Nerdapalooza 2010

What a week!! It has been hectic over at the Nerdapalooza camp, getting everything together, but we now have a lot to announce this week!! So without further ado, let’s go!!

First thing to announce is that the Orlando Weekly Best of Orlando 2010 Voting is open, and this year, Nerdapalooza is doing an extra push to win Best Festival! Even if you don’t live in Orlando or if Orlando is now a destination for you BECAUSE OF Nerdapalooza, it is definitely a great way to support the show! Visit this page for the full low-down on voting.

Next up, we are announcing two new sponsors: A Comic Shop and Mammoth Sound! A Comic Shop is coming back as an amazing sponsor, as you can guess by the amazing pre-parties they always throw. This year is going to be bigger and badder, as you can tell from the line-up (which we’re about to finish up). We also have Mammoth Sound stepping up to provide some fire power to back-up EMPulse. We’re still lining up sponsors, so if you’d like to take advantage of the advertising opportunities available at Nerdapalooza then check out our Sponsorship Package today.

Finally, let’s announce some awesome artists!! First up (as promised) we have the two artists that’ll be joining The Megas, MC COOL WHIP, and Insane Ian at the Pre-Party! Returning from 2008, we’ll have Whoremoans tearing it up as well as KABUTO THE PYTHON getting his first solo set at Nerdapalooza. Sounds like KABUTO may be inviting a few friends on stage with him, so the Pre-Party is going to be pretty awesome! Returning to the main stage from last year is My Parents Favorite Music, also returning from a short break from the music scene. We also have some bad news, as Diabeets of Scrub Club will actually not be able to make it out. In her place will be Mad Hatter returning to rock the Scrub Club set. Also from Scrub Club is going to be Dr. Awkward with his first solo set. A new sub-headliner this year will be the Super 8-Bit Bros, joining the Protomen on their tour through Orlando just in time for Nerdapalooza. And FINALLY, our announcement this year will be a brand NEW category of artist!! Since Orlando is such an amazing nerdy center for music, we are now showcasing Local Headliners!! This year we are showcasing Yip-Yip, the crazy and local electronic duo that redefine what music can be.

Boosh! Crazy end for a crazy week! We still have a few names to announce, and we’ll have a schedule soon to reveal as well. Don’t forget to go purchase tickets for this year’s event and don’t forget to vote for us for Best Festival!

Much nerdy love

[hex]

Sorry for the late post, however with how my new schedule is I may just be migrating blog-postin’-day to Saturdays instead of Fridays. I apologize if this makes anyone extremely sad, but I’m thinking of starting a mailing list, which I’ll mail out all the main details out to on Friday still so you can stay on top of the game. I know we’ve had mailing lists that haven’t worked out in the past, but with the new server we’re (still in the middle of) migrating to, I think it’ll be simpler to coordinate. I’m starting to (finally) get on top of this internet technology game (with a little help from my new job over at Cloudspace). I will figure out the mailing list thing and have it available for signing up by next week’s blog. Even if I don’t get a lot of content out before NAP 2010, at least you can start getting info early for 2011, and I promise no spamming

But enough about that, let’s get down to the nitty gritty: new artists!! I got two for ya this week, and I think you’re gonna really enjoy both of them. First is a returning artist from 2008’s event. Random Encounter is a local video game cover band with a front man that rocks an accordion. Yeah… it’s as awesome as it sounds! We’re really excited to be able to have them back! Then next up is a brand new artist to Nerdapalooza, representing a very unrepresented scene of musicians until now, George Hrab. This growing scene of musicians that grab their inspiration from science and skepticism is definitely a growing one if you include artists like Tim Minchin and John Boswell leading the Symphony of Science project. Like most of them, Geo’s wit and clever lyrics really makes for an enjoyable and comical listening experience and I’m REALLY excited to have him with Nerdapalooza. I’m also excited about how excited he seems to be, as heard in the most recent edition of his podcast, the Geologic Podcast, episode 166. The Nerdapalooza bit starts about 41 minutes in, but the entire episode (as is every episode) is very entertaining and highly recommended for your RSS feed.

I’d like to keep it quick and simple for ya this week, as I have a lot to get down and work on. I think I can bet on more news next week as well as that mailing list to look forward to, so don’t stray too far, o beloved reader!

[hex]

Well, let’s start off this weekend by telling you what YOU need to be doing if you are in the Central Florida region: getting your butt over to downtown Orlando for the amazing Straight Up GEEK show going down tonight at 9 PM over at Club West 57 (right next to Backbooth, for those in the know). We have an AMAZING line up for ya, including everyone’s favorite ninjas, Krondor Krew; the magical diva, Erin of The House of Black; and my personal pal and favorite geek rocker, Marc with a C. This half-unintended Nerdapalooza showcase is being coordinated and MC’d/DJ’d by the phenomenal Dr. Vern of Sci-Fried! BOOSH! Nerdy Show will definitely have a presence there, too. There’s so much awesome goin down, you’d have to hate nerds NOT to go! It’s five bucks to get in, but bring twenty with plans on supporting the local scene.

Next up, we have some artists trying to get out to Nerdapalooza, looking for some help from you, the fans! Let’s start off with the crowned Prince of Nerdcore, Beef Thompson, himself. He recently dropped a new album called With Sprinkles, which he is shelling out for the low price of $10 a pop over at his Bandcamp Page. Twitter has been going CRAZY trying to help advertise this, and I thought I’d help!

