Music
TAPROOM
Instrument Petting Zoo:
Chuck Levins’s Washington Music Center, a DC staple since 1958, is bringing an Instrument Petting Zoo to MAGLabs! Attendees can get hands-on with keyboards, synthesizers, guitar pedals, and more. Swing by to twist some knobs, experiment with effects, and make some noise with some of today’s most exciting music gear.
Outside Stage
VGM Jam Clinic: 12-3:30pm
Join D.C. VGM Jams and the MAGFest Jam Clinic for video game music jams in the afternoon at the outside stage! Drums, percussion, keyboards, microphones, and guitar/bass amps will be provided. Bring your instrument of choice and join in the fun! All skill levels are welcome, and lead sheets will be available for the jams.
Find out more about them at https://www.vgmjams.com/washington-dc
Bardic Compass: 6-6:40pm
Bardic Compass is defined by a unique mixture of influences rendered into what is best described as "Fantasy Prog," or "Fantasy Progressive Rock." Hailing from Baltimore, MD., the quintet weaves together their own interest in genuine artistic complexity and musicianship with the elements of Epic Fantasy and modern mythologies.
Since 2019, these Bards have hewn musical fantasies from an ethos inspired by their own tabletop roleplaying game adventures and have since taken illuminated steps further into worlds beyond
Find out more about them here:
https://www.instagram.com/bardiccompass/
https://www.tiktok.com/@bardiccompass
https://www.facebook.com/BardicCompass
https://www.youtube.com/@bardiccompass5365
WASD: 7-7:40pm
WASD does hard-rock renditions of video game music. But we aren't playing peasant console music. We play music from the most glorious system... The personal computer. Prepare your sockets, ports, and connectors for an intense audio-visual concert experience that takes you through gaming history from the 90s to today!
Find out more about them here:
https://linktr.ee/wasdband
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Sko9MsNOcAND7FY362lOY
https://wasdband.bandcamp.com/album/escape
https://x.com/WASDvgm
https://www.facebook.com/WASDband
https://www.instagram.com/wasdvgm/
https://wasdband.com/
ZAKU: 8-8:40pm
ZAKU is a Philadelphia-based wind-synth-fronted instrumental band that combines 80s jazz fusion, new wave, and British heavy metal. They have been described as sounding like “a long lost Mega Man X soundtrack” or “if Vangelis joined T-Square and got commissioned to make a soundtrack for TMNT IV Part II.”
Find out more about them here:
https://www.instagram.com/zakuband
https://zaku.bandcamp.com/
https://zaku.band
Steel Samurai: 9-9:40pm
Steel Samurai have been a mainstay in the VGM scene since 2013. The Baltimore-based synth-metal band plays an eclectic mix of deep-cut video game tracks and vigorous nods to film, TV and other pop culture tunes. Their current material features heavy hitting grooves from Legend of Zelda, Power Rangers, Ace Attorney, Double Dragon, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, and more. The band are convention scene veterans having played over a dozen from Connecticut to North Carolina, including MAGFest, VGM CON, Too Many Games, ConnectiCon and DragonCon.
Interested in playing at MAGLabs?
Please fill out our universal performer application here.