Orlando Nerd Fest

This post comes far too late after the 2014 Orlando Nerd Fest, but I have been traveling and taking care of other pressing issues. I want to take a moment to overview the event and some of the particular high points and reflections on the event and its significance.

To begin, I should probably explain what Orlando Nerd Fest is more explicitly. It is a multi-day event centering mostly around video game music (VGM), while also having some artists, indie game developers, gaming rooms, and vendors at the event. This event is new, and it differs from other conventions in that there is constant music; it is the primary focus rather than just a minor element such as in large conventions like Dragon*Con. I attended two days of the festival, so those are the ones I will be commenting on.

The performers range from rap and nerdcore to metal and many things in between. There were bands big and small, those who were local, those who traveled across the country, and a special group that traveled across the world! The band, you ask? Well, it was Nobuo Uematsu and the Earthbound Papas. For those of you unfamiliar with Uematsu, the man is a legendary composer in the video game world responsible for most of the iconic music.in the Final Fantasy series, among other games. If you want to see an RPG gamer fawn over someone, put that person in a room with Uematsu. His band performed and also did a signing session, where I had my PS2 copy of Final Fantasy X signed by the band. Seeing them really have fun and laugh about how they could have all of the adoring fans do anything they wanted was very entertaining. So yeah, that was a cool experience, and anyone with an appreciation for video game music will understand the influence Uematsu has had in the gaming world.

The following bands were my highlights of the convention, in no particular order (excluding Uematsu, since I mentioned him above):

Eight Bit Disaster: Video game music in the form of a funk rock band from North Carolina. Their music was good, the band members fun and entertaining, and they had a good mix of songs, including some less highly celebrated ones from games such as Dr. Mario. Musically, I thought they definitely deserved a better time slot, for sure. My only question: how can a funk rock band cover video game music and not do something from Toejam and Earl???

Urizen: It's hard to really say enough about this band, as they were a fantastic group to cap off the festivities. Their stage presence without all of the extra-curricular items was very good, and then when you factor in the entire story that they play out with props, machines, and crowd involvement, you've got a heck of a show. Their music is somewhere between electro-rock and electro-metal, as some songs can get a bit harder and feature some aggressive double bass, but all in all, I think they can be diverse and cater to whichever type of crowd they play for. What they also did wonderfully was incorporate other acts from the festival into the performance, having other musicians come and help battle space aliens, for example. The crowd engagement was perhaps the best of the entire event, and fun was had by all.

Critical Hit: Critical Hit is the brainchild of Andrew Gluck (Piano Squall) and Jason Hayes (of Blizzard music acclaim, most notably) and features Hayes along with a host of numerous other professional musicians performing very well done arrangements of video game music. Their sets tend to blend Eastern and Western gaming along with different genres of games and play songs that both appeal to casual gamers and more dedicated fans. With the musical talent they've amassed, it's impossible not to put on an impressive show. While their lineup features some musicians with serious chops, including an award winning concert pianist from the time she was 14, Tina Guo on cello stole this show. Her charisma while playing reigns supreme, and her talent on the cello is just absurd. Expect them to be touring in a city near you next year!

Bit Brigade: A lot of bands play video game music. Bit Brigade plays video games, music. If you want to see a speed run of old favorites such as Legend of Zelda, Megaman, or Castlevania and have it accompanied by some sweet metal music, Bit Brigade is the band for you. Now if we could all only have our own band accompanying us in our gaming sessions. The did Legend of Zelda at the event, and it was a great performance. One of the most impressive things when you actually see them perform is just how little time they get to take it easy through the whole set. It's basically a nonstop dose of gaming and metal for 55 minutes.

The Megas: The Megas are an electro rock band that are unique in that they take the Megaman series music to a new level by borrowing the musical style and adding lyrics pertaining to the game, which is pretty neat. On stage, they sounded great, have spiffy outfits and a good color scheme, and they just came across all around as very polished. If I had to nominate best looking musicians at the event, Tina Guo takes it on the female side and Eric, who does guitars and vocals (who looked like Lleyton Hewitt at the event), takes it for the males. I really enjoyed them, and they reminded me a little bit of a softer, slightly more poppy version of Attention System, one of my favorite local bands from Atlanta.

Schaffer the Darklord: Schaffer the Darklord (or STD, as he is also called) was one of the funniest and most entertaining performers at the event, in my opinion. I am not a fan of rap, or even nerdcore for that matter, but he was funny and engaging enough to win me over. He throws a few more words from the dictionary out there than most other performers I've seen doing nerdcore (which, admittedly, isn't a whole lot), and he really does a great job creating a villainous persona while still coming across as a likable person under the persona.

Killer Robots!: Really, the best thing you can do is click the link. Killer Robots! are the robot version of GWAR. In terms of which set had the most pure fun and insanity, Killer Robots! take the cake. In all honesty, the music, which is surf rock, takes such a back seat solely because the performance itself is so entertaining. The band comes on after a live action movie intro, and pool noodles cut into thirds are distributed into the crowd for the ensuing battle against all sorts of monster, aliens, lobster creatures, and I couldn't even tell you what else. Oh, and your friends...especially your friends.

Random Encounter: The local group featuring one of my favorite instruments, the accordion, put on a great, high energy show. Any group that features Chrono Trigger music in its set list is a winner in my book, and their cover of Frog's theme is one of my favorite covers of a video game song. I had been waiting to see them for a while and just happened to keep missing them when they played a local event, so I was tremendously excited to finally see them, and they didn't disappoint.

The Returners: These folks get their own blog post, so more on them later. Yes, I liked them that much.

Well, there you have it. I can emphatically say that the Orlando Nerd Fest 2014 was a great success, and I can definitely see this as one that continuously grows over the years in both attendance and prestige, because it seems to me the folks putting this on did a good job and the attendees had a real blast.