On MAGFest and Protomen

by Laura Robbins

It is essential for every geek to find their convention. You need it not because you need the gear, or the bragging rights of saying, “Hey! I peed in the stall next to this chick who was from this MMO!” It is not even because it is a chance to get some of the weirdest stories that only occur at o’dark thirty on a Mountain Dew high. It is the sheer unadulterated excitement that courses through your veins when you are in the right convention for you. It is that “first time at Disney World” feeling all six year olds get when they step through the gates of the Magic Kingdom.

Magfest Gaming Floor
(image via Elder Geek)

I found my right convention in Magfest. Six year old me squealed in delight as I played all my favorite classic video games at three o’clock in the morning. It was like sneaking downstairs with my brother all over again. I could not believe the pieces of art I was able to find. There were so many in varying levels of creativity and of such an esoteric nature. There was music EVERYWHERE. Simplified, orchestrated, electronically manipulated, any music from any video game you could ever think of was available to listen to and discuss. There was never a moment during the convention I did not have something to experience.

The most surreal night of all was Saturday night, when I saw the Protomen. Before Saturday, they had just been a band that I loved. Their music is perfect for long car rides and poetic summers. But Saturday, I got to experience them live.
It was awe inspiring. They riled the crowd like they were conducting their own symphony. People who cannot let themselves just be in the moment may consider it corny or overwrought... but the stories they tell are wild and grand, and heartbreaking. By the end of the show they were my favorite band. And that was before I had the chance to meet them.

I mentioned that coming to a good convention was like stepping foot into the Magic Kingdom. In true Disney form, my friends acted the part of fairy godparents. Just as we were heading up to our suite, a couple of us find out that the Protomen are doing a secret concert in a back room. We sprint through the hallways, and go through back corridors and burst into a room that could not have contained more than thirty people.

The Protomen
(image via Club Zone)

We were so close. They seemed even more lively and happy in the presence of a more intimately sized audience. I was perfectly content pressed against the stage, watching them play, jumping around like an idiot. Then they asked for ladies from the audience to help them sing.

My friends, my loving, doting, horrible friends, pushed me to the front despite all protestations. When K.I.L.R.O.Y. latched onto my arm and hauled me onto stage, I thought I was being hauled to my death. He looked about seven feet tall. But then, I was surrounded by laughing band members and excited girls and I began laughing myself. We began singing “Bohemian Rhapsody.” I was happily singing (probably off-key) along with the other ladies, waving at the crowd, when suddenly there was a guitar being passed over my head, settling at my waist. I must have been blushing like an idiot, but Ringo just grinned and handed me his pick. The best souvenirs in life are free. We finished the song that way, I stammered my thanks, and he just smiled and gave me a hug. Ringo proceeded to come down and talk with all of us while my friends teased me endlessly. I had never met people who are so larger than life yet so friendly and approachable. The Protomen are very serious about music. They love what they do, and they seem to genuinely love the fans that appreciate it. I will support people like that any day of the week, especially if they keep putting out albums that are better than a lot of books I’ve read.

The band in action.
(image via Jessica Rayborn)

Magfest is all about letting yourself be excited. It is about getting wrapped up in the “silly.” The last thing Magfest does for you, is ensure that you have thousands of people there just as exuberant as you to experience. There is no better way to do Magfest than with your friends. Sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night to play video games is infinitely better if you are doing so with someone else. I can rock out to the Protomen any day of the week by myself; but when all of your friends are standing around you, wearing the goofy gear they’ve been simply unable to avoid buying, shouting all the lyrics and jumping in time, how can you not let yourself get swept up? We may not be able to all get together all the time. Work, family, responsibilities, there are always good reasons to stay focused elsewhere. But we’ll always have Magfest to bring us together and remind us why we love each other.

