Boston Bitdown 2025
March 6-8
The chiptune & digital arts fest makes a splash on its maiden voyage at Capitol Theatre, Crystal Ballroom, and more.
Intrepid reporter Sam Haber dives into the deep end of the Chiptune pool.
Will he find his way back to the surface, or be lost forever in the briny depths of this extended metaphor with the mermaids, coral reefs, sunken treasure, and so forth?
Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix
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Hump Nights
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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️ Hump Nights 〰️
Hump Nights
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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix
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Hump Nights 〰️ Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️
The all new chiptune and digital music festival Boston Bitdown made a splash in the Boston scene this past weekend. Featuring three days of performances, films, and vendors, it provided an electronic experience never before seen in our fair city.
With my bright yellow Hump Day News media pass, I attended performances on Friday and Saturday night. My first encounter with live chiptune music, I was confronted by audio-visual stimulation equal parts psychedelic, head-banging, and socially conscious.
Let's break it down.
Friday, March 7
Friday night for me opened in a relatively uninspiring way. I entered the Capitol Theatre performance space (after mistakenly walking into one of the other theaters showing a movie), between sets. I was greeted by a sight reminiscent of a house party at 5am, after everyone has passed out. I counted at least five people sleeping, while strange ambient music played from huge speakers, and a psychedelic visual looped on the screen.
Hesitantly, I took a seat near the exit (for a quick escape if necessary). After I’d sat there for about five minutes, a middle aged dude took the stage. He fumbled with some cords, producing the popping-shrieking sounds live music lovers know so well.
Was this chiptune?
Glomax
People around me started to move, and as Glomax completed his setup the theater seemed to come alive. Over the next half hour I was transported into the underground depths of a Berlin nightclub as he manufactured and sang nine synth heavy tracks. Some of them were head-bopping, some of them were intensely psychedelic, all of them were unique. I got heavy The Wall b-side vibes, like if someone had given Roger Waters a digital synthesizer.
The on-screen visuals, assisted by music-synched lighting, created an intensely stimulating experience. It was strange. I still wasn't fully enjoying myself, but I certainly wasn’t bored. The visuals changed multiple times a second, featuring video game characters, multi-colored overlays, and the occasional photo. I found myself pressed back into my seat, as if the extra inch would protect my burning retinas.
The next performer to take the stage introduced the wacky vibe that prevailed for the rest of my Bitdown experience. The emcee made it clear that he was not the next scheduled performer, and for the life of me I could not catch his name.
The mystery man was preceded by the stage crew with an air mattress and pillow, and he performed lying down (due to a slipped disc, I was later informed). It was a beautiful juxtaposition, this semi-sedentary performer engineered some of the most high energy music I have ever heard. Featuring synths, detuned snares, and the rare vocal sample gem, it was like how Hollywood portrays Ecstacy.
I found myself taking notes like “Frequency” and “Robot Food.” Sitting mesmerized through the plethora of performers that night, I gained knowledge of a new genre. Electronic music — Chiptune, was the weirdest thing I’d ever heard.
Until Saturday…
Saturday, March 8
Going into Saturday night I thought I knew what to expect. Driving into Somerville yet again - this time to the Crystal Ballroom - I was prepared to sit back and be blasted by a post-modern brainfuck.
My dopamine receptors were just recovering from the night before, and I had had a throbbing headache all day. I entered the Crystal Ballroom by the wrong entrance (I’m perpetually a little bit lost), and had to be guided to the correct staircase by a theater attendant. He took me in one door of an elevator, and without ascending or descending, led me straight through the opposite door.
It felt like passing through a portal, and I was certainly greeted by a different world on the other side. Squeezing through the crowd of grifters that hung about the staircase, I entered the ballroom proper.
If Friday night was that scene in 1984 where the citizens all yell at the screen in the propaganda theater, Saturday was after they’d all been indoctrinated. A bigger, more energetic crowd filled the space, standing room only. As my eyes adjusted to the blueish swirling light, I clocked way more costumes and interesting outfits than you’d typically see at a concert. The energy was high, people milled around playing the retro video games that lined the walls.
nmlstyl
Approaching the stage/pit area I realized how incredibly loud the music was. On stage was nmlstyl (pronounced “animal style”), a silver-haired dame with a bright-pink guitar and an enthusiastic drummer. The performance was like one extended rhythm guitar solo, with pentatonic noodling over a bed of distorted pre-recorded cords. All assisted by an unrelenting drummer. It gave a cyberpunk, early 2000’s vibe.
As I stood there, taking my notes, appreciating the way the drums were mic’d, I realized how wildly out of place I looked. I clung to the upper edge of the pit area. I still didn’t fully get it. I think my experience with live electronic music would have been pretty much over then and there, if not for the next performer.
Ultra Deluxe
Ultra Deluxe hopped on stage after an impressively short transition period (shout out to the stage crew), swung the vocal mic in a circle a few times (eek), and then screamed at the top of their lungs “This song is about kissing dudes!”. What followed was the most radical, unhinged, and surprisingly entertaining performance I’ve ever seen.
The moshpit really started going at this point, and was enhanced when the band threw, first a parachute (like you had in gym class), then a cloud of bubbles (from a bubble machine that seemed to spontaneously appear) into the crowd. I’ve never kissed a dude but this was one hell of a sales pitch.
The lead singer was everywhere, the stage, the moshpit, playing the retro-games that hugged the wall, all while delivering vocals at the top of their lungs. From the lyrical content I was able to hear, I gathered that the band was also strikingly socially conscious, on top of being totally insane. Against my best judgment I found myself moving along with the music. Legs, arms, boas, and bubbles, swirled in the pit below me. I started to understand.
Yes, this festival was definitely the type of place where the weird kids in your high school went to unwind, but it was that for a reason. Nobody around me seemed self-conscious, nobody was ashamed of their spastic dance moves, they were simply having fun.
Boston Bitdown was the much needed reminder that you’re allowed to do literally anything in art. There's no age limit, no expectations you have to meet, no phenotype you have to align with. Especially in a place like Boston that sometimes struggles to accept new genres, new musical ideas, Bitdown was a breath of fresh air.
Let’s hope for a Year 2.
Photo Gallery
The chiptune and digital arts fest makes a splash in Somerville and beyond.