Along the same lines, as you may have seen over at the Scrub Club Records website or at the Geek Peek Post, many Scrubbies are trying to get down to Florida for July, and are looking for your help to relieve Nerdapalooza of the full financial burden: most notably, KABUTO THE PYTHON, Mad Hatter, and Doctor Awkward are trying to come out to party with y’all and could use some help. They’re coordinating this with a raffle, hosting amazing prizes from a handful of Nerdapalooza artists. To support the scene AND have a chance at winning some sick prizes, head on over here and throw down a few bones!

Nerdapalooza don’t have much to announce this week… EXCEPT SOME MOAR ARTISTS!! Since we’re already on the subject of Scrub Club, it’s my pleasure to announce there will be an official Scrub Club set at Nerdapalooza! While some Scrub Club artists may have separate sets (examples being Krondor Krew and Z1), there are a few that are gonna make the trek to Nerd Mecca and rock your faces off. So far, ready to announce, the new blood of Scrub Club, Diabeats, King Pheenix, and StarF will be stepping up to the stage for the first time! There may be other Scrubbies mounting the stage with them, but they have yet to be revealed!!

The BIG announcement of today is the return of the sapphire squadron of musicians, The Megas! This year, they’ll be stepping up their presence: not only will they be playing late on either Saturday or Sunday, you’ll get a chance to see them on FRIDAY!! WHAT’S THAT!? I hear you exclaim! That’s right, the Megas are this year’s headliner for the annual A Comic Shop pre-party, which already has Insane Ian and MC COOL WHIP ready to kick some serious butt. Wow!

Well, that’s all we got for now, ladies and gents! Stay tuned as we get ever closer to announcing the final line up!! We’re working on having some more headliners, so some EPIC announcements may be on the horizon! Don’t stop believing!

Much nerdy love

[hex]

TECHNICALLY, this is really going to be the SIXTH Nerdapalooza. There was (in order) Nerdapalooza SE 2007, Nerdapalooza Beta, Nerdapalooza UK, Nerdapalooza SE 2008, Nerdapalooza 2009, and THIS is gonna be Nerdapalooza 2010. I mean, if you’re truly playing the home game. However, this is the fourth year of Nerdapalooza, so I think the Star Wars allusion should still be accurate. I know it’s been a while since I last posted, but look at it this way: I’ve been saving up all the amazing announcements since the last post til now. So great ready for a big pile of awesome!

Let’s start with talking about our two new announced sponsors!! We’ve already announced Play N Trade Orlando Square, but another PNT local store, Play N Trade Oviedo, has also decided to sponsor us. They may sound familiar as they also sponsor Nerdy Show. The Play N Trades (or would it be Plays N Trade…) are combining forces to bring Nerdapalooza a ROCKIN’ Video Game Room, where people can take a break from too much epic and do some gaming. Our second AMAZING sponsor who we are VERY proud to announce is Cloudspace, the phenomenal web application development group based out of Orlando. They are the home of a lot of awesome innovation, so if you are a start-up looking to kick the snot out of the competition on the electronic playing field, these are the peeps to talk to.

Next up, we are opening up the Volunteer Application process. This year, we are going to be changing up the volunteer process. After being burned a few times over the last year, we have decided that this year we will try something new with volunteers: instead of automatically getting free entry to Nerdapalooza 2010, volunteers will have to buy weekend tickets, and then after a weekend of getting stuff done (or possibly work BEFORE the event itself), you will be reimbursed your entry fee. This will only happen if our Volunteer Coordinator, Andrea, believes you’ve done a worthy job. We apologize if this causes any inconveniences, but this is a model we’re borrowing from other festivals. So, head on over to the Volunteer Application page and get signed up today!!

Now comes the fun bit… announcing a LOT of artists!! Over the last few weeks, we’ve announced a few artists over at Nerdy Show: The Protomen, ZeaLouS1 and his new band: the Bossfights, the return of Shael Riley and the Double Ice Backfire, and this week we announced the amazing comic book band Kirby Krackle, who recently turned some heads over at C2E2. Just as the Nerdapalooza tradition of outstanding performances like Schaffer and IFD, I’m expecting Kirby Krackle to turn some heads this year! The lesson of this is, of course, that Nerdy Show is gonna continue getting the hot details of Nerdapalooza before the blog, so you better go subscribe!!

Yet, that’s not all!! We STILL have some more amazing talent to announce, including the INCREDIBLE reunion of The Adventures of Duane and BrandO, the return of EMPulse artists HDNinja and 3P!C-1, and Rappy McRapperson with his first ever Nerdapalooza appearance!! Also making a first ever appearance, and our second announced artist for the Nerdapalooza Pre-Party is FuMP sideshower, Insane Ian!! Wow… what is that nine artists announced in one blog? Pretty crazy, huh?

So, before you leave, if you haven’t yet, head on over and buy a ticket, or if you can afford it, save yourself the future worry and pick up a lifetime pass to Nerdapalooza. I can promise you that we’re only gonna keep on improving. You’ll be swearing up a storm once you realize what you missed out on when they’re all gone!

That’s all I got for now, folks!! I shall be back next week, hopefully with more crazy news!! Want to sponsor Nerdapalooza? Got a crazy Nerdapalooza idea, or just got a question? Hit me up over at hex AT nerdapalooza DOT org. I’ll try my best to respond in a prompt manner! Much nerdy love

[hex]