CheekyChicago

Last Saturday night, I had the pleasure of seeing I Fight Dragons, a local power-pop/rock band, at Elbo Room. It was fairly packed; the dimly lit room contrasted with glowstick-wearing audience members. This was my first clue that this show was going to be anything but ordinary.

Brian Mazzaferri (lead vocal, guitar), Mike Mentzer (vocals, guitar), Hari Rao (bass), Laura Grene (vocals, assorted percussion), Dave Midell (drums) and Bill Propokow (keys) are not only masters of their own instruments, but they also take turns playing an instrument not often seen in a live show – and generally, it wasn’t often seen outside of the basement or living room around the late eighties. That instrument, friends, is a Nintendo game controller (as well as Super Nintendo and Power Pad), used to play different sounds throughout the show. As if that didn’t make my heart skip a beat, they brought out the Power Glove and the NES Zapper (Duck Hunt, anyone?) at various points. A band that combines original music and old-school-game technology? HELL. YES.

Donning Justice League apparel, IFD kicked off their hour-long set with the adrenaline-pumping “Heads Up, Hearts Down”, bringing to mind the feel-good bands of the late 90s and early 2000s (i.e., Weezer or early All-American Rejects). During each song, TV monitors played video games of days past – the original Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros., and Contra, just to name a few – all formatted in some way to fit the band. Transitioning from one song to the next, a computer voice initialized “sequences”: the Rock Music Sequence, the Live Video Sequence and the (effective) Subliminal Marketing Protocol –which told the audience, “come on, buy stuff.” They played tracks from their EP, Cool Is Just A Number, along with some new songs, the Zelda and SMB themes, and something else that was popular in the eighties (and has since made a comeback via Youtube): a cover of Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

The energy of their live show is absolutely mesmerizing and contagious. It’s apparent that I Fight Dragons loves what they do. Their EP is available for free on their website if you join the mailing list and tour dates are available via MySpace. It won’t be long before they will have conquered the music scene and the only thing left to fight will be the crowds waiting to see them.