Scooter's Guide to Wooing Geeks

I was talking to the wonderful musician Jonah Knight on the DC Geeks Share & Share-alike group on Facebook about good geek love songs for Valentines Day. When I realized that this is something I should probably put a bit more effort into. A little known secret, within the cold dark winter estate high atop Mount Scoot, lies a hopeless romantic that likes love songs, even cheesy ones. 

Don't bother looking it up, those are definitely red and blue.
(image via rzrxtion)

Don't tell anyone or I'll be super embarrassed; it's our secret. I don't talk about my love of geek music enough either, so this is the perfect opportunity to tie my love of music into an overly commercialized holiday!  Joking aside, here's my list of quality, fun, and romantic geeky music to surprise your sweetheart (or sweethearts, I don't judge). 

If I missed one of your favorites or you can't fathom why I chose the songs I did, or you're curious why your loved/hated song is in a specific position, please leave a comment below, or hit us up on Facebook or Twitter and let us know what you really think. Enjoy and have a good 14th of February, however you choose to spend it.


10. Lorraine Cink - Ode to a Geek

I feel the song is sort of condescending to geeks, especially towards the beginning. But there are a lot of geek references that are spot on. It's sort of catchy, even though the song itself is relatively simple (but not in a bad way). Some parts are kinda awkward, but she gains serious points by looking like she means it when she sings it.

Favorite Line: "Your arms are strong like Han." 

9. Marshall Gray - Critical Hit On My Heart

I wish I could have found more information on Marshall Gray. I enjoy this song. The recording quality is not amazing, but the references are exactly what I'm looking for. I noticed something though, not the fault of the artist (since I think someone else uploaded this) every die in the video is showing a one! For the non-tabletop gamers, that's bad. Do Not Want. Maybe there's a pun to be had about a critical fail on my heart? This song is sappy and maybe a bit too 90's soft rock for me. But wow, definitely earns its place on this list based on lyrical content.

Favorite Line: "You only rolled 17, but you have got the improved critical feat, and I just know you're gonna confirm it. So just roll maximum damage and I will belong to you."

8. Kirby Krackle - Up, Up, Down, Down

This song is thick on the geek references. But it goes really dark at the end. The first half is very romantic, but... yeah, that ending. You best watch it and see what I'm talking about. After this, the zombie song at #5 won't seem that bad. This is sweet and catchy, would have placed higher if it wasn't a love song about murder and ritual sacrifice.

Favorite Line: "I should take a risk, then like Wilson Fisk, be the Kingpin of this day."

7. Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog - My Freeze Ray

If you've seen Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, then you're probably in love with this song. This is one of the most touching scenes from the series. You have to love a love/lament song from a mad scientist to his paramour. The only reason this didn't rank higher in this list is it's more about lost love, pining, (and stalking?) than a true romantic song. Still, could work a pinch, especially if your lover really was into the series.

 Favorite Line: "I'll bend the world to our whim and we'll make time stand still."

6. Jonathan Coulton - Code Monkey

I love this song on alot of levels. Like all of Jonathan Coulton's music, the lyric quality is fantastic and the music is catchy. If your partner loves coding this may do the trick on premise alone. The main problem I see here is that it's still a song about panning for the attentions of someone else, rather than celebrating the awesome that is the relationship. So, maybe not quite in the right frame of mind.

Favorite Line: "Maybe manager want to write god damn login page himself." 

5. Your Favorite Martian - Zombie Love Song

I appreciate the sort of creepy yet lovely parts of this song. It also feels like a throwback to Thriller. That's gotta be intentional. Yeah, I know I said earlier that several songs got low rankings because they were essentially about a forlorn individual desperately seeking the affections of another. This one is different somehow. Plus, it gets bonus points for making something creepy yet sweet at the same time.

Favorite Line: "When I chase you through the graveyard, it feels like foreplay." 

4. Nerd Alert - SCV Love Song

Alright I need to talk about the awesomeness of the video itself here for a moment. I love the cheesy boy band beach scene while talking about Starcraft. It's... wow. Just wow. Especially the out of place male model (referenced in the video comments as Singer, Nerd, and Hot Dude). This reminds me of high school romance movies, you know, if they had taken place during a Starcraft II tournament.

