Day 3: The Rougaroux's Ball

After dinner I headed back to my room and made my preparations for the ball. For once this weekend, I ended up being relatively on time for an event even after losing an hour to the daylight savings time change. Arriving early has its advantages, I got to see many of the party goers as they arrived and got some quality dancing time in before the dance floor became too crowded to move. I spent much of the time wandering around pointing the digital camera snapping photos like mad at all of the wonderful costumes. Most people attending the ball put in a fair amount of effort in producing their costumes, it was nice to see people taking the theme of the Bal Masque to heart.

Death cuts a stylish figure.		An Elegant Lady

Sexbat was the first DJ of the night and his set was very good. He played a lot of things that I like and stuck mostly to a Goth/Darkwave/Industrial/EBM format. I also appreciated hearing a DJ that knows how to beat mix. This is a talent that isn't much liked in the scene where I live, but having been a DJ in the past, I appreciate the skill it takes to do this smoothly. Lady Bathory took over the tables for the next set, her mix was quite good too and she played quite a few things that caused me to sway to the beat, (by this time, the dance floor was too crowded for me so I had to make do the best I could in the increasingly packed House of Blues).

Darth Maul and friends attend the festivities

Two of the more fanciful costumes		With a bit of a Renaissance flair...

A rather mysterious visage...		Cthulhu lurking

The costume contest was held in the middle of Lady B's set. About 35 people had entered in hopes of winning one of the six prizes. While this may seem a bit on the low side for a weekend with almost 1000 people in attendance, those that entered had put some real work into their costumes and gave the judges some tough choices to make. I think one of the contributing factors to the low number of contestants was the requirement to register for the contest, apparently it was not very well communicated to the C5 attendees in general so some of them were not able to compete because of it. Even so, this was a minor glitch in an otherwise immensely enjoyable and successful weekend. I have to say that Heather, Guymon, Robert and all the other organizers and folks that worked on C5 did a wonderful job. A great big "Merci" goes out to all of them.

Tara from the San Diego Goth list and a friend make their entrance		Trish from the NOgoth list looking splendid in her Harlequin costume

The winners of the contest were announced during Fross's set around midnight, (the appropriate time of course). I have no idea what the categories were for the contest, all I know is that there were six winners, each walking away with a nice prize ranging from a very classy walking stick to original comic artwork. Unfortunately, my addled brain prevents me from recalling exactly who won what or exactly what all the prizes were. I was also unable to get photos of all the winners but I did my best to track them all down in the very crowded venue. One of the winners I absolutely wanted to get a photo of somehow eluded me all night. This was a very good rendition of Edward Scissorhands. Fortunately, others out there did get photos and they are out there on the C5 web ring.

Boba Fett was sighted at the Rougaroux's Ball, he took one of the prizes in the costume contest.

DJ Natasha of Nocturna Cantica (WEFT 90.1FM Champaign, Illinois) was another of the contest winners with his witty parody of a Goth stereotype.		Falko was another winner in the contest

As I mentioned before, Fross was the final DJ of the night, his set was a little less to my liking for some reason I can't seem to put my finger on. Others seemed to be enjoying his set as the dance floor remained packed for the rest of the night. Perhaps the copious quantities of alcohol had begun to loosen their grip upon my sodden brain, I don't really know. About 1:30 or so I decided to take the long walk down to the Crystal to continue my non-stop innebriation. I was not in the mood for company at that point, I sometimes get that desire to strike off alone, so I made my way down there before most of the post-ball crowd had left the House of Blues.

Tara and I take a moment out		Timly pauses for a snapshot

The Crystal is a small club by my standards but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Small venues can be quite a lot of fun when the right people are there. By the time I arrived at the Crystal I was back in a more sociable mood and I found myself having a great time talking to the bartenders. I especially enjoyed talking to Crystal at the downstairs bar, she mixes up one hell of a good drink too. Three or four more shots of alcohol made it into my system thanks to the kind folks at the Crystal before I decided I was hungry again.

Doing the Ball in French Revolutionary fashion		Ziggy, Artemis, and a Dandy of unknown origin, (actually it's just Jason, Alice and Rikk...)

As it was about 2:30 in the morning there was not much to choose from. Fortunately for me, Cafe Du Monde is not far from the Crystal. I made my drunken way over to a table at the cafe and ordered up their famous cafe au lait and an order of beignets. Now being dressed in all black and eating beignets is a challenge, especially when you are intoxicated. These wonderfully simple yet decadent confections are piled high with powdered sugar that the barest wisp of air will deposit all over your clothing. There is a secret to doing it though and I managed to walk out of Cafe Du Monde without having my outfit speckled with white sugar. (Of course, If I told you what the secret is, it would not be a secret anymore, now would it?)

Lance and friends		Right to left: Ziggy in the Glammest Coat There Ever Was, Lenore, Artemis, Count Feedback, and some strange guy that maintains these pages sporting a well deserved Goth Point for his legendary drinking exploits.

Finally, I was just about out of steam and decided to head back to my hotel room and bed. But first I had the long walk back up Decatur Street. On my way back I passed many people from the ball making their way to the Crystal, Cafe Du Monde or any of the many bars in the Quarter. At one point I was accosted by two homeless people for money. The whole time I had been in New Orleans I had not felt threatened in any way until this chance meeting. Both of these guys had that desperate look in their eyes, that look that says trouble is near. Somehow I managed to talk my way out of the situation and got away safely. I made sure anyone I passed going that way was warned and made my way back to the Bienville House. For some reason I felt compelled to see what was going on even though I was bone tired by this point. In a few minutes I got a little wiser and headed back to the Mariott and to a very much needed sleep.

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