This particular Sunday night at one of Atlanta’s most popular venues, Terminal West, was not for those who come to enjoy a vocal performance… or pop, dance, soul, country or jazz for that matter. It was, though, an event that might be described as unlike any other.
Opening the evening was the fleet-fingered Jake Silverman, performing as Button Masher, playing his Novation keyboard in front of a back-screen featuring clips from retro video games. Silverman, who earned a Doctorate in Jazz Studies from the University of Southern California, brings inspiration from jazz fusion and adds a lot of improvisation, effectively “voicing over” the video action behind him.
Silverman has also won a Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals, where he contributed the music to “Last Surprise,” from the soundtrack of the video game Persona 5. He played an alternate version in his 30-minute set.
The primary draw was Galactic Empire, whose third album Cinemetal perfectly describes their art: heavy-metal interpretations of cinema themes, primarily from the Star Wars universe, but also from Terminator, Superman, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Their performance comes complete with costumes inspired by Star Wars and its outer-rim culture, think characters that might be found in Mos Eisley spaceport, where “you’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.” (Yes, they play “Cantina Band” song).
Their covers of Star Wars’ most iconic songs are the draw – such as the “Main Title” and “The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme),” but they excel in the deeper cuts as well, delivering a metal onslaught just as advertised. Given Atlanta’s reputation for cosplay, see DragonCon, the only disappointment was that more attendees weren’t decked out, regardless of whether they pledge allegiance to the Empire or the Rebellion.
Closing the evening was Bit Brigade, a five-piece band from Athens, GA. Their show centers around “speedrunner” Noah McCarthy, who sits at center stage in a slouched beach chair, controller in hand, playing through a full video game, Mega Man 2, on this night. McCarthy is genuinely part of the band: his button-presses dictate the performance, and the group (drummer, bassist, and two guitarists) perform a rocking version of the original soundtrack in real time.
The catch? The band plays towards the audience (not the video-projected screen behind them) and have to concentrate on the screen set in front of McCarthy. As good as he is, he’s not a perfect player, and the band has to instantaneously adapt their music, such as playing interludes between game sections or untimely deaths or if his usual pacing is off. It’s a crazy experience to watch a master gamer and a band who are very much “in the moment” like no other.
