Yuzo Koshiro - Saturday

A true video game music legend, Yuzo Koshiro is one of the most well respected video game composers of all time, deeply loved for both his dancey FM tunes as well as his orchestral epics. Since his debut with Falcom, Koshiro has gone on to compose for some of the biggest games in video game history, including Ys, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Shenmue, Actraiser, and many more. Along with his family, he runs the successful developer studio ANCIENT, and has composed video game music for nearly 30 years. Get ready to light up the streets and dance with your fellow demon beasts, because Koshiro will be keep it groovin’ on the dancefloor.

Armcannon - Friday

A five-piece melodic prog outfit that likes to bite off more than it can chew. An ancient genius proverb was once known to say "Them Armcannon boys are real musicians' musicians." They are unfathomably sensual. Armcannon masquerades needless audacity as charm and takes sillyness very seriously. Armcannon takes the 80's and 90's classic gaming melodies you love best and twists them into re-imaginations that only the hyper-focused mind of a child could muster. Armcannon force-feeds fanatics favorite Famicom fanfares.

Bit Brigade - Friday

When was the last time you attended a live music performance with a genuine element of risk involved? And no, going to a Gwar show with a white t-shirt on doesn't count. When Bit Brigade takes the stage your mind will frantically oscillate between "Oh! Agh!! Please don't die!!" and "YES! He's doing it!!" Combining the dread and daring of a live video game speed run with the spot-on technique of a live band covering the musical accompaniment to everything you're seeing on-screen in real time, Bit Brigade will have you swinging between the two mediums. Once Noah's NES buzzes on, there's no turning back.

BrentalFloss and The Cartridge Family - Friday

Nerdy funnyman brentalfloss and video game rock group Descendants of Erdrick have joined forces create a rocking video game comedy experience! BRENTALFLOSS AND THE CARTRIDGE FAMILY blend smokin' rock versions of game tunes with humor and audience interaction in a one-of-a-kind concert. This will be their first MAGFest appearance.

The Megas – Thursday

Forged in the fires of unemployment and single life, The Megas took mortal form in the summer of 2004. Their goal: to create a band that repelled chicks rather than drew them.

These five dudes and bros have traveled much of the United States to spread their message. Those cities lucky enough to see this band perform must have the necessary amount of both hundos and lattes. All The Megas' songs are about Megaman.

Random AKA Mega Ran - Thursday

Random, aka Mega Ran. Teacher, Rapper, Hero. A 14-year music veteran, middle school teacher and videogame aficionado, Random's songs are filled with all of the heartache, pain, triumph, tragedy and fun that come with everyday living. A Philadelphia native and Phoenix transplant, graduate of Penn State University and former middle school instructor, Random speaks to the everyman, transcending race or class barriers."I never want anyone to predict my next move," he says. You can, however, expect the unexpected from Random, hence the name.

Metroid Metal - Thursday

Metroid Metal pays tribute to the sometimes eerie but always epic music from the Metroid series. Songwriting and embelishment arrangements make up the backbone of Metroid Metal's music. The result is a pounding and evolving collection of songs that pays homage to their favorite songs, but offers a fresh take on the original material.

Since the birth of the live band at MAGfest 7, Metroid Metal has gone on to play the Penny Arcade Expo, Nerdapalooza, Bit Gen Gamerfest, Kevin’s basement, and various hotel rooms and bar gigs.

Metroid Metal has been arranging music from the Metroid series since 2003. MAGfest 11 marks the 4 year anniversary of the full band's inaugural show, and the 5th appearance at MAGfest.

The OneUps - Thursday

In the year 1987, NASA launched the last of America's deep space probes - Ranger 3. Aboard this compact starship - The OneUps-- Mr. M, TY, VCR and J. Booty - were to experience cosmic forces beyond all comprehension. In a freak mishap, their life support systems were frozen by temperatures beyond imagination. Ranger 3 was blown out of its planned trajectory into an orbit one thousand times more vast, an orbit which was to return The OneUps to Earth, 500 years later.

Powerglove - Saturday

Hailing from the outer reaches of flavor country, the Powerglove woodwind quartet is the perfect choice for any bat mitzvah or funeral procession. Top scientists from Powerglove University in Prague have ascertained specific evidence from the children of Sanchez the Wise that Powerglove’s music is answer to domestic abuse, and gout. However, clinical trials have yet to prove that Powerglove is in any way effective against dysentery. These four young men, full of bold and fresh flavor, as well as all requisite herbs and spices will dance for you until the siren call of the Great Mancuso beacons us home to the undying realms with the audacity of succulent ham.