Favorite Line: "We're there for each other (whoa oh ohhhhhh) We repair one another."

3. Sam Hart - Mario Kart Love Song

Love the mustache, even though it's fake (editor's note: It's a mustache-heavy week). Ok, with that aside. This song is amazingly sweet. If I knew how to play the acoustic guitar, I feel like I could play this outside of a woman's window during the scene in a movie where I have to win back her affections after being a total douche bag for the first half of the movie.

Favorite Line: "Blue shell is coming, so I'll go ahead. If you hang behind it'll hit me instead."

2. Lemon Demon - Geeks in Love

I was speaking of sweet before. This one is so sweet it puts me in a good mood no matter what. It's also hard for me to stay still while listening. Also, it feels like one of the more appropriate portrayals of geeky activities that I've heard. Regardless, it's almost too sweet. One of the video commenters suggest that this should be a duet, and I can't agree more.

Favorite Line: "We may not be cutting edge, but we won't take your mainstream pledge."

1. Jonathan Coulton - I'm Your Moon

There are few things I could see as more charming than a love song between Pluto and Charon. I missed that context entirely the first time I heard it (I wasn't watching the video at the time). Knowing that gives the song an immense sense of depth. Sections of geek culture are still vocally bitter about Pluto's loss of planetary status, but I feel a little better knowing that Charon is there to be with Pluto through this troubling time.

Favorite Line: "I'm your moon, You're my moon, We go round and round"

Runner Up, The Klein Four Group - Finite Simple Group (of Order Two)

This would have made the main list if I could have found a higher quality version. The lyrics are fun and so painfully math-based. I wish Glee was more like this (if they could stop their wholesale theft of original content). To even understand half of this song requires a very specific knowledge set that's very deep in math. While that makes it awesome, it can also be its downfall if it alienates non-math geeks.

Favorite Line: "But lately our relation's not so well-defined, and I just can't function without you."

Check out the other Off the Beaten Path articles - they're basically lists of interesting stuff that you should make a point to check out.

Podcast - Jonah's Music Corner and Mab Just Mab

This episode is double the fun with a new Music Corner from Jonah Knight and a great podcast with the illustrious Mab Just Mab.

The Blibbering Humdingers (via FB)

Having trouble? Try our RSS feed.

This month on Jonah's Musical Corner: The Blibbering Humdingers! A Wizard Rock (WRock) band out of North Carolina, the Humdingers travel far and wide to spread the legend of the boy wizard and stoke the magical core in all of us. Their song "No Shame in Hufflepuff" reminds us that Hufflepuffs are people too.

Do an old fashioned search for them and see what pops up, or start here.

And (shameless plug) did you know that Jonah has started co-hosting a geek music and convention culture podcast? It's called Pros and Cons. Find it on iTunes here.

Ukulele and gas mask: essentials for sideshowing it up
in the post-apoc. (promo image by Devon Rowland)

For the main podcast episode, we're joined by Mab! We caught her coming home from one of the closing weeks of the MD Renaissance Festival, still mostly covered in goblin make-up. We cover everything from Goblin Gangnam Style to Truckasaurus. Mab also shares an excellent story about how she graciously handled a group of tourists who showed up at Red Palace and requested a burlesque-free brunch.

Plug: Red Palace brunches on Sundays. See burlesque, imbibe mimosas, get delicious food, trinkets like dinosaur finger puppets on the tables, and more. It's the perfect cure for whatever you did to yourself on Saturday. 

We close the podcast with a Neverwhere-esque list of hidden locations and secret bars that Scooter has gained access to around DC. I'm pretty sure he's in a secret hipster foodie society or something to know all these little unlabeled nooks and crannies tucked away around the city.

Before I leave, apropos of nothing, please enjoy my current favorite gif:

I have to go, my people need me! (video by indirivacua)

Enjoy our podcast? Please subscribe via RSS or find us on iTunes.

