My Triumphant Return to MAGFest
Rich L.as Leon Kennedy
The majority of fan conventions usually have one main focus such as comics, horror, anime, or video games. On occasion, some cons will combine their themes to create a brand-new event, and one of those conventions is Super Magfest (formally Magfest) which is a gathering of music and video games. Held at the Gaylord Hotel in National Harbor, MD, the last time I attended was in 2015 due to a non-con bad experience.
Now, 8 years later, with COVID taking a back seat to society, it’s time for me to journey here once again. Don't worry, the experience this time was great, but, with reservations.
I would like to get the bad news out of the way first, so let me talk about the aspects of the convention I wasn't too fond of. There was no coat and bag check. I understand a lot of conventions don't have this, but Katsucon (and prior Magfests), has had bag checks in the past. If it was summer, I could understand not having a coat and bag check due to the weather, however, it was winter, WINTER....and my cosplay, which was Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil 4, had a coat I didn’t want to wear anymore.
Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, USA
Chances are, the lack of a coat check could be due to staff shortages, but, we saw a lot of extra staff in areas that didn't seem necessary, such as multiple staff assisting patrons “checking” in for badges and wristbands. In my opinion, some of those staff members could’ve operated the coat and bag check to help balance out the other “check-in” areas.
My other gripe was a bit more controversial. With most conventions, in the last year or two, they all required attendees to wear masks. With Magfest, they required attendees to bring both vaccination cards and to wear a mask. I remember NYCC 2021 requiring both, yet, this past year, NYCC 2022 altered the rules requiring masks or encouraged wearing them. I'm fine with requiring vaccine cards, however, I feel at this point in this post-pandemic era, a card should be more than enough. As someone who enjoys cosplaying with wigs, wearing a mask is more frustrating with the heat building up within these venues. Perhaps I underestimated how long it would take for conventions to go back to normal, or maybe, Magfest doesn’t want us to get sick because the con took place during the winter. Outside of those setbacks, I had an eventful time.
While Magfest stands for “Music and Gaming festival”, my review will focus solely on the music side of this event. In my opinion, this is probably the first gaming convention I've ever been to with the largest number of concerts dedicated to gaming.
The first concert I attended was for a band called Disco Cactus. While the music was enjoyable, it wasn't quite as energetic as I was hoping. With a fusion of orchestral music, rock, jazz, and some vocals, it didn't help that the music they were playing were from niche titles that I wasn’t familiar with. They did provide great background music, as they were talented, still, they weren’t what I was looking for.
Top (L to R): Pete Bobinski - Ben Wallace - Sam Bobnskii / Bottom (L to R): Matheus Souza - Laura Intravia - Doug Perry
Next was Metroid Metal, a band that performed metal remixes of songs from the classic video game, Metroid. They were fantastic as most of the songs were easily recognizable, and the ones that weren't, still had me in awe. Replaying classic cuts from the original Metroid, Super Metroid, and the Prime series, one song I was hoping they performed was Ridley's Battle Theme , and they did which was the highlight of the concert for me. Metroid Metal also matched the visuals with the songs, making this easily, one of my favorite concerts of Super Magfest.
Names (Not in Order): Grant Henry (Stemage) - Dan Behrens - Micheal Molnar - Dan Taylor - Kevin Lawrence
Friday was a bit more magical. First up, was The 8 Bit Band . What I felt with this set increased my enjoyment at Magfest as this band played music that was just a bit more upbeat than my previous band encounters. Most of their songs were from Nintendo or Sega related games like “Song of Storms” from Legend of Zelda, “Fourside” from Earthbound, and “Can you feel the Sunshine” from Sonic R. Sony also found a way to get into the mix with specialties like “Snake Eater” from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. With each song introduced by a different member of the group, they also wore the shirt from the game they were performing solos on.
Mario appeared to be the headliner for this group as the majority of songs that played seemed to cater to the famed plumber and his gaming collection. In my opinion, this seemed to be what the band grew up with, and with nostalgic music being the focus at Magfest, I can respect their music selection.
The 8-Bit Band - Welcome Address. From their Youtube Channel. (Make sure you support)
Saturday, I was able to see two more concerts. The first was from a metal band called Knights of the Round as their music covered songs from the Final Fantasy series. With a much bigger selection of music and considering there's far more Final Fantasy games, their sound was intense, outstanding, and easily recognizable. They mostly played music from Final Fantasy VII, but expanded their selection from Final Fantasy VIII, X, and VI.
Knights of the Round
Although I nitpicked 8 Bit Band about playing music from Mario, I gave Knights of the Round a pass because Final Fantasy has a much narrower focus. Similar to Metroid Metal, this band had footage of the games they were performing in the background mixed with awesome stage lights for a more Final Fantasy gaming experience.
The last concert I attended was Cybertronic Spree, which showcased late Saturday night. This band was the least focused on video game music and was more about 80's-90's nostalgia inspired rock. The only gaming ballads played were based off game adaptations from movies such as the Mortal Kombat theme song, and the original, yet world famous, Pokémon dubbed anime theme. What saved this group was their personality as they were all dressed up as Transformers characters, with jokes constantly being made before each song. If the jazz bands I mentioned were too light for you, and if the metal bands were a bit too heavy, Cybertronic Spree would probably be in the middle of the list. To my surprise, they also performed music that appeared in both the Transformers movie and Thor: Ragnarok (“Dare to be Stupid” and “Immigrant Song”).
While concerts made up most of the events that I attended at Magfest, I did attend at least one panel. The panel was for the major web series, Death Battle. For the unfamiliar, Death Battle is a series (now a part of Rooster Teeth) where two characters have their backgrounds and fighting abilities analyzed, followed by an animated battle of the two characters fighting to the death. The panel was hosted by the two voice actors of the series, Ben Singer (Voice of Wiz) and Chad James (Voice of Boomstick), as well as the two main writers/producers (Liam Swan and Sam Mitchell). They primarily answered questions for the audience, such as talking about their favorite death battles, how they deal with burnout, and funny stories about how awkward it is explaining their jobs to other people such as their parents, family members, and authoritative figureheads.
Death Battle Panel (Not in Order): Ben Singer (Voice of Wiz), Chad James (Voice of Boomstick), with writers/producers Liam Swan and Sam Mitchell
Dr. Strange (L) vs Dr. Fate (R)
To ask a question, the panelists wanted us to raise an object instead of our hands for a question and raising my wig from my Leon Kennedy cosplay grabbed their attention. Deep down, I wanted to ask when certain characters were going to appear in a Death Battle, but I figured the response would be a very basic answer or they wouldn't reveal it, so I asked, “How do they determine which characters fight each other in a Death Battle, as some seem obvious like Dr. Strange vs. Dr. Fate, while others I never would've thought of like Jonathan Joestar vs. Tanjiro?”. The four hosts answered that it came down to multiple things such as “fan requests”, “what they have in common”, and in some cases, just simply if the matchup “sounded fun” to create an episode for. One exciting final announcement they did was reveal one of their upcoming death battles. They asked us not to share it with anyone, and by the time this article releases, the news may have already spread. But just in case it hasn't, it involved characters from two critically acclaimed fantasy video games.
Overall, Magfest was a great time, minus a few inconveniences with con policies and accommodations. Outside of the music and cosplay, I did attend a few parties at the rooftop area of the hotel, which had a really nice view and was a vibe. It was easily the most I've partied at any convention and enjoyed myself.
Magfest is a great example of why you shouldn't let one bad experience ruin something for you. In my opinion, despite this convention being right after the holidays, I recommend that you try to hold some money for Magfest, it’s one of the best events for video game concerts and a really good time.
