Bit Brigade

Bit Brigade are playing The Holding Company on Sunday, October 11, and the whole thing is built around a pretty specific gimmick. The band plays full rock covers of NES and SNES soundtracks, and they do it in perfect synchronization with gamer Noah McCarthy speedrunning the games live on stage. Every musical cue, every cutscene, and every boss battle happens in time with the gameplay, so the music follows the action as it unfolds in real time.

Bit Brigade hail from Athens, Georgia, and the members come from the math-rock bands Cinemechanica and We Versus The Shark. That background explains a lot of what they're doing here—math-rock is all about tight, interlocking parts and precise timing, which is exactly what you need when you're trying to hit a boss-fight transition the same second a player reaches the boss. It's a high-wire act that's earned them a following over the years. Nintendo Power wrote in November 2006 that "the word 'play' is probably an understatement—these guys shred through the games as expertly as the band wails on their instruments," and the act was reviewed again by The Shizz in the summer of 2011.

On the night, the set is built around the same format: the band plays through the soundtracks of classic NES and SNES titles while Noah McCarthy speedruns them on stage. If you grew up with these games, you'll recognize the melodies, but they're played as full rock arrangements rather than the 8-bit originals. The whole thing runs from 8 AM to 5 PM at The Holding Company's first floor in San Diego. Tickets are $20 in advance online and $25 at the door.