Protomen- Saturday

The Protomen are more than just a band. They are messengers, riding atop an Iron Stallion on their way to deliver the most vicious rock 'n' roll fable that the world has ever known. With several planned albums, and a live show that could crumble mountains, there's no denying The Protomen have created a work unique to its medium -

The first record, 'Act I', includes elements of Ennio Morricone, Queen and Black Sabbath, that culminate in a listening experience unlike anything you've ever heard. If you're afraid of sky cracking distortion and epic chaos, you won't survive this album.

Act II is a departure from the signature distorted sound of the first record. It focuses on a time before the world had fallen under darkness. It is a brighter and more optimistic look at the world The Protomen have created. The album is split into two separate eras (and sounds), and gives the feeling of two distinct albums in one. Act II was produced by Alan Shacklock (Meatloaf, The Alarm, Bonnie Tyler, Babe Ruth, Roger Daltry) and The Protomen. Mastering was provided by Richard Dodd (Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Traveling Wilburys).

Since their performance at Bonnaroo '09, The Protomen have been touring in support of their newest album. They conquered their SXSW and CMJ showcases in 2010. They've also performed at Bamboozle, PAX, Free Press Summer Fest, and several other well-attended events. Currently they are working on new material to be released early 2012, and there are several tours planned for the next year all over the world.

Yes, with their very own brand of robot rock, The Protomen are ready to fight.

Rare Candy - Saturday

Rare Candy continues their epic journey to promote the power of friendship and never giving up, now with a bonus fifth member. Hailing from the Baltimore region (well known for friendship and never giving up), these young go-getters bring up-tempo synth driven video game rock and so many keyboards you’ll be like: “That is more keyboards than I was expecting for one band.” After much hard work and training, they have once again made their way to the MAGFest League Championships.

Those Who Fight – Saturday

The state of the world is in chaos. Under the leadership of General Bizan, the Malacian Army continues its march throughout the northern continent giving only two options: convert to the Empire of Malacia or die. Those who stand up for this unjustice, who speak and act out against these acts, those who are labeled as Resistance, Those Who Fight seek to bring an end to this tyranny.
Those Who Fight have taken their respective passions from musical theater, rock opera, video games, and storytelling, and put them all into a blender to make one of the craziest concoctions known to the human palette. They have written an all-original "Final Fantasy-inspired" story with all-original characters with progressive rearrangements of well-known and also overlooked songs from the Final Fantasy franchise. Stage 2 at MAGFest X was the band's first live performance, and now a year later they are returning with several shows under their belt and many new additions to their aural arsenal.

Come Saturday night you will only have one question to answer: Will you be those who fall, or THOSE WHO FIGHT!?

Video Game Orchestra - Friday

VGO (Video Game Orchestra) is the world renowned orchestra based out of Boston, directed by guitarist and producer Shota Nakama. With their unique fusion of regal orchestra and exhilarating rock, the VGO has gone to become one of the hottest and unique acts in live performed video game music, headlining PAX, producing the first video game based concert in the prestigious Boston Symphony Hall, and even performed live with Nobuo Uematsu himself. At MAGFest 11, The VGO will deliver game music like you never heard it before.

bLiNd - Friday

bLiNd has been involved in the videogame remix scene since 2002 with the OCReMix and VGMix communities and has been rocking the trance lovers for ten years. He is now embarking on a much broader scope for the videogame remix scene as well as original videogame tunes under the name Jordan Steven. He has also joined Dj CUTMAN's crew under Gamechops and will be releasing new material at MAGFest as well as performing it!

Benjamin Briggs - Friday

Benjamin Briggs (aka chthonic) is an electronic multi-genre musician that is best known for his remixes of video game music. Over the last 10 years Benjamin has become an accomplished remixer on OverClocked ReMix, video game composer, arranger, and now DJ, performing twice during Nerdapalooza 2012 in downtown Orlando Florida. High-voltage electronic dance music with a twist of chiptunes and video game music, Benjamin Briggs displays an unforgettable stage presence that is completely infectious, and enchants the crowd to dance along through mystical energy transfer techniques. Nerd salvation.

Dj CUTMAN - Saturday

Dj CUTMAN is a pioneer performer of Chiptune and Video Game Music, mixing world-class chiptunes into epic, dancable sets infused with dubstep, electro, hiphop and funk. Dj CUTMAN brings years of experience as a recording engineer into the DJ world, sampling sounds and melodies from classic video games.

Batsly Adams – Fri & Sat Visuals

Andrew Reitano [Batsly Adams] is an electrical engineer / programmer / visualist based in NY. He creates visuals using a combination of two Sega Genesis consoles and a hand-built video synth circuit. His style involves pushing the limits of the Sega video processor (VDP), utilizing hardware tricks to produce images beyond the expected capability of the system.

