To say that TWRP is just a band would be a misleading understatement. To say that TWRP is a synth-pop, funk-rock band from Canada would still be a misleading understatement. TWRP (pronounced “twerp”), over the course of their twelve-year career, has evolved into a universe of storied lore, in-jokes, and never-ending groove. This universe begins with TWRP: four individuals who, according to their canon, are from Outer Space, Canada, and The Future. After crash landing on Earth in 2007, TWRP has remained here on a conquest to spread fun and eliminate boredom. These four warriors of fun are as follows: Doctor Sung on vocals, talk box, and keyboard/keytar, Lord Phobos on guitar, Commander Meouch on bass, and Havve Hogan on drums, all of which perform and are only ever seen in costume, with each one having their own distinct color and character that brings a sort of “Saturday Morning Cartoons” energy to their performances. Now a band like this is sure to put on a one-of-a-kind show, however, nothing could have prepared the audience for what TWRP would bring to the 24 Oxford stage on the night of May 16th.
As Magic Sword, TWRP’s opener that night exited the stage, the energy in the crowd was palpable. Signs of fervent fandom were scattered throughout the mass of people: homemade merch that clearly had several hours of love poured into it, TWRP branded shirts and hats from tours long ago, and more importantly, giddy smiles that only a child on Christmas Eve could replicate. It had been several years since TWRP had last played Vegas, and as the lights dimmed and costumed heroes emerged, that built-up anticipation exploded with cheers and hurrahs from the expectant audience. It was around this moment that something strange happened. A sign behind the band had a message projected upon it, reading, “Tonight’s show is brought to you by IBS,” with IBS in big white-striped letters reminiscent of that of IBM computers. After a few opening songs, TWRP took the chance to address the audience and explain what exactly was in store for the night. With the recent popularity of AI systems, TWRP was lucky enough to have been provided with the newest advancement in live entertainment, a live AI known only as GROBB. This was provided kindly by that night’s sponsor, International Business Systems, or IBS as we had already seen.
It was at this point that the IBS advertisement in the background gave way to the star of the night, GROBB. The blue and white logo disappeared as GROBB’s projected soft orange face graced the stage, conversing back and forth with Doctor Sung and helping count the band in on three separate occasions, doing so once in English, twice in Spanish, and once in Deutsch. Now it is to be noted that GROBB is an early prototype, so it is to be expected that a few malfunctions would pop up here and there. The first hiccup of the night happened during band member introductions where GROBB properly introduced everyone except Doctor Sung, where he was introduced as, “the most replaceable and shortest member,” displaying Doctor Sung’s height as 5’5” and slowly decreasing as the graphic remained up. Despite GROBB’s erratic taunts, the band soldiered on, playing new and old songs alike, each one sparking the crowd to dance their hearts out. The pestering didn’t quit though, as GROBB was tasked with scanning the audience and giving a breakdown. GROBB then diagnosed the crowd as “100% Nerds,” which TWRP desperately apologized for. GROBB’s attitude came to a head right before the final song of TWRP’s set, wherein he would repeatedly count them in only to play the music video for Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
After boiling with frustration the whole night, Doctor Sung took matters into his own hands and decided to hack into IBS’s main system and manually reset GROBB. This was done, of course, by plugging himself into his hacker chair, ignoring Commander Meouch’s warning of death if this doesn’t go correctly. After successfully hacking in, the audience was able to observe Doctor Sung in IBS’s main systems, as it was projected on the same space GROBB once occupied. This display looked awfully similar to a retro-Atari 2600-style video game, with Doctor Sung and hallways depicted with crude pixel graphics. At a certain point, Sung was unable to see where he was going and decided to let the audience help guide him. He approached a fork in the road with the left hallway labeled “Safety” and the right hallway as “DANGER.” As is to be expected, the crowd roared with instructions to run right, which led Doctor Sung to a room where he was able to reset GROBB, but unfortunately was also where he met his fate and slumped over lifelessly in his hacker chair. The band and audience mourned Doctor Sung’s death as Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” rang through the speakers. Commander Meouch then eulogizes Sung as “a great friend and a mediocre bandmate,” while the remaining band members give an honorable salute However, it was all for naught as Doctor Sung arose from his chair with triumphant horns to mark his heroic return. His survival is best described in his own words, in which he explained that he “survived the old fashioned way with sheer, uh, mental will or whatever. And overwhelming upper body strength. And of course, cheat codes, thanks to the Official IBS Strategy Guide! Remember folks, it pays to read the strategy guide. It’s like we say at IBS, ‘IBS: Problems, for people.’”
GROBB, now freshly rebooted and clean of all malfunctions, then counted the band into their finale, “Starlight Brigade,” which was of course proceeded by the customary leaving of the stage just to return for the highly requested encore. As the show came to a close, jubilant dancing and singing was abound in the audience, and a sense of community was prevalent. These fans that had waited so long for this show now had the bittersweet feeling of knowing it was ending after this last song. That feeling of appreciating the now while also dreading its ending was perfectly encapsulated with TWRP’s closer, “All Night Forever.” The fans sang along to every word because they felt every word, feeling as if they sang loud enough their wish would come true as every chorus rang out the collective wish of, “Let’s make this night last all night forever, …One night unending, and I wouldn’t change a single thing.”
TWRP: Instagram | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music
Writer: Savino Rojas
Cover Photo: Repost From @twrpband
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