Meet the Columbus band that plays live music from ‘Mario Kart,’ all while you play the game live
It’s time for Rainbow Road. You’re locked in, you’re throwing bananas, and you’re accompanied by a live jazz band playing the beloved Mario Kart soundtrack. Oh yeah – that’s right. Columbus has its own live Mario Kart Band, playing at a bar or music venue near you.
When Colin Davis’ Mario Kart Band started in late January 2025, they had about 200 Instagram followers. Flash forward to March, and they have accumulated over 3,000 followers and counting. Known for playing at Rumba Café in Clintonville and Grandview Theater & Drafthouse, the Mario Kart band is zooming to popularity.
“I definitely didn’t invent the idea,” said Colin, honestly. “I saw the original group that did it called Mario Kart Live from Australia. I reached out to them and asked if I could bring their idea to the United States and they said ‘yes.’”
That was over two years ago. Since then, Colin has taken on arranging the music for the most popular Mario Kart tracks himself, and soft-launched the band concept in his hometown of Youngstown with a couple of musician friends. Last year, Colin decided to move to Columbus for more music gig opportunities and to be closer to his older brother who has seen success in the local punk rock scene. Colin felt the band could really take off in Columbus, but needed to find musicians first.
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He hit The Ohio State University music building, pinning up posters. He also turned to a “Musicians Wanted” group on Facebook, putting out a call for talent.
“There are plenty of Facebook groups for stuff like this. I made a QR code with a Google form,” explained Colin. “I got a bunch of people who were interested but had no way of hearing them. I went based on experience and how long they’ve been playing their instrument.”
Turned out the Mario Kart Band was meant to be, as the group got together to practice before their first gig and jelled seamlessly. The band is made up of nine musicians who work other day jobs like teaching music in schools, and even a couple of current music students from The Ohio State University.
Alex Adams is on guitar, Bobby Lucas on piano/keyboard, Deed Vann on tenor sax, Gabriel Coffing on bass, John Heino on trumpet, Russell Preston on trombone, Samantha Vann on flute, Seth Alexander on drums, and Colin Davis on alto sax.
The night goes like this: Players pay for a ticket to the event and sign up to play a requested Mario Kart track upon arrival via a QR code. The band plays for about three hours with an intermission in between, giving everyone time to play at least once on a first come, first served basis. The band brings the console (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch), and for the time being, the venue provides large screens. The musicians play live along with the tracks, even reacting to spontaneous events, like playing special music when a player gets a star. Seth, the drummer, has a mic and is on the look-out for any sudden sequences the band needs to react to, creating an even more authentic experience.
“I feel the reason why it appeals to people is that so many people have played Mario Kart and the concert itself is interactive,” said Colin. “The most requested track is probably Coconut Mall, where you’re just straight up driving through a mall.”
But Colin’s favorite to play is Dolphin Shoals. A deep love of video game music, especially Nintendo music, is what really bonds this band together. Throughout the entirety of Mario Kart, there are 96 different tracks. The band does not have them all arranged, but are always working on new tracks to roll out at upcoming live shows, like DK Jungle.
While the band has gotten their start playing regularly at Rumba Café, they are in talks with multiple other game-focused bars, events, and breweries. In late April, the band will be live at Hoof Hearted Brewing’s Marengo location, and will be announcing other events soon on Mario Kart’s Bands Instagram.
“People are asking ‘How do I stay in the loop so I don’t miss a show before it sells out?’” Colin said. “I’d say follow our Instagram @mariokartband and turn on post notifications.”
The Mario Kart band has already been asked to do shows out-of-state, but for now, they’d like to stay local to Ohio. The group is also prepared to size-down and accommodate smaller events that specifically request a jazz combo focusing on video game music.
“That’s why I like it,” smiled Colin. “Ninety-nine percent of people don’t pay attention to the music because you’re just playing the game. Someone had to think of that. There is a lot of thought that goes into it.”
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