This past weekend was BitGen Gamer Fest in Baltimore, MD. I played in both Metroid Metal (MM) and Viking Guitar Live (VGL) on a single day with 16 more bands at a venue called Ottobar. And we almost didn’t play. Which band? Both bands.
Unfortunately, my long-time MM brother, Dan Taylor (chunkstyle), came down with COVID the week before. He is also a member of VGL, meaning we had to decide whether to get replacements or go with... some other option? VGL promptly got a replacement, Mark Schimmelbusch (mahn), a talented player from Virginia (who pulled it off with no issue, I might add). In addition was a replacement drummer, Angel Hernandez (masikus), who picked up the VGL torch for my little brother, Adam Henry. Unsurprisingly, Angel blew us all away as well.
But with Metroid Metal I had concerns. MM music doesn’t require epic agility on the fretboard. However, it is full of half-measures, extra beats, fakeouts, and other proggy shenanigans. It’s covered in “asshole parts”, according to Danimal Cannon. HOW DOES SOMEONE COME IN AND LEARN THIS IN FIVE DAYS?! Danimal suggested Chris Dlugosz (cubosh) from Arm Cannon. Holy shit! Bass on keyboard? I mean sure! We’ve gigged with Chris for a dozen years and he already knows many of the songs. After some clever AI software to strip bass from album tracks and sourcing some 13-year-old stems, I was able to put together a care package and cut Chris loose to learn by ear. The doctor is IN.
So, ok. We’re good, right?
Then comes Friday… the day before the show…
Erik Peabody (VGL band leader) called me to say that Mega Beardo, our other VGL guitar guru, had COVID. I then heard that Kirby (MM) had not been feeling great and could perhaps have COVID. Oh ok right on.
Cue a frantic, hour-long session between myself and Erik figuring out how to plug the guitar holes between the two of us for VGL, and cue a last minute PCR test for Kirby to make sure she is clean before showtime. Friday was a four-hour practice for MM, seasoning Chris and assuming Kirby might not be there. Austin Green (our hero) even learned two MM tracks to perhaps play with us if Kirby couldn’t make it.
Saturday happens. Viking Guitar Live slayed. Metroid Metal slayed WITH a healthy Kirby there, and Chris handled Dan’s bass parts with grace and creativity. Chris was seen visibly counting on stage and eventually showing his lead sheets to the crowd for Spore Spawn. It was educational. It was Super Metroid. They got learned from Professor Cubosh.
This weekend was a test in fortitude and our ability to adapt to wildly unexpected circumstances. It was also a major triumph! It was marred by the mournful absence of bandmates and others who could not make it. It was the universe whipping us into shape. It was a bloody battle and victory, and I owe a lot to a lot of people. Not the least of which being Darmock and Austin, who lodged half the band members for the weekend!
I just needed to write all this out for closure. Thank you all for reading, thanks Nate Horsfall for the visuals and for riding it all with me, and thank you John de Campos for bringing these bands in to jam.
See you all next mission!