Podcast - Interview with JC (Pimp: the Backhanding)

I think this image conveys the required gravitas for this podcast.
(photo provided by JC)

Although Pimp the Backhanding may be one source of JC's notoriety, it is far from the only source. Singer, songwriter, actor, writer, and the occasionally bitter screenwriter, JC kindly agreed to let us head down to Richmond's capital, Constantinople to record this episode. Listen in and learn about Professor Awesome Stud and his ability to summon an instant rock band (keep an eye out for his upcoming Saturday morning cartoon show. Anyone who wants to create Awesome Stud's cartoon show, should leave comments/resumes below.)

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Download the mp3 here.

Once upon a time, there was a card game. Some found it hilarious, some found it offensive, lots of people bought it, and White Wolf is probably trying to pretend they don't have a few copies squirreled away in a warehouse about two pallets away from the Ark. And we do coax JC into reminiscing about P:tB, but I found his newer projects more interesting. 

I first met JC through the music of Boob, and so I was excited to get the chance to hear some of his newer songs. In this podcast, we have not only the acoustic cover at the beginning, but also two new tracks. The first is "Sleep Little Children" an insomnia-inducing lullaby about the unlikeliness (but not impossibility) of monsters. For best results, sing this to your kids while out on a camping trip, far from civilization without cell signal.

Secondly, between the original podcast recording and today's post, JC was able to touch up an already badass song, "Professor Awesome Stud" into a brain-meltingly excellent home-studio mix, produced by guitar swashbuckler Trey Batts. Fans of Boob will recognize background vocals by Nancy Waldman, AKA Whoops Waldman, AKA Nancy Tunes, AKA Lydiamoto, etc. 

JC is also working with Aisthesis Productions on a film called  Savor the Kill. The movie is still in pre-production, but there's a conceptual trailer currently up on YouTube:

The story centers around a high-stakes, super-secret game played by millionaire playboys that results in a delightful horror-filled gorefest. I don't understand; I tried throwing money at my computer, but nothing came out. Unfortunately, since the final cast hasn't even been chosen yet, I suppose I'll just have to patiently wait for its release.

If you want to check out more of JC's Byzantine glory or some other projects by Trey, Nancy, and Aisthesis, here's a quick link list:

• Aisthesis Production's previous project: Lights, Camera, Dead.
• Lights, Camera, Dead has a fan page on Facebook.
• Savor the Kill also has fan page on Facebook (Let's see if we can't double their number of likes).
• If you liked "Awesome Stud," check out Nancy and Trey in another band, Moossa.

And keep an eye out here, as we'll pass along any information on upcoming novels, graphic novels, and music. Thanks again to JC for the interview.

If you're having trouble playing the podcast, here is a direct link to the mp3. (Heads up: because it's just the mp3, it will autoplay.)

All music except for the DC Geeks closing song is copyrighted by JC Lira, and reproduced here with permission.
(Well, except the opening cover. Although I've been told he wrote it, that tune sounds hauntingly familiar).

MAGFest X (2/2)

MAGFest Round Two: Fight!

Last week's Blackout threw off my schedule a little bit. So I'm going to try and double up here for a few weeks to get back on track. Let me start by wrapping up my MAGFest posts.

I could go on about the panels at MAGFest, because although it is the "Music and Gaming Festival," they throw a hell of a media con. I mean, just check out GLaDOS reading a letter to Princess Celestia or The Super Art Fight!

But one only needs to pause for a moment of quiet reflection anywhere in MAGFest to remember that the real focus is… is… OOOAAAARRRRGH

*clears throat*… is video games. (Yes, I found and watched and time stamped every one of those links for you. Because I love you, my MAGFestians. If you can ride it out past the eight minute mark of that last video, you come out transformed. Yes, I watched all ten minutes. I AM IMMUNE!)