BRIGHT PRIMATE - Saturday

Boston's BRIGHT PRIMATE are quickly becoming a household name in the global chiptune scene. The Gameboy/vocal duo of songwriter and vocalist Lydia Marsala and composer James Therrien make danceable electro-pop using hacked videogame hardware and are renowned for their electrifying live shows. They've written a number of soundtracks for videogames, been featured on Rock Band, performed on national television and organized a thriving local scene via Boston8Bit. Their debut album Night Animals is available on Pause records.

Cheap Dinosaurs – Saturday

Cheap Dinosaurs is a psychedelic progressive rock band from Philadelphia, led by former Chromelodeon founder & longtime MAGFest guest, Dino Lionetti. Cheap Dinosaurs' audio-visual experience combines pop melodies with jagged-rusty rhythms, circuit bent sounds and dirty synthesizer leads. Their song "Hot Plate" won TCTD's best chip track of the year in 2010 & NPR's Peter Crimmins recently noted that, "Cheap Dinosaurs is made up of giants in the local (Philadelphia) chip music scene." An accurate observation with an all-star lineup consisting of Animal Style, Chipocrite, Bucky, an0va and Store Cats guitarist Danny Tarng. Be sure to check out the first "chip super-group" headlining the chip music showcase on Saturday this year.

Crashfaster - Friday

Crashfaster is a four-bodied hive mind from San Francisco, California that combines the gritty chip sounds of Gameboy, NES and C64 with hard-hitting rock and both synthetic and human vocals to form a completely original, hybrid chip-electro-rock experience. In addition to their band material, Crashfaster recently composed the soundtrack for the retro RPG Dragon Fantasy (Books I & II), and has contributed to BUTCHERED: Splatterhouse Remixes, HYDORAH: Arranged Tracks and IWADON: Hiroyuki Iwatsuki Tribute Album.

Danimal Cannon – Friday

Your life will be greatly enhanced if you attend Danimal's chiptune show. He's like a government stimulus check that gives you ice cream sandwiches made out of guitar solos. Can you really afford to pass that up? Didn't think so.

D&D Sluggers – Friday

A little bit Nintendo, a little bit dance pop, and more than a handful of fun. These are the ingredients which make up D&D Sluggers. From their port town of Wilmington, NC, the dynamic duo of Soultron and Hyphen utilize a Game Boy DMG and Nintendo DS in harmony with guitar, synths and vocals to create seriously catchy music about love, life, perseverance and Pokemon. Having been tapped to play such massive festivals as Hopscotch, Nerd-a-palooza, and SXSW, and supporting the likes of Afroman, Random Encounter, Math the Band, The Protomen and Peelander-Z, their style has helped to bridge the gap between chiptune and rock. As one reviewer put it of their full-length, "If music could be highly infectious for the ear, the D&D Sluggers have a nasty virus."

Invaderbacca – Fri & Sat Visuals

Invaderbacca (Mike Goodman) living in New York, has been circuit bending Nintendo's since 2009 and has performed in Montreal, Boston, Seattle, Philidelphia and New Jersey. Using a mixture of sound reactive NES mods and a special pair of gloves to control the Nintendo the performances take over a life of their own. Using the Nintendo's and a library of off kilter clips from all over the world he creates a universe for the eyes to discover.

Inverse Phase – Friday

Virtually a product of MAGFest, Inverse Phase does the opposite of what you'd expect from a MAGFest music act: chiptune renditions of modern music! Always striving to improve, and influenced by MAGFest's long-time guests Jake Kaufman and Dino Lionetti, Inverse Phase was recognised by Boing Boing for his "Retrocovered" album and Wired for a Cee Lo parody. Now, with "Pretty Eight Machine", a recent Nine Inch Nails tribute, he's even been recognised by the band itself. Coming up on the docket: several original indie game soundtracks including some work with MAG guest Danny Baranowsky of Super Meat Boy fame!

Kris Keyser - Saturday

Kris Keyser balances equal parts fun and fury with his low-bit compositions. Bouncing from style to style, Kris twists waveforms into danceable anthems that fit in the palm of your hand, yet can fill a dancefloor with ease. Kris has played such events as PAX East, The Engadget Show, and Blip Festival NYC 2012, and is excited to be part of this year's MAGFest!

NO CARRIER – Fri & Sat Visuals

Don Miller is an artist and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. He performs live visuals in real time under the alias NO CARRIER. Miller works with nearly obsolete repurposed electronics to create psychedelic low resolution video art. Part of the 8bitpeoples artist collective, he performs, exhibits, and lectures worldwide.

