An apology to Mari Iijima

[Crazy Packers Fan]

I want to apologize to Mari on behalf of Tekkoshocon for what was an extremely tiny audience for her concert. Less than 50 people showed up for her concert today. Mari is very talented - in fact, no offense to the other musical guests, probably the most talented musical guest at this con. I could tell from the things she said that from the very beginning of her concert she was saddened by the small crowd. She then didn't get a cheer when introduced at closing ceremonies, when she again made it clear she felt hurt by the small audience. Something's not right when I arrive a little late to a concert (which thankfully started a bit late, so I didn't miss anything) and end up sitting directly in front of the performer. While Mari said she loves Pittsburgh, it's a real shame that Pittsburgh didn't love her back. I just want to make it clear that I feel really bad for her and hope that if she comes back (which she may not after this), she gets a real audience.

[penguinton]

Aw...That makes me sad. Shes fantastic. And I loved her concert when she came to tekko a few years ago. I'm sorry I missed her concert even more now. 

[pokemonrulz]

Yes, she is fantastic, and it's a shame people didn't show up (myself included).

:(

[phaserjunkie]

It wasn't as bad as the faildance on thursday.

[Draiken]

I would have love to come see the concert, but my sister was getting confirmed today, so I didn't make it back in time.
Less than 50 people though... I was expecting a lot more from her mini-bio in the program book.

[Hoshipuff]

MY SISTER AND I WERE GOING TO GOOO. ;A;  I was doing Minion stuff during then and forgot about it; my sister was helping out with my mom at the hotel room to get stuff into our car.  I feel so bad, we love Mari.

[kashiitan]

I was front row of the concert, I cheered every song and loved her show immensely. I even cried during "Do you remember love?" and she saw me crying in the audience and told me to cheer up. I drove 2+ hours just for the concert. I also brought stuff for her to sign but i was all a fluster when I saw her and I couldnt talk right... :/ Sadly the generation gap is very vast now in the anime con scene world so not a lot of people know about her works in the late 80s. :< It comes with generations sadly.

[s0nified]

Such a terrible shame since she is basically *the voice* of the Macross franchise. I thought it was poor planning on Tekko's part to have her perform Sunday while everyone was trying to get out of their hotel, that's absolutely ridiculous. Shame shame shame.

[4ng31]

I don't see why people are trying to apologize on the conventions behalf?  Tekko generally caters to a fairly young audience (and no, I don't mean that in a bad way, go to any other anime convention in the past 2 years and you'll see what I mean) and honestly, how many 14-16 year olds do you think have seen the original Macross's?  Hardly any if I would have to guess.

I would agree somewhat on the scheduling issues, but from what I was told, the Q&A on Sat night has about the same amount of people...but again, I would go back to the generation gap being the biggest problem.

To prove the point though, just look at the attendance numbers from Vic's concert compared to Mari's.

If you were there, and loved it...good for you...probably a chance of a lifetime for a Macross fan so live it up...don't be sorry about it.  You all should be glad Tekko is keeping the classics alive!

[InterwovenThreads]

It's wrong to accuse people of not caring.  The concert was held during the day, on Sunday.  And you have to think about events it conflicted with.

[s0nified]

I don't see why people are trying to apologize on the conventions behalf?  Tekko generally caters to a fairly young audience (and no, I don't mean that in a bad way, go to any other anime convention in the past 2 years and you'll see what I mean) and honestly, how many 14-16 year olds do you think have seen the original Macross's?  Hardly any if I would have to guess.

I would agree somewhat on the scheduling issues, but from what I was told, the Q&A on Sat night has about the same amount of people...but again, I would go back to the generation gap being the biggest problem.

To prove the point though, just look at the attendance numbers from Vic's concert compared to Mari's.

If you were there, and loved it...good for you...probably a chance of a lifetime for a Macross fan so live it up...don't be sorry about it.  You all should be glad Tekko is keeping the classics alive!

I actually agree with all of this, this is what I really wanted to convey in my statement. Its just crappy circumstances, but she still has people who absolutely love her and what she's done to keep the Macross love alive through her voice. Thank you for coming, Ms. Iijima!!

[TimeSage]

Due to both timeing of other things at the time and the fact that I was not familer with her I did not attend. Had I known the aduiance was so small I would have.

[theknotphan]

I loved Macross way back when. Hey, I'm 16 and have been watching the classic stuff since I was three or younger.

I was surprised when I found out her concert was Sunday. She's wonderful! I would have showed but my father had a meeting at four so we had to leave. It wasn't really the best time to place a concert.

[Jyrotika]

I wish I could've been there! I heard some of her music at... one of the other Tekkos (can't remember what number) and it was good Unfortunately, we were having trouble checking out and it wasted most of our time Sunday

[rictor]

Wish I could have attended, but I was busy manning my booth in the Dealer's Room.

I thoroughly enjoyed her performances in previous years, and would have been there if I could have been.

Yeah, the time wasn't the best. And while it can be seen as a flaw, on the other hand it was cool that there was at least 1 concert every day of the show.