Lighting bolt. Lighting bolt. Lighting bolt.
August 4, 2011 7:37 AM   Subscribe

The music of New Mexico's A Hawk and a Hacksaw brings LARPing the epicness it deserves.
posted by griphus (21 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
I've liked A Hawk and a Hacksaw since I found them here (worth perusing). And this is awesome. The gravity, the moments of truth seen in the transition between fantasy and reality... Because everything is reality in some way.
posted by Wyatt at 7:57 AM on August 4, 2011


Oh, duh, I forgot to mention that the founding (and for a while, sole) member Jeremy Barnes used to be in Neutral Milk Hotel.

I guess I can also say that (wait, hang on, let me squeeze into my hipster pants) I actually saw them play in 2004, back before they were "them" and just Jeremy. He was opening for Broadcast and played one-man-band-style, with an accordion and a kick drum and cymbals taped to his knees and he was just not great. Then, it turned out he was also Broadcast's touring drummer and he fucking tore it up.
posted by griphus at 8:04 AM on August 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


Lightning bolt? Everyone knows that if you're attacking multiple targets in a cluster, you use fireball.
posted by oddman at 8:12 AM on August 4, 2011


Everyone knows that if you're attacking multiple targets in a cluster, you use fireball.

Not this guy.
posted by griphus at 8:15 AM on August 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


I think I'll be happy when the word "LARP" no longer makes people immediately jump to the "lightning bolt" joke.
posted by foldedfish at 8:17 AM on August 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


I liked the way it showed the sort of magical realism of LARPing for the participants. Also, loved the music, so thanks for pointing me to the band.
posted by immlass at 8:18 AM on August 4, 2011


I think I'll be happy when the word "LARP" no longer makes people immediately jump to the "lightning bolt" joke.

Don thee magical cloak and begin a new era!
posted by Theta States at 8:41 AM on August 4, 2011


See, I prefer Red Fang's take on LARPing.

(even if this isn't your sort of music, I recommend watching the video all the way through)
posted by lumpenprole at 9:12 AM on August 4, 2011 [3 favorites]


LARPing has had this bizarre resurgence in pop culture lately - there was the LARP-centric plot line of that 'Role Models' movie, and now there's a whole LARP film of it's own called Knights of Badassdom. I almost wonder if the whole 'alternate reality' surge is an echo of the Virtual Reality fetishism of the 80s and 90s... the trope of a self-aware meta-narrative couched inside the external action of the 'actual' characters, and the inter-relation between the two. When will we have a costume-comedy do-over of Lawnmower Man? When will we reach... Peak LARP?
posted by FatherDagon at 9:22 AM on August 4, 2011


You could have someone's eye out with that.
posted by imperium at 11:03 AM on August 4, 2011


I watched this whole thing charmed. Great music.

Question about LARP-ing: how does one play by "rules"? Does one have "stats"? Like, dude just grabbed another dude's flaming sword BY THE BLADE and then attacked him with it. Do you just hack at one another until you're tired and it's home time?
posted by tumid dahlia at 2:16 PM on August 4, 2011


If anyone's curious, on Netflix Streaming* are the documentaries Monster Camp and Darkon, both of which are a lot of fun (though Darkon is a great deal more dramatic and "slick," and looks like it had some real money behind it). Neither does a 100% adequate job of explaining the rules of LARPing, but you definitely leave with a sense of what it's about.

Here's a previous FPP about Monster Camp.



*as of a few weeks ago, anyway
posted by incomple at 2:51 PM on August 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


"New Mexico's"???

Surely you mean Albuquerque's. (Also the home town of The Shins.)

NM is a huge place -- 5th largest state in the country.
posted by hippybear at 3:14 PM on August 4, 2011


I'm sorry, but LARPing makes me wet my pants with laughter.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 3:54 PM on August 4, 2011


I'm sorry, but LARPing makes me wet my pants with laughter.

You know, I have never larped, but that shit looks fun. I read fantasy and play rpgs, and I enjoyed the shit out of magic the gathering in high school. I wish I had friends that had the balls to do this in public. Larpers are pretty much the easiest target for jokes, and yet they have the courage to do what they enjoy, damn the consequences.
posted by pickinganameismuchharderthanihadanticipated at 4:02 PM on August 4, 2011 [3 favorites]


MetaFilter: they have the courage to do what they enjoy, damn the consequences.
posted by hippybear at 4:12 PM on August 4, 2011


Every time there's a slo-mo hit in the epicness vid, my brain keeps dubbing in ridiculous "boinnnggingngg" sounds. Stupid brain. The music, however, was fucking awesome.
posted by ninazer0 at 5:52 PM on August 4, 2011


tumid dahlia: "Question about LARP-ing: how does one play by "rules"? Does one have "stats"? Like, dude just grabbed another dude's flaming sword BY THE BLADE and then attacked him with it. Do you just hack at one another until you're tired and it's home time?"

Since I outed myself last year, I'll take a crack at this. There are several schools of thought (i.e., hit points v. hit location), but yes typically one has stats of some description. A player can take so many hits they before they're incapacitated. Grabbing a flaming sword (or any weapon) by the blade is usually not specifically covered, but in most games doing so wouldn't be impossible by the rules, even if it is kind of weak.

(There's actually quite a bit of interesting reading about LARPing in that thread.)
posted by ob1quixote at 9:12 PM on August 4, 2011 [1 favorite]


I think I'll be happy when the word "LARP" no longer makes people immediately jump to the "lightning bolt" joke.

As a LARPER, I loved throwing birdseed packets to make spells
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 11:35 PM on August 4, 2011


Tumid, there are lots of Vampire LARPers in Sydney. Think Question Time, only with fangs.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 11:35 PM on August 4, 2011


As a former LARPer (because the one I played in died) I've found it fascinating that the "lightning bolt" clip became so famous. Really, that might be one of the least dorky and hilarious things you could see at any LARP event.

In my experience, LARPing was always disappointing mostly because as with any large group experience, too many people are there for different and not necessarily compatible reasons. I have some great memories from it, but overall LARPing was about 90% disappointment.
posted by haveanicesummer at 10:58 AM on August 5, 2011


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