If someone could write a script that would play the roar at random intervals no shorter than two minutes and no longer than twenty, you too could experience the joys of MAGFest. Well, not really, but I do want to troll my next LAN party that way. I know a few attendees were annoyed by it, but I wound up fascinated. It's an offline, randomly-generated, aural meme, and it's really fun to do.

The game room is astounding. I couldn't get my camera far back enough to fit all of it in one shot. Here's my best try. Ooh, look! They had X-Men!

I was standing at the mid-point of the room, in front of the pinball section.

There were clusters of games so that the space was not claustrophobic.

The dealers' room and board game area were located in the other half of this room. At first, I was fooled by the scale. "Oh, the dealers' room is just one fourth of the space, it's not that many people." On Saturday afternoon, I learned how wrong I was.

I just wanted to go through and pick up business cards. That's it. Maybe one or two quick hellos, but mainly if they were selling something, I wanted a website. If they weren't, I wanted to know if they were interested in interviews so we could make a later pass with the camcorder.

This simple request quickly divided the vendors into people who were livid that I would dare window shop, and people who were immensely friendly and willing to make sure that I understood why they were blazingly awesome. I'm looking at you, Mighty Rabbit Studios, Hello with Cheese and Random Encounter.

My speedrun of the dealers' room took me about three hours. I had to find a second bag to carry all the business cards. Overall, the majority of my time was spent bouncing around these two warehouse-sized rooms. I tried to make all the concerts that I could, and I did check in on panels, and those did stand head-and-shoulders above many cons that I've attended. But that's not where the real soul of MAGFest is.

It's finding Super Mario and realizing it's so much harder than you remembered. It's staring at the pinball machines going, "They made a pinball game out of that?" It's coming across a game that you know only by referential internet humor.

It's REAL!? Kidding, kidding.

As with any con, the attendees really make or break the weekend. Regardless of Jeff's critiques of their attire, I found MAGFest to be full of friendly, outgoing, and moderate-to-seriously competitive gaming geeks. I loved the inside jokes that gave the con a unique feel. The ratio of games to attendees meant that you never had to wonder if there would be anyone around to play Small World, but there was never too long a line for DDR (and they were people you'd want to play with, or wouldn't mind waiting behind).

Of course, any large gathering of people produces some rather random or funny encounters. For a collection of hilarious stories, check out this post on the MAGFest forums. Here's mine:

The Gaylord's glass atrium elevators go up all 18 floors and are visible to the huge open area below. Around midnight on Friday, I was going back to my room to grab a forgotten bit of equipment when a tween leapt into the elevator with me.

"Hell yes! I've been waiting for one of these all night."

I looked around the otherwise empty elevator. "I'm surprised. I haven't seen one get crowded all day. What floor are you trying to get to?"

"Don't care what floor. Had to get a glass one. ELEVATOR PARTY!" and he started bobbing his head slightly in time to imagined music.

I got out on my floor, "Um, ok. Enjoy your elevator."

"Yeah, you too, you too, you too," as he slammed his hands over all the buttons, and the dance began.
--------

And that, geeks and nerds, is our 100th DC Geeks post. Thanks for reading. I can't wait to see what we're able to do in the next hundred posts.

MAGFest X (1/2)

Kiddies, gather round and listen to your Auntie Aine. I woke up early in the middle of a convention, MarsCon, that I love, so that I could sneak around behind its back and write about MAGFest. So this is really an after-school special about procrastination. Do as I say, not as I do and all that. Wait! MarsCon! I can explain!


MAGFest was enormous. I mean, I've been to cons that were higher-volume just from a body count standpoint. However, there is a scale to the Gaylord convention center that suited MAGFest well. When I get nostalgic - and I mean really, hardcore, 2am, "Why could I never beat my ex at Smash Bros" nostalgia for video games - the games have a sense of scale or grandeur. Games matter in a way that is hard to describe to people who can't point to large portions of their formative years and say things like, "Then we were settled it with the high scores for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the SNES."


In fact, I'm breaking this into two posts, that's how big MAGFest was. Part One: Concerts and Parties.


