Naka-Kon is an annual 3-day convention held in the Kansas City area which celebrates anime, video games, and Japanese culture. Each year, the convention hosts a variety of influential Japanese musicians who perform, host informative panels, and sign autographs for fans.
Line-up
This year, the convention will be hosting the following musical guests:
Nobuo Uematsu / Earthbound Papas – Nobuo Uematsu is a legendary composer of music for various video game titles, best known for his extensive work on the Final Fantasy series. He will be performing at Naka-Kon with his video game tribute band, Earthbound Papas, which is made up of other fellow game composers. The band will sign autographs after their performance and will hold a Q&A session during the convention.
Critical Hit – Critical Hit is a video game tribute band led by Jason Hayes, lead composer of the original release of World of Warcraft. The band will perform their original arrangements of classic video game tunes from beloved series such as The Legend of Zelda, Skyrim, Halo, and much more. The band will also hold an autograph signing session and a Q&A session during the convention.
A New World: Intimate Music from Final Fantasy – Led by grammy-winner composer and conductor Arnie Roth and featuring classical pianist / video game musician Benyamin Nuss, A New World is a touring small-scale orchestral performance of the legendary music of the Final Fantasy universe. A New World will perform and hold a Q&A session during the convention.
Benyamin Nuss – Nuss is a talented German pianist and composer, in addition to being a huge video game fan. Nuss will be holding a solo piano performance of his own interpretations of classic video game music.
Venue and Entry
The convention will be held at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, Kansas, just outside of Kansas City.
Entry to any of the musical performances only requires a convention badge – either a $25-$35 single day badge (depending on the day) or a $55 full weekend badge – there are no additional fees for musical performances. Badge registration information is available at the Naka-Kon website.
Schedule
All performances are held in Ballroom A-B of the Overland Park Convention Center. Locations of signings and Q&A are listed individually below.
Friday, 3/11
8:00pm – A New World Performance
Saturday, 3/12
12:30pm – Earthbound Papas Q&A (Cottonwood Room 1)
2:00pm – Critical Hit Q&A (Cottonwood Room 1)
3:30pm – A New World Q&A (Leatherwood Room 2-3)
6:30pm – Critical Hit Performance
8:00pm – Earthbound Papas Performance
10:00pm – Earthbound Papas and Critical Hit autograph sessions (Autograph areas A and B)
Sunday, 3/13
12:00pm (noon) – Benyamin Nuss Performance