had done some
preparations before the party. I had arranged with CYKE/MEGAUNIT so we'd be
on the same train down to Gothenburg. Could be nice since it's over 600 kms
from Soderhamn. But due to some problems with tickets, we could only travel
together 100 kms, then we both had to change trains the rest of the route.
A pity for me, but five Amigaguys from my hometown were with me, so I never
felt too alone.
We changed trains again in Stockholm, and we also had some time to grab
a snack at MacDonald's. Now to something special; when waiting for the bus
to Aars '92 back at Christmas (also in Stockholm) we were "attacked" by a
crazy negro influenced by amfetarnin or something, forcing us to rap! And
now, while sitting peacely at MacDonald's with hamburgers in our mouths, we
again get attacked, this time by a crazy woman, telling us everything about
how great it is to smoke! In English!
And if that's not enough for you, she also tried to show her tits for
us, before a guard came to our rescue! It'd been nice if she had been 25
or something, but this old crow was closer to 50. Believe me, I DIDN'T want
to see them! This is probably a coincidence, but it's quite shocking how
different Stockhohn is from Sodderharnn. I've never experienced anything
like this during my lifetime in Soderharnn, a small town with 15,000 citi-
zens. And in these two (short!) visits to Stockholm, I get to experience
this! Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Anyway. At 5 o'clock in the morning on the 29th of May the train
arrived to Gothenburg. Since the party actually opened at 8, we slept yet
some hours on the train before taking the taxi to the party itself. Already
150-200 persons were stomping around outside waiting for the doors to open.
Soon they opened though, and we all checked in at the counter, and got cute
little green wristbands attached to us.
Now we were free to explore the PARTY HALL. As you perhaps already have
seen on the photos, the hall was huge. The invitation said that it was on
30,000 square metres, and I believe that. To the right at the short end of
the hall was the screen and the sound equipment. And immediately on the
left side to the entrance, on the Iongside, was the info counter. There
were tables everywhere. Other places were the restaurant, at the far end,
together with the sleeping hall, Those were separated from the party hall.
Quite necessary and perfect for those who couldn't stand the constant noise
from it. At this time there weren't many guys present, but they were coming
in all the time as the party proceeded.
I dumped off my things, and I was glad not to have brought any computer
with me. Those of you who have know how frustrating it can be having to
carry TV, computer, drives, disks and everything with you. No, the only
things I brought with me this time was my sleeping bag, extra clothes,
about 1700 SEK in cash. And ofcourse, my CAMERA. As I padded along the
tables Spirou/Light came up to me and showed me to the official Triad
table. This was a bit too far away from the big screen, so later on we
moved our party HQ.
Saw a guy with a TRIAD T-shirt. Someone told me that he was from
Finland. Strange, I thought. We don't have any Finnish members! When we had
exchanged some sentences in English, I found out that it was SAILOR/Triad,
a Swede! Embarrassing? Yes! Later on more Triad'ers arrived, like KING
FISHER, ALFATECH, AKTIE and TRANZHE. But to be honest, the one I wanted to
meet most was REMIX/CLIQUE. He had told me on the phone that he also was
going to be there. But yet no Remix. The hours passed. People were still
floating in all the time. I went around chatting with my contacts there,
having a good time. I bought myself 100 Amiga disks and a diskbox since it
was quite cheap.
Later on I also bought an extra drive. I saw CREEPER/ANTIC working on
his compopic. Gosh! Then I also saw JOE/ANTIC 's. GOSH! Now somewhat of the
excitement before the compos loosened. I knew these were the best pies! At
midnight they showed Global Trash II by Jesper Kyd and Mikael Balle on the
big screen as promised. Really stunning. It was like a techno video, but
much better! Imagine the applause it got. After snoring for some hours in
the sleeping hall (on a HARD concrete floor, NOT very soft as promised!) I
was ready for action again. The first thing I could observe was that Remix
wasn't there yet.