As soon as I left registration, I found myself at one of the several [nearly] non-stop concert rooms. I heard the laughter before I heard the music, and I stopped in, thinking "ooh, I'll get to play with camera adjustments for concert photography later." The performer was the illustrious Brentalfloss. So instead, I wound up laughing so hard I could barely focus my shots. Oh Tetris, why can't I quit you?

All eyes are riveted to Brentalfloss as he sings.

As evidenced by our Flickr feed, I also made the concerts for the Megas, the Minibosses, and Year 200X. You know why I love my earplugs? Because I got to actually hear the music at these concerts. I started to leave them out. (after all, only an asshole would wear earplugs to a concert, right?) But I realized after about ten minutes that these industrial strength bits of foam weren't strong enough to block all sound, but without them I would have been a migraine-riddled mess. 


I certainly wouldn't be here telling you to buy things from these bands because they are epic. I know everyone else who pays attention to video game music is now rolling their eyes because they already knew this. However, as a bit of a newb to the genre, I am just now catching on. Seriously, chiptunes are great, but these guys made me pause the OCRemix, stop being stingy, and support these guys.


I'll get into the dealer's room later, but that is where I had a chance to meet Random Encounter (which, now that I think of it, makes their band name even more apt). A wild Random Encounter appears! Careless uses Unabashed Charisma! It's super effective!

Damn, girl.

Seriously, I… I have no words. They threw the most energetic concert of the weekend. And they did it in the free jams room, and they did all their set-up, concert, and tear down in twenty damn minutes. The Flickr feed is full of these guys, but there's no way that I could capture on still shots how the accordion player jumped off the stage and ran victory laps with one of the guitarists mid-song. Random Encounter is stunning, both acoustically and aesthetically. I know the Nobuo fans will consider this blasphemy, but I think in terms of sheer heart, Random Encounter managed to outdo even the Earthbound Papas.


Which is saying a lot, because the Earthbound Papas had amazing energy: the type that can really only be generated when you realize you're mere feet from a composer you've idolized for years, and you're in a room with hundreds of people who feel that same sense of joy and awe.

Out of all the photos I've taken, this is my favorite.

Yes, the music was epic, but we all knew it would be. So I'm not sure how to give higher praise than simply to say that everyone I spoke to agreed that Earthbound Papas lived up to the hype, and love, and fandom, and anticipation that had been building for weeks.


I missed some of the concerts because I haven't mastered that whole cloning thing. Check out the additional performers while they're still listed on the MAGFest site.


Parties: MAGFest has them. I got about 10 hours sleep in 72 hours. It got to the point where we were all coordinating our room party's movements through five-digit codes via text message. It was exhausting. It was wonderful. I woke up with boot prints on my pillow and a free church key. 


And for all the bitching I did about the age-coded wristband system: Thank you, MAGFest. Once again, con organizers prove their wisdom. Four parties in, I don't know anyone and I realize that once you get under about 25, I lose all ability to see kids as anything other than "potentially 12 years old." Not that I was handing out liquor, but it was nice to not need to be paranoid.


Next year, I'm snagging one of those pet cams and clipping it to my lapel. I'll either get a lot of photos of random hallways, or I'll have Spider Jerusalem style evidence of all our wonderful shenanigans.


Coming up next: Games and Vending.

MAGfest X Flickr

The photos are up on the DC Geeks Flickr from MAGfest X!

I love cosplayers, don't you?

There were many cosplayers, from the awe-inspiring and technically accurate to the downright adorable.

But we know you're all really looking for Nobuo Uematsu pics.

And of course, there's the concert photos. I caught the Earthbound Papas, Year 200X, Brentalfloss, the Minibosses, Random Encounter, and the Megas.

I'll put up a longer post a bit later. But for now, I'll placate you with eye candy. Let me know if I've misattributed anything or if you want to add info to any of the pictures.

