Nerdapalooza 2013 Preview

It’s almost time for Nerdapalooza again. OK, sure it’s not in the summer as it normally has been, but that’s more than made up for by the location and the amazing bands this year. The event will be held October 18 – 20 at the Orange County Convention Center. And frikkin’ THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS will be headlining! How awesome is that?

Of course, TMBG isn’t the only headliner that weekend. We’re also getting the inimitable Nerf Herder, composers of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer theme song (my wife even has a name for the drums in the song — Buffy drums. If you’ve heard it, you know exactly what that means). And as if that wasn’t enough, two huge names in nerdcore will be there: MC Lars and MC Frontalot.

There will also be familiar names playing that weekend, including The Protomen (who, ironically, are also playing my home town of Gainesville on the Friday of Nerdapalooza), Schäffer the Darklord, Marc with a C, Sci-Fried, Beefy (for the first time since 2009), Adam WarRock, and more. Bands that are new this year fall into two camps: those with whom I am already familiar and those with whom I was not until they were announced (and whose music I have since checked out). In the former category are Green Jellÿ (I used to own the cassette that had their original name, Green Jellö, but I have no idea what happened to it), Powerglove, Death*Star, B-Type (all the way from England!), Jesse Dangerously, and Sammus. The latter category includes Moon Hooch (whose music I find quite interesting now that I’ve checked them out), Peelander-Z (OK, admittedly I’m mostly looking forward to their stage show given the crazy costumes they wear), and Dethlehem. There are 42 bands (I know, right?), so if none of those names grab you (and I find that unlikely if you’re a geek music fan), perhaps some of the others will.

Tickets are just $70, but hurry because on October 1, prices will go up! The hotel is apparently within walking distance (and there’s also a shuttle) and is substantially discounted for the event. If you’ve never been to Nerdapalooza in the past, this is definitely the year to go. And if you have, then you probably already have your tickets, so be sure to say hello to me if you see me!