Rock, blues and games

This past Friday, 6 pm was a popular time slot for student events across campus. First up, “A Night of Rock and Blues,” presented by the Rensselaer Music Association, took place in the McNeil room from 6–7:30 pm. The concert featured only two bands: Revitalizer and Downtown Sound, with both bands playing for about 45 minutes each. Revitalizer brought the rock while Downtown Sound brought the blues.

First on stage was Revitalizer, a rock band consisting of two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, a keyboardist, and two vocalists. This was Revitalizer’s second performance this semester, after their short 30-minute Valentine’s Concert on February 15. Throughout the setlist, which included great hits like “Holy Diver” by Dio and “The Trooper” by Iron Maiden, the vocalists would switch on and off while the guitarists would switch who played lead guitar, creating a great variety of sound for the audience to enjoy.

Downtown Sound consists of a guitarist/vocalist, a bassist, and a drummer. This was their first performance with RMA this semester, though you may remember them from "Battle of the Bands" last fall. After Revitalizer’s hardcore performance, they slowed things down by playing some smooth songs like “I Shot the Sheriff” by Bob Marley.

To close things off, the two bands played “Layla” by Derek & The Dominoes together. To view the performance, check out the stream by RPI TV here.

Meanwhile, across campus in Sage Laboratory, the Interactive Media Archaeology Lab hosted a retro game night in the GSAS lounge from 6-8 pm. The IMAL resides on the fourth floor of West Hall, housing tons of older consoles and games. It was founded by Nicholas Mizer with the intention of providing students with the opportunity to learn about these games in their original format. Alongside Mizer, it is managed by a small number of students such as Juan Devarie ’27 and Kevin Hacene ’27, who ran the event.

During this game night, students were given the opportunity to play games such as Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, and The Legend of Zelda on the NES as well as Kirby Air Ride, Metroid Prime 2 Echoes, and The Legend of Zelda: Collector’s Edition on the GameCube. The most popular games of the night were certainly Super Mario Bros and Kirby Air Ride. Being a four-player game, Kirby Air Ride gave many students the opportunity to play at the same time, boosting its popularity. It also encouraged fun and friendly competition amongst the crowd. Super Mario Bros is a classic that everyone knows, resulting in everyone wanting to give it a try. Though, The Legend of Zelda was gaining traction towards the end once people had enough of Super Mario Bros.

Retro game night is the first of many events the IMAL plans to host in hopes of revitalizing the lab and getting students more involved once again.