Pixelseed - Fri & Sat Visuals

Sean Smith aka Pixelseed is a visualist based out of Baltimore, MD. He performs with musicians and artists to create a kinetic wall of light that expands beyond a low bit abstract using new, recycled and modded gear. See Pixelseed plant tiny movie seedlings for the short attention span theater.

Jake "virt" Kaufman - Saturday

Jake "virt" Kaufman is a large, clumsy, soft-spoken man who makes chiptune music which causes fellow musicians of all genders to tear off their clothing and throw themselves at him. One of the few people in today's chip scene who actually wrote music for commercially released Game Boy games (and who has worked on just about every system since), Jake invites you to join in his fantastical rainbow-filled orgy of NES sounds, FM and modern synthesis, orchestra, dance beats, and keyboard shredding. There is a not-insignificant chance that he might collapse and die on stage, so don't miss your chance to see what could be his final performance.

ARC IMPULSE – Saturday

ARC IMPULSE is a group of friends from varying musical backgrounds coming together over their common love for rocking your favorite video game music. Their sound has evolved through the years to bring you a truly unique kind of video game synth rock you've never heard before!

Descendants of Erdrick – Friday

Descendants of Erdrick is a 5-piece rock band dedicated to recreating classic video game music. They hail from Austin, Texas, and are known for their highly energetic live performances, flute, and a wide range of VGM medleys. Established in 2009 by musicians who grew up with controllers in their hands, later replaced by musical instruments, the band's mission is to convey through performance the excitement they feel about this music.

Dwelling of Duels Live - Friday

The musical battle arena known as Dwelling of Duels cultivated many great warriors. Their stories are recorded in the archives - songs of tribute to our video game music heritage. Dwelling of Duels Live aims to bring some of those stories to life. Formed by long-time participants in the VGM arrangement scene, this band of warriors values deep grooves, heavy stacks, freshness factor and high-caliber musicianship.

Fighting In The Streets – Friday

Fighting In The Streets is a fiery band of musicians who utilize jazz improvisation, funky grooves, and smooth showmanship through video game music. We play songs from Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter 2, Mega Man, Castlevania, and more. The goal of the band is to play music we have listened to subconsciously as kids and bring it to life with new arrangements and pure RAW energy.

"Fighting in the Streets" was created by Alex Lopez and Norman Edwards in the fall of 2009. The two met while studying at Manhattan School of Music and quickly gravitated towards each others musical personalities. The pair soon realized that they also shared a passion for the music of video games and envisioned performing the music live.

Knight of the Round – Saturday

5 years ago, ex-Iscariot guitarist Justin Taylor began making "metal covers" of Uematsu's Final Fantasy music to familiarize himself with recording and mixing. Years later, the "solo Knight of the Round project" has evolved into a VGM band like none other. An absolute metal powerhouse, Knight of the Round features some of Northwest Indiana's most accomplished musicians, Knight of the Round blends the speed and aggression of Thrash Metal with the precision and technicality of Math Metal while throwing in bits of Symphonic Metal and Power Metal to create what just might be the heaviest, most epic video game music anyone has ever heard. KOTR draws influences from bands such as Dimmu Borgir, Testament, Meshuggah, and Rhapsody of Fire while still paying homage to the timeless original scores from Final Fantasy. Having already been featured on sites like OverClocked Remix, KOTR is ready to make their debut con performance at MAGFest 11. They're also releasing their debut full length album "Gaia's Bane" in October 2012. You've never seen or heard VGM like this, Kupo!

Lords of Thunder - Friday

For eons we have slept, awaiting the opportunity to be reborn in battle. The time is now for the Lords of Thunder to awaken! The evil god Deoric has summoned his minions in hopes of purging all who would resist him! We must employ the ballads of our ancient brethren to rid the land of this impending malice! Join us and bask in the glory of victory as we tear through evil and restore peace!

Bring your broadsword and join Lords of Thunder as they play metal VGM covers, with a few direct covers from the game 'Lords of Thunder' (Sega CD/TurboDuo/PC Engine). LoT is comprised of various musicians from across the land, intent on providing deliciously heavy tunes to all who would listen. FOR GLORY!