Review: Axis of Awesome Show

The Awesomvirate from Axis of Awesome

Straight out of Sydney, the Axis of Awesome bursts into stage for American audiences.  This is more proof of geek culture joining the mainstream.  Not in a bad way mind you.  Not like M. Night Shamealot's The Last Airbender.  This band is pretty much covered in medals and accolades from Austrialia, it's pretty cool they were able to make it up for an American tour.  The crowd at the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse was very excited and the house was packed (and buzzed, it is a drafthouse after all).

Look, like most people there I had heard their 4 chords song.  While I love that song I wasn't sure that was going to be enough to sustain my entertainment throughout the entirety of the concert.  Man was I wrong.  I need to wear a t-shirt that says "this dude is wrong".  I expect that shirt waiting for me back at Castle DCGeekia.  There weren't really any portions of the concert itself that were weaker than others.  The bits they performed between songs played perfectly off each other.  Lots of fun self deprecating humor.  Comedy about how they are Austrialian.  Some good old fashioned anti-Canadian humor.  I mean it had just about everything.  What's up with all this Canadia hate anyhow?  Do you think it's a hang over from the French and Indian War?  Yeah, probably.

Watching their performance showed obviously not just how long the three of them have been working together, but how well they queue off each others performances.  The show felt like a pretty normal music / music comedy show (funny music anyone?) with these awesome pauses in between the music where the band would begin these pseudo casual conversations, half between themselves and half with the crowd.  It somehow felt incredibly casual, like you were sitting with them in a coffee shop or living room, yet polished like the fine comedic routine that it was.  Yes, the lead singer looks a lot like Jack Black, I kept thinking this to myself throughout the entire performance.  I was pretty shocked when as I was about to convince myself that it was just me that saw this, he goes into a bit about how he's tired of people telling him how much he resembles Mr. Black (hmm ok in this case not a Reservoir Dog, dear god, I keep forgetting Tim Roth was one).  Then goes into a song about it.  I should hate them for reading my mind like that.

In addition to everything else the entire performance was rife with nerd references.  I mean packed end to end.  I'm not even going to begin trying to list references because I would just be handing you the script for their entire show.  Looking around the crowd people were rocking woot and threadless shirts, plus the scruffy Dick Van Dyke, both key signs that you are in a nerd heavy zone.  It was especially heavy on the internet culture references.  I'm only half surprised they didn't get into making All Your Base jokes.

There were a couple of huge selling points for me on this show.  The large volume and smoothness of delivery of nerd references.  The awesome interpersonal interaction between the band members.  The self deprecating humor (ie Jack Black reference and a few others).  I really enjoyed this concert, honestly, a lot more than I thought I would going into this.  I didn't know a whole lot about them before hand and now it's obvious I was doing myself a disservice by now keeping them on my radar.  Well worth attending and their music is well worth listening to.

Interview: Jonah Knight

Jonah Knight @ DC Comics Conspiracy

I met Jonah originally at a small convention, Madicon, in Harrisonburg, VA.  The concert, like the convention, was only sparsely populated.  Yet when Jonah got up on stage he poured his all in his performance.  I had not heard of Jonah Knight before this and I was just wandering around wasting time until some friends were ready to go to lunch.  I became enraptured in the music that he played.  So much so I missed the group of friends leaving for lunch that I was originally waiting for (Oh 5 Guys, why are you so tasty?). His stylings spoke to me.  They took me to a world of fantasy.  They made me laugh.  They touched me in a way that I'm not normally touched when wandering through conventions (wait... what?  no I meant musically.  wth.).

I had an opportunity to discuss what's new with his music, and I tossed out the idea of doing an interview for the DC Geeks blog.  Here's a look into the mind of Jonah Knight (please wipe your feet first, no eating or drinking).


How long have you been performing / creating music? 

If you want to go way back, I was a member of The Singing Boys of Pennsylvania, a touring boys choir, when I was in 3rd/4th grade. When I left them I didn’t do any music for years until high school. I was totally in love with late 80’s / early 90’s rap, so I started a short-lived rap group when I was in 9th grade. We did one show. There are no recordings. That’s how it should be.

