VG Expo Showcases The Burgeoning Video Game Music Scene

Philadelphia’s Video Game Expo doesn’t have the mainstream notoriety of PAX, but the convention has been gathering steam over its five-year lifespan. Last year’s conference drew over 24,000 attendees. Recently it was announced that Nintendo had signed on as an exhibitor, demonstrating the growing importance of the show.

VG Expo has always been about more than just the games, placing an emphasis on the culture that surrounds the hobby. From cosplay to the retro collector’s market, the show presents pretty much everything a gaming nerd could desire.

The convention has been particularly supportive of the diverse video game music scene. At Video Game Expo 5, you’ll find live concerts by a number of the genre’s leading lights, artists and bands that both cover and make music inspired by classic video game soundtracks past and future. Following is a list and schedule of musical events at the show. If you are going to be in Philadelphia from October 9-11, stop down to get your fill. If not, check out the artist links to hear some of amazing gaming-inspired music.

Video Game Expo Schedule of Music Events

Friday, October 9th – 8Static Showcase

8Static is an event centered on the “chiptunes” scene, a genre of music where artist create compositions by programming straight to sound chips from old computers and video game system. While many of the songs are new, the sounds will resonate with anyone raised in the 8 or 16-bit eras of gaming.

7PM-7:30PM – Ro-Bear

Ro-Bear is Robert Joffred, a Philadelphia musician who writes exclusively for the Nintendo Game Boy. Ro-Bear’s material verges between spastic spurts of 8-bit techno to more tender, introspective passages. More importantly, the strength of the melodies results in music that is more than just a nostalgic gimmick. One our favorites of the artists performing at the show.

8:20PM-9:10PM – Animalstyle

Joey Mariano, who performs under the name Animalstyle, is not only a talented chiptune composer but also an inventor. A trained jazz musician, Mariano’s live shows feature live guitar, 8-bit electronics, and pre-programmed loops. To facilitate this, the Mariano has invented some in genius gadgets, including an “8-bit fuzz pedal” and foot controllers for both the Game Boy Color and original Game Boy. For a fascinating walkthrough of the process he used to create the GBC pedal, check out this page on his site.

9:20PM-9:40PM – Cheap Dinosaurs

Led by Dino Lionetti, a former member of Chromelodeon, an experimental indie rock band that began merging its rock influences with chiptunes sounds as early as 2000. His new outfit, Cheap Dinosaurs, seems to stick to a more automated, traditional chiptunes sound while still demonstrating his strong compositional skills.

9:50PM-10:20PM – Autoscroll

Perhaps the most intriguing act of the night, Autoscroll also demonstrates just how tight knit the chiptune scene is. Featuring both of the previous act – Joey Mariano and Dino Lionetti – plus “Bucky” Patrick Todd and Herbie Shellenberger, Autoscroll deploys a dizzying mix of stringed instruments, vintage sounding synths, retro game systems, and live drums to create a sound that suggests an alternate history where funky UK post-punk bands like Au Pairs and The Slits began to cover video game soundtrack music that didn’t even exist yet. Their version of “Golden Axe – Wilderness” is not to be missed.

Saturday, October 10th

1PM – Facundo

A chiptune artist from New Jersey, Facundo specializes in a harder edge, glitch influenced take on the genre. While the sounds are definitely out of the 8-bit era, fans that are drawn more to the melodic side of game music might find this off-putting. Still, if you’re into electro, noise, or experimental dance genres, this should be right up your alley.

2PM – The Ultraball

Prankish electropunks the Ultraball are, frankly, a bunch of jokers. In their Youtube videos, they seem to specialize in crowd baiting while wearing Pikachu suits and their music resembles some sort of obnoxious mix of pop-hardcore and teen pop. Still, they look like they’d be a pretty good time, and they have a world-class gimmick: The band claims to be on a mission to write an original song for each and every one of the original 150 Pokémon. ‘Nuff respect. By the way, you can barely hear the music on their MySpace page because they have a rap song embedded on the page that you can’t turn off. Punk.

5PM – Armadillo Tank

Armadillo is a fairly straightforward video game cover band, in the spirit of old school bands like the Minibosses. However, they do add an interesting twist by having a full-time singer, Dee, who adds original lyrics and sings them to the tunes from classic video games like Mega Man 2.

6PM – This Place is Haunted

Stick around for this, the first live band of the day that matches the talent and ambition of the previous day’s chiptunes acts. This Place is Haunted combines influences from jazz fusion, technical instrumental metal, and prog rock to create ambitious arrangements of songs from Ecco the Dolphin 2 to Double Dragon. More impressively, they sometimes cover a game’s entire score, as is the case with Double Dragon, which stretches an epic 11 plus minutes. The band features extremely polished (if sometimes clinical) musicianship and an adventurous flair for the dramatic. Video games finally have their own Muse.

7PM – Super 8-Bit Brothers

A satiric dance pop group that writes novelty numbers with titles like “My Princess is in Another Castle” and “Goodbye Cruel World of Warcraft.” If imagine if Har Mar Superstar collaborated with a NES, and you’re in the neighborhood. It suffers the usual downfalls of most “funny” music – the joke is pretty one note, and the songs don’t hold up to repeated listening.

Sunday, October 11

3PM and 7PM – Video Games Live at the Kimmel Center
(Tickets available from $35-$65)

If there is such a thing as an arena video game band, it’s Video Games Live. Led by veteran game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, the traveling orchestra combines pop, rock, and classical in arrangements of scores to some of the world’s best loved and best selling games. If you haven’t been, it’s an entertaining and well-done night of music, with a heavy emphasis on pomp and dramatic staging. Still, it will cost you. Get tickets now as most of their tour dates have been selling out.