OK, he'll arrive later with DENSE, I guessed. ASLIVE and AIRWOLF of G*P
appeared. I asked them if they knew anything about Remix, but they didn't
know zip. Later Dense came aswell, but without Remix! Dense told me that
they had arranged to pick up Remix outside-a church in Köln or something
like that, I can't remember correctly. They had waited and waited for him
to show up, and as he didn't they simply had to go on without him. Dense
and I established that fact that this was very unfortunate. Mostly for
Remix ofcourse, who had travelled all the way from Turkiye to get to the
party. This was the first and the last party that he was going to visit,
and it ended up like this. He must be a wreck these days.
Anyway, the show must go on, mustn't it? We went to Liseberg for some
fin, like playing games in the world's largest arcade-hall. It really WAS
large. Three floors of Pinball, Outrun and T2! Then we (I, Tranziie, Joe,
ED/WRATH and ELIZ/ANTIC) decided (after some hesitation from me) to take a
ride in Europe's longest rollercoaster. I and Tranz sat in the very front,
and God was it RUDE! Back again at the party they showed the participants
in the compos. Competing groups in the C64 demo compo were NOICE, ILLUSION
(one part), ANTIC, BOOZE DESIGN, TOPAZ, CENSOR DESIGN, OXYRON, FAIRLIGHT
(a joke!?) and DIGITAL DESIGNS. Triad were meant to release two demos
there, but since King Fisher never managed to finish his demo, and JFK
never showed up with his, nothing happened.
Too bad, because now they showed on the screen that the prize money in
the compo had been DOUBLED, to 10,000 SEK. Not reduced as on many other
parties. In the middle of the music competition they stopped it for a while
to show the Swedish newsprogramme on TV, "Aktuellt". They showed a repor-
ting horn the party!
BACCHUS/FLT and a girl were interviewed and they showed lots of views
of the party hall. Everyone, and I mean everyone, rushed forward and
clapped their hands. Really a cool thing! 13.00 the last day, three hours
before closing time, it was time for the prize ceremonies. BOOGALO/HORIZON
took care of the talking while Spirou shook hands with the winners. The
party was sponsored by Coca-Cola, and it was kind of tiring to hear
Boogaloo saying "... and here's a bag from Coca-Cola, a T-shirt from
Coca-Cola and a pair of shorts from Coca-Cola!" to everyone. The results:
Antic really proved that they're a strong group with the 3rd place in
the compo and Joe and Creeper's success in gfk. But I'm mostly happy for
Joe's 1st place. I've always found him as a REAL ARTIST, and he deserved
this kind of breakthrough.
The most remarkable thing; I simply can't understand why SAMPLES were
allowed in the music compo! Ed/Wrath (Joe's twin brother!) won the compo
with a sampled tune. No offence, I know he agrees with me when I say that
anybody can sample tunes like he did. This does not in any way reflect the
skill in composing! Ed also bravely pointed this out in the microphone on
the stage, and wanted P. R. I./OXYRON to take the money instead of him.
P.R.I. proved to be a real gentleman too when refusing to take the money.
I think everyone in the hall clapped their hands now. Actions like
these are very rare in the scene and should be used a lot more often! After
all ceremonies the party was over. Tranziie, JASON/lWILIGHT and I took the
train towards Stockhohn. They jumped off after half the route, and I was by
myself from now on. The rest of the trip went smooth, and believe it or
ot, I wasn't attacked by any negros or crazy women this time when I waited
for the train in Stockholm! At 2 o'clock in the rooming on the 1st of June
I entered my home again, threw off my clothes and jumped into bed. My
fourth party trip was over.
Summary: I was quite right as I had guessed, this was the best party
I've ever been to, despite that I missed my only chance to meet Remix for
real. For one's sake the organisation was as good as promised, if not
better. For the first time there were no pushed deadlines, no lowered prize
money (but raised!), and the behaviour of most of the people was good. Over
1600 guys showed up. The only negative things I can come to think of were
the hard sleeping hall floor, the allowance of samples in the music compo,
and that the restaurant closed too early (22.00) in the evenings.
Hey Light/Hz, when's your next party going to be held?
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