Wai-Con and Neko Nation - Behind the scenes

 My life is loaded with insanity and stress due to a busy unforgiving and a not so rewarding life.  However touring is definitely one of the huge highlights of what we do and a homecoming to Perth is always an amazing amount of fun.

It's not all glamour, we don't exactly come off the plane looking stunning and there isn't a pretty way to lug around approximately 80kgs of our personal items, Neko Nation gear and Tokyo Hardcore stock.  The new stall setup and 2012 Neko Nation setup is actually quite full on.


Arrival in Perth was a stressful one with a few little last minute things needed to be sorted out as nothing ever quite goes to plan but it wasn't long before we finally got to catch up with our awesome friend Kae who we were very much looking forward to catching up and hanging out with.

Behind the scenes, we had a pretty banging pre-party which allowed us to catch up with close friends before preparing for a massive weekend.  We don't exactly get much of a chance to de-stress and chill out due to spending our whole Australia day packing for the show, so having a few delicious cocktails at the very pretty Deville's made for a very fun night to catch up with the crew including D'arcy, Alex and Giddy.

Next day things got serious and there were nerves, since Wai-Con is good in terms of being quieter than most cons and not being too full on and tiring but dealing with the heat (lolis and heat don't mix) and Perth being regarded as non being a lolita city, so we were hoping for a above average showing.  Overall first day had some pretty good signs, we went pretty incredibly well and had some fun at the con, chilling out with Kerry Anne and meeting lots of new people.

Drained, part 1 of 3 was done, we had Neko Nation that night and we came to what was considered the most "glamourous" venue a Neko Nation has ever held an event in.  Gilkisons, a massive ballroom in Perth city, was where our next show was held and even though we had difficulties setting up due to time restraints, lack of energy and a few things going out of hand, the final setup was amazing.  The show was amazing and we had a blast but the heat proved difficult, it made for an average showing, despite the number of tickets sold.  Feeling a bit defeated I've been told that our event was one of the best seen in the venue for a while by friends, which was great to here.  Due to heat, the venue shut us down early, sad and disappointed but it meant more sleep for the next day.

The next day at Sunday was good, quiet but it's the usual case with cons and a chance to chill out and be a happy with what had happened throughout the entire weekend.  We heard it was generally a successful one for all and numbers were up (even if not greatly up) and we decided to go to our own special dinner for the interstate traders, talking about our horror stories with cons and customers and general networking, we've got some pretty exciting news in regards to Neko Nation merch!

We packed up and left for Monday and once again, I love being in Perth, so many amazing things happen when I come back, people treat me exceptionally well and I have wonderful friends here that I wish I can see more often, although with the short time I have with them I try to cherish as much time as possible.

Purrth is Neko Nation's biggest interstate show although I think Brisbane may change that, regardless, I have intentions of bringing the show back a few times a year, despite it being an expensive show due to airfares (and it's worse if we use Gilkisons since it's fancy but expensive).  I really would love to come back here as often as possible and Neko Nation definitely makes it possible to make this happen. Perth has an interesting show since it feels like a close family especially in regards to the DJ's.

I had a blast, there's still an insane amount to do and Brisbane isn't too long now either!