On Sunday night I went to the release show/party for the BSG season 2 soundtrack, composed by Bear McCreary.  It was at this little bar/restaurant/club called The Mint, and I am happy that I RSVP'd early because it fit maybe 100 people total.  The venue and stage was much smaller than I expected, but that made it better because it was so much more intimate.  Also, I was really surprised that the crowd itself was older and much less geeky than I thought it would be.  BSG fans in general seem a little more intellectual and older and less crazy than your average Jossverse fan, which is actually nice.  Besides BSG fans there were just a lot of music/score fans who really didn't know too much about the show.  So what I am saying is that the atmosphere was completely chill and so enjoyable (not that I don't love crazy fans too - props to the DSL! ;)

BT4 opened the show - Bear actually played with them, and the lead singer is Bear's brother (who also plays guitar for the BSG score).  He kept making BSG jokes and references, which were surely appreciated!  For example, he professed his love for Eddie James Olmos and dedicated the last song to him, and decided to rename a song called "Apologies" as "Apollo - Geez!" for the show, heeeeee.  They were folk-rockish, sort of like Common Rotation.  I was impressed.

So I learned a LOT about the BSG score, including that about a third to half of the tracks are recorded with the 6 or so core musicians plus a real orchestra, and the others are just these 6 dudes!  Who were all really awesome and funny in their own right, and seemed more like rock or punk musicians than guys doing a classical-ish score.  They were all so immensely talented.  Bear himself is a frakking genius 26-year-old and just plain nice guy.  He conducted as well as played the keyboards.  So at the show, they split the soundtrack into 4 sets, alternating between the 6-person tracks they played live and the orchestral tracks which were played on the speakers in full glory while scenes from the show were cut together and projected onto a big screen.  It was amazing to witness the show's music getting to take center stage, even when they were just showing clips and not playing live.  The segment that really stuck with me was hearing the track called "Scar" (from said episode) played in all its glory over the original clips it was featured with.  Holy shit, frakking beautiful - and powerful.  And it should go without saying that seeing and hearing Bear's ensemble play live was ridiculously incredible.  I can't believe the stuff they do is simply television score music - it's gorgeous.  Hearing the Japanese taiko drums live was definitely a highlight, as was the Irish flute.  My favorite track from the album remains "Roslin and Adama" from Res Ship I & II - which Bear confesses was written as a (wishful) love theme!  Oh, another awesome thing - they had a vocalist join on a track or two, and this chick actually rearranged "Roslin and Adama" herself and added all these romantic lyrics to it so that it became this sexy jazz song - which she referred to as her own kind of fanfiction, hehe!

The final piece they played was from season one and just happened to be my favorite piece of BSG music EVER - not to mention one of the most flooringly beautiful things I've ever heard.  It's a Celtic song complete with Gaelic lyrics called "Wander My Friends" and is built on the Adama family theme (which reappears in a track from "Home" in season two).  I was so happy they played it, that piece seriously brings tears to my eyes and is half of why "The Hand of God" is my favorite episode.  So anyway, after the show I got to tell Bear how amazing he was, etc. (he was impressed/excited that I recognized "Wander My Friends" and that it was my favorite) and got my S1 CD signed by him and then got a mini-poster signed by all the musicians.

And guess what?  I haven't even gotten to the best part!  :)  We had a few notable surprise guests:  Richard Hatch (Apollo in the old series and Tom Zarek in the new series) was there as an MC-type.  I chatted with him briefly and then later I was hanging out and he actually approached me and we talked for a little while - he is SUCH a nice guy, seriously, I was very impressed.  He even kept squeezing my arm affectionately and gave me a big hug when I left.  Aww.  He was the sweetest.  So he is in a bunch of the early episodes in S3 he tells me, and hopes to be in more!  Though I couldn't get an answer out of him when I asked if Zarek was Baltar's VP now ;)  He seemed TOTALLY thrilled and excited and proud of the new season and kept telling me how much I was going to love it.  *G*  The other two amazing guests were Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, who are writing partners on the show!  Bradley was there first so I talked to him more though I did chat with him, David AND Richard at one point which, if I may say, was totally fuckin' sweet.  ;D  But oh man, it was like my DREAM to talk to these guys.  As I told them, they always write my favorite episodes and I get excited when I see their names in the credits.  For example, they wrote "Act of Contrition," which is the episode that got me hooked on the show, as well as "The Hand of God" (which as I mentioned is my favorite ep).  w00t!!  I told them how I would basically do anything to work on BSG (I even mustered up the balls to give Bradley my email address before I left!).  OMGZ it was so surreal... I told them how I thought they wrote so well for Katee ("Doesn't she just break your heart?" - Fuck yes, Bradley) and they guaranteed me that they were writing lots of awesome stuff for her in S3!  YAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!  (Although they did mention that the beginning of the season wouldn't be easy for her... and we all agreed that angsty!Kara is awesome, heh :)  I also said that I really would love for Kara's backstory with her parents to be explored more, and they said that they enjoy just dropping the little hints about it, though they aren't dismissing the possibility of a more focused episode in the future.  Oooh and they shed some light on the whole webisodes deal:  The first one should be up in July, yes they are filmed with the primary actors but are shorter and more focused than regular episodes, they take place between seasons and contain important info, fans will enjoy the first few S3 episodes more if they have seen the webisodes (like we need convincing!).  And I got to talk about Zak and Anders and talk to Bradley's wife about the show and talk more about Kara and FOR REAL, it was completely. fucking. awesome.  Every fan's dream, right?!

I still can't believe that I talked about Kara (and Katee) with two of the show's real writers - and certainly the best Kara writers!  Wow.  And I got actual time to chat because the venue made things utterly casual.  In fact, I only saw one other fan even approach Bradley!  More time for me, I suppose ;)  And man, they were so great and friendly.

So it was a frakking amazing night, I completely geeked out like I've never geeked out before!  (BSG does that to ya I guess :)  I didn't know what to expect - nothing this awesome, that's for sure!!  And just to tie it back to the soundtrack...