My Parents Favorite Music - Friday

My Parents Favorite Music has created music since 2000 and has released 3 albums independently, with topics that span the spectrum of nerd and hip-hop culture. With subjects ranging from Kool-Aid and coffee, to robots and Otaku, all backed by familiar video game soundtracks, MPFM strives to deliver a unique experience in which the audience will never forget. MC and Steffo bring a spectacular amount of energy with live drumming, clever wordplay, and a stage presence ensuring every audience member will feel like part of the show.
MPFM has performed shows with nerdy and video-game-music based acts such as: mc chris, The OneUps, Peelander-Z, MC Frontalot, Random aka Mega Ran, MC Lars, The Protomen, ANAMANAGUCHI, brentalfloss, as well as appeared in the 2008 Nerdcore hip hop documentary "Nerdcore For Life" directed by Dan Lamoureux.

On Being Human – Saturday

Formed in Murrieta, California, the band On Being Human is made up of composers: Travis Baker, Beau Trembly, Greg Lesondak and Greg Johnson. Their music and orchestral compositions have been featured in films (The Package Vol. 1, Lockdown: Red Moon Escape), television (Discovery Channel, History Channel, Travel Channel) and video games (Rocket Racing League, AMBL, Galactic Bowling), as well as several other international documentaries and commercials.

After living in Germany for seven months, writing their debut album, the band returned to the States as Hot Topic's Band of the Month, and, because of their love for video games and video game soundtracks, they began covering and writing remixes of their favorite video game themes. With this material, they created an episodic show titled "The Humans are Coming", for RetrowareTV.com. Their cover of "Ken's Theme" from Street Fighter II was hosted on ScrewAttack's homepage, featured as "How the Big Boys Play Street Fighter", and their second episode, a cover of the "Intro" and the "Prelude" from Super Metroid, was hailed as an "Epic Rock Ballad" by GameTrailers.com, and a cover that "Will Blow Your Mind" by NintendoLife.com.

As On Being Human continues writing their sophmore album, "In Search of Adam", they continue writing music for film, television and video games. Be sure to check out their latest release of episodes every month on RetrowareTV.com.

OverClocked University - Friday

GET SCHOOLED! OverClocked University is the official house band of OverClocked ReMix, featuring anthemic & upbeat rock arrangements of your favorite VGM tunes! Featured during OC ReMix panels at PAX, Otakon, and previous MAGfests, this is the OFFICIAL DEBUT of a FULL SET of face-melting arrangements, set to custom-made videos of game footage.

Join violinist Amy, guitarists Andrew and Stevo, and bassist Deia, as well as the mysterious ReMix-o-Tron 5000 & prepare to rock!

Professor Shyguy - Saturday

Professor Shyguy can be best described as; high energy, chiptune, electro-rocking, epically vocalized, highly danceable, theatrical nerd-pop. His performance consists of him singing, playing guitar, keyboards, and drums, 'other', and sometimes three of those things at the same time. He has shared the stage with Ellen McLain (aka GLaDOS), performed with Samantha Newark (aka Jem of Jem and the Holograms), played Nerdapalooza, played Gen Con, and even played for his parents in their own living room!

Super Guitar Bros – Saturday

The Super Guitar Bros are not actually brothers – they’re bros! Steve met Sam back in 2007 at a local coffee shop he was performing at with a mutual friend. After seeing Sam’s incredible classical skills, Steve knew the two of them had to start making music. After their first jam session together you could tell the two of them just clicked. They’ve been playing together ever since. Not only do they both love making video game covers, they have been working on many original songs, which they plan to share further down the road.

The Triforce Quartet – Saturday

The Triforce Quartet began innocently as a short Zelda medley for an encore of a recital in early 2007, but the video of using traditional string quartet instruments to play music of classic games gained viral popularity later that summer. Thanks to this, cellist Chad Schwartz was able to combine his love for video games, along with years of classical training, to arrange a variety of video game themes that even non-gamers can recognize and enjoy. The four members of the Triforce Quartet take audience members of all ages on an unforgettable musical journey.

The World is Square – Friday

Since the dawn of time, man had believed the world to be a flat disc. The beliefs of these geographers and explorers later lead to a great war against those who knew the truth then only known as "The Squares". When they heard the call to battle; they equipped themselves with the power of unconventional weapons, unlike anything the world had ever seen before. They rode into battle on their Golden Chocobos with Ukuleles & Glockenspiels drawn. Great Magick spells were cast using the hypnotizing sounds of Mandolins and Hand Drums. At the end of the battle, when the dust had settled, when the sky had rained out its remaining ash ... a single flag stand proudly in the battlefield ... Proclaiming; THE WORLD IS SQUARE.

The X-Hunters - Saturday

The X-Hunters are an instrumental metal band from New Jersey paying tribute to the SNES Mega Man X Series. Known for a thunderous assualt of heavy drums and soaring twin leads, the X-Hunters should please fans of metal and video game music alike.