SouthSide On The Town: 01 Aug 14

Nerds, UNITE!

And unite they did, blogspot readers.

Recently at Lakeview's Elbo Room, nerds (and those pretending to be nerds) gathered deep within the basement main lounge for a night of fandom and video-inspired music performances by three local bands. The lineup featured music inspired by the popular, longtime running British programme - Doctor Who (and yes, SouthSide will admit she's a Who fan since its early days with Jon Pertwee portraying the Third Doctor) from Time Crash, the head banging thrill of metal inspired by Final Fantasy games from Knight of the Round and lastly, video games from Zelda to GoldenEye by Arc Impulse. Overall, blogspot readers, it was an exciting night being amidst the nerd-dom of music for this reviewer in which she highly recommends checking all three bands at their next show.

Time Crash (featuring Ronen on vocals and guitar) opened the night with songs inspired by the British television programme, Doctor Who. For those who don't know and/or haven't seen an episode, it's about a Time Lord from the planet of Gallifrey traveling within time and space aboard a "ship" (actually it's a Police [phone] Box) called the TARDIS and quite frequently with companions. However, life as the Doctor can get complicated (like losing a companion or two to death) as well as deadly(battling Cybermen or the dreaded Daleks) in which when injured he regenerates into a new persona and identity. To date, there have been 11 Doctors (Matt Smith recently ending his run in 2013) with a 12th one (Peter Capaldi appearing in the show's fiftieth anniversary episode "The Time of the Doctor"). Local group, Time Crash, wonderfully captured that sense and spirit of the programme through songs like "Who Am I" (sometimes The Doctor doesn't know who he is), "Trust Me" and "Last Human" (a song about Lady Cassandra", The highlight of the set was their rendition of Kansas' hit "Carry On Wayward Son" and Doctor Who theme song. Fans of the good Doctor and this band can expect a new album titled Regeneration to be released soon yet in the meantime, you can visit Time Crash at http://www.timecrashband.com for music and when they're performing again in space and time near you.

More photos of Time Crash

It was a live, thrilling experience, blogspot readers, when the harsh head-banging sounds of metal merged with the melodic beauty of this popular science-fantasy, roleplaying video game known as Final Fantasy by Knight of the Round. This game's plots center around a selection of heroes battling evil while getting to explore the characters and their internal struggles and relationships. Usually character names are taken from history, languages and/or mythologies of cultures worldwide.What a treat for the nerds tonight who attended! A mind-blowing experience of sight and sound for all which featured graphics and game images from the video games while being surrounded by the metal music. KotR wonderfully brought the spirit and feel of this popular gaming series to life by performing a wide range of musical selections such as Final Fantasy X, a Final Fantasy mash-up and Final Fantasy II. The main lounge was filled with the melodic tone and gritty thrash off the guitars as fans rocked out alongside the guitarists' hardcore head-banging action on stage. It was completely intense ...and the images did truly heighten the Knight of the Round's performance from beginning to end especially when ending the set with a Final Fantasy VI jam. For more information about this band and its Final Fantasy-inspired metal music, visit Knight of the Round at http://www.facebook.com/KOTRmetal.

More photos of Knight of the Round

Closing out this night of nerd-dom was Arc Impulse, a band SouthSide first saw a Reggie's when they opened for Peelander-Z ...thrilling the crowd with mind-bending synth rock. Tonight, they were the band who rocked the Elbo Room stage with a wide selection of older video game-inspired music such as "Team Fortress 2" theme, "Space Harrier" and the pink guy Kirby!. They even thrilled the late night audience with their awesome renditions of James Bond 007's GoldenEye (which inspired a few to move and dance as if they were part of the traditional James Bond opening sequence) and Game of Thrones. What an adventurous ride did this group take their nerdy fans on, blogspot readers, throughout their headlining performance! They musically recreated those games you love to play for hours upon hours featuring a fun Legend of Zelda medley and Mike Tyson's Punch Out with a bit of Rocky Balboa too that ended the evening. For more information, visit Arc Impulse at http://www.arc-impluse.com.

More photos of Arc Impulse