What originally inspired you to begin recording and performing in public? 

Because of the boys’ choir, performing always seemed to be an option. It was something I did before I knew any better, so as I got older I never had stage fright or anything like that. As far as recording goes, I had musician friends in high school who were much more advanced than I was. They had analog 4-track recorders and piles of demos, so I jumped on board that.

What artists do you consider your greatest inspirations? 

The first rock band I was in back in high school was fronted by a guy named Pat Beary. He was and still is an excellent guitar player and songwriter. I loved everything he wrote, and he made it seem so easy. Watching his process was a huge influence. My top 5 bands of all time would probably be Public Enemy, Ani DeFranco, Great Big Sea, The Cure, and Counting Crows. All for different reasons.

Review: The Extraordinary Contraptions

The Extraordinary Contraptions (please don't read that as Contraceptions, I had to retype this 3 times due to my brain not working right) are a steampunk inspired rock band hailing from HOTlanta (Atlanta for the not so hip. Somewhere south of here if you're grandma's reading this. Shame! Stop reading over your grandchild's shoulder). They lean towards the fantastical rather than settling for the mundane. 

If I had to categorize them I'd say.... probably.... folk rock? I'm pretty sure that doesn't do them justice. A lot of what I heard reminded me a lot of The Dresden Dolls. So maybe calling them Vaudevillian Rock is more fair (I'm floored that spell checker knew the word Vaudevillian... but not steampunk. Don't worry, I learned it). The outfits were on the money for steampunk. A lot of thought was put into the make up as well. The whole performance had an otherworldly theatrical aspect to it. I was amazed that, for the most part, the band members did not break character when not performing. That's a kind of dedication I can really appreciate for this kind of unique show. While there was not a huge crowd that came out specifically for them, the crowd that did show also did their steampunky best. I would love to see what kind of crowd reactions they would receive if I had seen them at the Steampunk World's Fair. (On another note, I'm completely in love with Dimitri von Stadberg's electric ... orchestral bass). Not only did it look truly bizarre on stage, it sounded pretty damn good too.

Let's talk about the music for a bit. All of the instruments and playing was pretty good, not absolutely amazing for a slightly bizarre sounding rock band, but nothing that made me complain. They were down one band member (their drummer), so maybe it's unfair for me to judge without the full ensemble. Really where this band stood out the most was the vocal range and stylings of just every member of the band(the video doesn't do them justice). While they are all fantastic singers, I was most taken away by Sephora Bostwick. She was very enchanting. As far as the content of the songs themselves, lots of references to pirates and sea shanties. You could almost feel the nerd dripping off each member as they sang. I'd be very surprised if any member of this band didn't know their way around a D&D compendium. I mean, for fuck's sake, they had a song about math. I felt like i should have thrown my pocket protector on stage (fooled you! I don't own one. But if I did, it'd have to fit this shirt). 

I like the venue, it has a gritty feel to it. But the biggest issue I have with smaller venues like bars is that the sound quality of the equipment causes the music to suffer. I felt like there were sound quality issues, but that's more having to do with the venue than their performance. I would have loved to have seen more interaction with the large ammounts of props brought to stage as well. I'm not even sure how, but with all of the lovely objects on display for the show it felt sort of weird that they were all just display pieces. 

Anyhow, long story short, I now own their two cds. I blame this on some sort of subliminal messages stuck into their music. All those years of psychic self-defense training for nothing. Ra's Al Ghul will be so ashamed. I recommend at least checking them out, if not ordering a cd or two from them. Their first cd has been my go to cd hanging out in my car. Very useful for scaring the narwhals(normals) should they approach too close. (Crap! I meant to ask them where they got their cool little pins from...)

(all pictures were taken by DC Geeks,  feel free to reuse them, just give link back love and credit). That video is not ours, which is why it's just linked.