NEON RetroFest

07/03/2025

We're thrilled to bring NEON FM, our 24/7 Radio Station back to Youtube with a brand new synthwave/chillwave/outrun mix for the summer, and some rad overlay interactivity! 📺 All tips on the channel go to supporting our next endeavor, which we're looking forward to sharing more of soon.

Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/NEONFM and chill to top-shelf retrowave all season long, courtesy of NEON Retrofest! 🌴🌊

NEON.FM is your portal to a retro future. Here you'll find our 24/7 Retro Aesthetic Radio station, retrogaming livestreams, discussions on preservation and retro culture, and info regarding NEON Retrofest, an event co-organized by Neon_Arcade and . NEON represents a frequency beyond me...

05/03/2025

Losing Starcadian is a huge blow to the Synthwave scene, and we're deeply saddened to hear of his passing. An amazing performer as well as an unstoppable force in the scene, the 2013 release of Sunset Blood will always mark when I (Grant) realized how well funk could mix with Retrosynth as a sound with a master like Starcadian at the helm. 🎹

We're going to miss him greatly, and we're still sad that we never got to have him for a planned live show our local PVD arcade bar series of events just before the world shut down in 2020.

Our deepest condolences to all of his family and friends. 💜

04/16/2025

Two years ago this week, against all odds, we resurrected NEON RetroFest but under tropical sunshine this time--where the event always wanted to be. What resulted was an unforgettable weekend, as evidenced by your kind posts and amazing photos.

A few days don't pass without someone asking us, "When is NEON coming back?" We wish we had a definitive answer to that question; NEON has always been a passion project we've funded out of pocket, knowing full well that every dime put into it might not be returned.

The next thing people usually say is, "No other event feels this way." There is a reason for that, but it might not be what you think....

NEON represents a frequency, and it existed long before we started working on a music and retro culture festival. Other creatives, artists, musicians, designers, curators, historians, writers, and more were already tuning into this unmistakable aesthetic. We noticed this, and while we were planning for the first NEON in 2018, our goal was simply to try to convene as many people who vibed with this wavelength as possible into one place for a weekend.

"I thought nobody else was into this stuff." is what we heard time and again as we spoke to musicians, artists, and collaborators. We have always structured our communications in such a way to let you all know that you are not alone.

But it hasn't been easy, and we've had insane challenges thrown at us. Yes, we think we can bring back NEON again, but we absolutely can't do it on our own. So if you also bleed NEON, then you can help us, because it's going to take a group effort.

So please, stay tuned in the coming days for long-awaited details about the vision we already have for NEON's next incarnation and ways to help make it a reality. In the meantime, you can follow both of us on our respective channels and in our Discord--we always deeply appreciate your support in any form (see post reply).

What you saw in 2023 was a small fraction of where we hope to take NEON, and there is much, much more that we want to do if we can just secure the space and resources.

Thank you for believing in NEON, and for keeping the light alive. 🌅🌴🦩

01/15/2025

Coming out of lurk to do something we haven't done in a while: review a release. This one warrants it. No album in recent memory has combined our passion of import retrogaming with synthwave like this.

Gunblaze Assault, the latest from Miami Nights 1984 dropped today, and it's the perfect soundtrack to weaving your way through a deadly curtain of high-caliber enemy fire in a mech STG that never existed, but really needs to.

Summoning the style of 90s video game soundtrack legends like Yuzo Koshiro and Hyakutaro Tsukumo, MN84 has forged a concept album that could easily be mistaken for the actual score to the lost Mega-CD sequel to MUSHA Aleste. From the title screen stinger to the game over melody, even the menu screen music bumpers are somehow intact here, blending both retrogaming and retrosynth into a seamless package.

As an album, Gunblaze Assault keeps itself short and sweet while at no time deviating from the stated mission of creating an intense OST for a lost Japanese mech-based shump. While I'm sure they'll be some who consider this theme to be more of a gimmick than a fully-realized Synthwave album, MN84's ironclad adherence to a solid concept, right down to the sublime album art and promo material, is *exactly* the kind of unwavering creative vision that we need to rescue a genre currently adrift in a vast sea of indistinguishable laser grids and neon sunsets.

I've been ranting for years that Synthwave is the perfect scene for hardcore concept albums outside of the nostalgia trap of "Wasn't the 80s cool?", and listening to Gunblaze Assault confirms the fact that this fully armored synth attack is precisely the type of robot hero we need. 🤖

Lock, load, and listen now:
https://miaminights1984.bandcamp.com/album/gunblaze-assault

12/31/2024

Your Tampa Bay NYE plans are confirmed: Join us tonight at where Grant will be spinning a VINYL Synthwave DJ set starting at 9 PM! Ring in 2025 with the synthiest 80s-inspired sonic waves this side of paradise while sipping the choicest craft brews. 🎹🌊🌴🦩☀️🍺 Maybe even play a few classic arcade games while you’re at it. 🕹️👾😉 Best of all there’s NO COVER! Retro punk dress theme suggested.👩‍🎤👨‍🎤 See you there! 😎

10/10/2024

Thanks to all who reached out with concern and well wishes for ! We were in the cone and it was initially supposed to hit Tampa Bay, but we ended up being a bit north of actual landfall. We’re not in an evacuation or flood zone so we stayed put, and the worst damage we experienced was major fallen branches on the property—nothing Florida Man , some helpful neighbors, and a chainsaw couldn’t take handle!⛓️🪚 And honestly way less stressful and time-consuming than our typical festival/convention breakdown and cleanup process. 😆

We are grateful to be through the storm almost totally unscathed and wish the best to everyone in Sarasota and any areas that may have experienced flooding and other damage. 💜

09/12/2024

We’re home. It’s rare to find these vibes outside of NEON. 📺🌅

09/05/2024

The projected outlook for Businesswave is bullish with this... very nice track from Betamaxx and Michael Weber 👨‍💼

New Retro Wave + Betamaxx x Michael Weber High Performance AudioNRW Radio is here! https://nrwradio.comOur Clothing Line: http://www.akadewear.comSolid so...

04/03/2024