By Colette Bennett

There aren't enough unpretentious events in the video game world. Sadly, it's just as much an industry here in lovely Los Angeles as films and television are. Even E3 got so overcrowded and pretentious that it collapsed in upon itself like the troubled house in Poltergeist. I love to sniff out the obscure when it comes to games; events of this type are too few and far between. I heard about Video Armageddon about a month ago via MySpace and my ears perked up. A fistful of bands playing? Check. All video game inspired? Check. Sure to be attended by a herd of people who would understand why I hum the Zelda overworld theme at random while cleaning my bathroom? Check. How could I resist such a delightful combination of possibilities?

The event took place at an odd little venue in North Hollywood that I had never seen before. The front gates were vividly painted with a giant clown face. My hand was stamped with some sort of loud buzzing instrument and I was ushered into what basically seemed to be an homage to some sort of traveling carnival. I walked down a hallway with wax figure displays and to the bar, which was flanked by a glass dome containing two shrunken heads. Weirdness right and left is always a strong sign of the possibility of extreme fun. I took this as a portent of a fine evening.

Surrounded by boys in stark white ties and girls with spiky hair and spikier belts, it quickly became clear to me that I was seeing an entire subculture that warmed my heart to recognize. Less icy than indie kids and more willing to revel in silliness than the goth collective, this group was positively dorking out as hard as possible and having an unashamedly great time doing so. It was infectious. As opening band Push Start took the stage, this became completely clear by the audience's enthused response to some rad performances. Push Start put a 'doo wop' spin on some classic favorites, using no instruments at all and creating all the melodies using their voices. The crowd flipped over the Chocobo theme and sang along with every note of the Tetris theme. An asskicking medley of the songs from Super Mario one and two was my personal favorite performance of the evening.

Quarter Circle Jab took the stage second and took things in a different direction by rocking a harder sound and jamming the living fuck out of material from Zelda and Final Fantasy. Imagine all the sheer heavy rock power of a great metal band, but then transform them into game loving geeks. There's something unexplainable yet fantastic about slamming your head to the tune of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Needless to say, they were a success. In the interim until the next band came on stage, an impromptu Guitar Hero competition got started to fill the down time. I could have easily whiled away the rest of the evening channeling my inner Axl Rose. Luckily, it wasn't too long until The Megas came out and brought me back to reality. These guys just make you laugh out loud with their sheer creativity. The band is called The Megas because, of course, their work is dedicated to the Mega Man game series. The great thing about this band is listening to the lyrics. They did entire songs dedicated to individual Mega Man bosses (Airman and Metalman both got their own jams.). It's devastatingly clever stuff. Not to mention, it makes you want to dance your ass off.

As I said above, video game events are a dime a dozen these days, but few have the raw feel of people totally enjoying themselves and having a good time. There's so much focus on the business aspect of gaming that this is often lost. Nintendo took this idea very much to heart when creating the Wii - they recognized that a lot of the fun had gone out of next gen gaming, so rather than following the edge with accelerated technology, they chose to create an accessible machine that would make it easy for people of all ages to have fun playing it. Not surprisingly,Wii is outselling every other next gen console on the market right now, and surely this is a major factor. What does that have to do with Video Armageddon? Simply put, events like this draw gamers together not for love of money or need for networking, but for sheer love of the games that inspired the work. It makes you remember the way you felt the first time you played Mega Man as a kid, or going to school obsessed with how you would beat Ganon when you got home that afternoon. A lot of next gen games don't have the power to do that. While the music and art subcultures of the gaming community may often be overlooked as lesser outlets, I think events such as Video Armageddon are one of the most direct sources that our inspiration can come from to keep the gaming world fresh and fun. Don't take it all so seriously. Bust out your copy of Guitar Hero and rock out.

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