Let's face it: We're always going to be the red-headed step-artform at comic book conventions. Superheroes have dominated movies for years, and videogames hit the comic-culture demographic pretty naturally, but music -- Jonathan Coulton and J-Pop and all the filkers on Livejournal aside -- has been (naturally) resistant to adopt the uncool-is-the-new-cool pose that made Star Trek into an uncomplicated mainstream blockbuster.
Phoenix Comicon, which bows this weekend, isn't going to turn that tide on its own, but if you're the kind of person for which the words "Adventure Time Rave" carry a strange weight, there's still plenty for you to enjoy.
Comikaze - May 25 - Monarch Theatre, Crescent Ballroom
Do you like local music? How about local musicians indulging their inner Comic Book Guy? If you answered yes to one or both of those questions, you might consider taking some time out from your Phoenix Comicon schedule to visit Comikaze, an all-day event split between the Monarch Theatre and Crescent Ballroom that will feature local bands "[letting] their inner geek out" for Comicon attendees (and loiterers) looking for a break from the convention floor.
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Admission is $5 for each show, or free with your Phoenix Comicon badge; the Monarch show, which starts at 3:30 and goes until 7:15, is all ages, but the Crescent leg of Comikaze is 21+.
Your inner-geeky hosts:
Monarch Theatre: 3:30-4:15: Fairy Bones 4:30-5:15: A Life of Science 5:30-6:15: Zero Zero 6:30-7:15: Sara Robinson and the Midnight Special
Crescent Ballroom: 8:30-9:15: Statues of Cats 9:30-10:15: PALMS 10:30-11:15: Captain Squeegee 11:30-12:15: decker.
Perhaps even more importantly, the flyer is remarkable. Any band would be forgiven for retiring once they'd gotten far enough, career-wise, to be turned into comic book characters.
Adventure Time Rave/One Piece Pirate Pool Party - May 25
One Piece is just a popular manga in America, but in Japan it's ubiquitous -- it's like Taylor Swift, if she were a shonen comic book about an elastic pirate named Monkey D. Luffy and not a pop star. You can't avoid it, and the guy's face is on everything.
But even there I'd be a little surprised if his leering mug were attached to a Pirate Pool Party featuring live DJs, a bar, and "tattoo and swimwear contests." That'll be happening Saturday from 3:00 to 5:00, against all odds.
The Adventure Time-themed rave is a little more believable, but still kind of unnerving. It'll be going until 2 a.m.
Mischief Makers 64, who will be doing the rave-facilitation at both events. They're named after a super underrated Japanese side-scroller and have a track called "Metroidvania," but their music betrays only the barest hint of their apparent Nintendo inspiration -- chiptunes will definitely not be the order of the rave, unless your Game Boy sounded way different than mine did.
They'll be joined at the rave by DJ KJ -- who will also be at the pool party -- and DJ Blakeland.
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