Bit Gen Gamer Fest Returns for Year 6:
Ridiculous. Madness.
Video game rock band Entertainment System continues
their annual concert celebrating gamer culture.
This summer, video game rock band Entertainment System will host the sixth incarnation of their annual concert, Bit Gen Gamer Fest. The concert is composed of bands and artists inspired by the world of video games and will be held at a new venue, Bourbon Street, in Baltimore, MD on July 30th, 2011.
Hosted at a small private art space in 2005 on little more than a whim, Bit Gen Gamer Fest began as 8-Bit Gen, and hosted a modest five bands. The show was enough of a success to warrant a second year, dubbed 16-Bit Gen, followed by third and fourth year concerts, entitled 32-Bit and 64-Bit Gen, respectively. After four years, the show has finally settled to Bit Gen Gamer Fest, mostly out of necessity, but also as a way of reminding fans that this concert isn’t building to a conclusion, and is here to stay. “Also, 128-Bit Gen was just getting kind of ridiculous”, says Entertainment System front man, John DeCampos.
DeCampos and fellow Entertainment System band member Chris Baines began the show with one goal in mind: to provide a venue where fans of video game music and art could come together and become part of a social event that celebrated gaming culture. “We started mostly to just have fun, and it still is,” says Baines, “but we had no idea it would go this far.”
Bit Gen has steadily grown since its inception. The first year drew a humble crowd of 150 people with only five bands. By contrast, last year’s Bit Gen 5 concert, hosted at Sonar in Baltimore, MD, had 10+ bands and over 500 people in attendance. After the success of the past 5 years, BitGen has no plans of slowing down. This year’s venue, Bourbon Street, is one of the largest concert club venues in Baltimore, with a capacity that is almost 18 times greater than the total attendance of the first Bit Gen concert.
The venue’s two stages will be put to good use. Bands will play constantly throughout the show, with one beginning on the next stage as soon as the previous band finishes. The concert coincides with Otakon, one of the country’s largest anime and video game conventions. “Every year we promote the show at Otakon, and every year people always tell us they wish it was the same weekend so they could go. Well, we listened,” says DeCampos.
Performances by:
MC’d by Brentalfloss visuals by Baltimore’s own PixelSeed
In addition to the music, Bit Gen will feature a wall of playable video game consoles and arcade cabinets. Games ranging from the original Nintendo classics to the next-gen PlayStation 3 offerings will be available for all to enjoy.
Bit Gen Gamerfest 6 will be held at Bourbon Street in Baltimore on July 30th 2011. The show is all ages, and tickets are available now for $18 right here.
Additional information and updates are available at:
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/BitGenGamerfest
