Posters squeeze names into codes. RHCP, QOTSA, A7X—stuff you’ve seen flying past on a feed or a venue wall. The task is blunt: see the code, call the actual band. No lore dump, just sense.
Each card shows the initials and four long forms. Only one is the name that copy desks keep and ticket stock prints. Close cousins appear to tease, not to help.
Dots count. Brackets can flag a flexible bit. Numbers aren’t flair. Read once in your head, quick. Pick the line that would sit straight on a sleeve.
[D] Trans-Siberian Orchestra | Paul O'Neill combined metal with Christmas carols, creating holiday spectacles where pyrotechnics meet Beethoven in sold-out arenas every December.
2/24
OMD?
[C] Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | Liverpool synthesizer wizards who made machines emotional, scoring John Hughes films while secretly influencing every electronic act that followed.
3/24
MCR?
[B] My Chemical Romance | New Jersey rock band whose fans often shorten the name to MCR, turning their emo anthems into a three-letter badge.
4/24
BSB?
[B] Backstreet Boys | Orlando-formed vocal group whose name gets clipped to BSB on fan forums, CD racks, and arena marquees worldwide.
5/24
RHCP?
[A] Red Hot Chili Peppers | Four funky Californians who mix rap with rock, featuring Flea's slap bass and Anthony's unique vocal style across four decades of hits.
6/24
GNR?
[B] Guns N' Roses | Slash's top hat became rock's most iconic accessory while Axl's voice shredded through Sunset Strip tales of excess and rebellion.
7/24
RATM?
[A] Rage Against the Machine | Tom Morello's guitar sounds like helicopters and sirens while Zack de la Rocha raps revolutionary politics over earthquake-heavy funk metal grooves.
8/24
NIN?
[C] Nine Inch Nails | Trent Reznor alone in a studio created industrial masterpieces, turning personal demons into dance floor anthems wrapped in walls of noise.
9/24
BNL?
[D] Barenaked Ladies | These Canadians named themselves as a joke in 1988, then conquered radio with witty wordplay and rapid-fire vocals that became their signature sound.
10/24
QOTSA?
[D] Queens of the Stone Age | Josh Homme tuned his guitar down to C standard, creating desert rock so heavy it feels like driving through sand.
11/24
FOB?
[C] Fall Out Boy | Chicago-bred rock band whose long name shrinks to FOB on setlists and message boards, especially among early-2000s pop-punk fans.
12/24
BBD?
[D] Bell Biv DeVoe | Three New Edition members went solo together, inventing new jack swing and warning everyone that certain girls are indeed poison.
13/24
BEP?
[C] Black Eyed Peas | Originally underground hip-hop artists who added Fergie and transformed into global pop superstars, dominating charts with futuristic beats and auto-tuned hooks.
14/24
REM?
[D] R.E.M. | Athens, Georgia pioneers of alternative rock whose dotted name, R.E.M., is as iconic on posters as the sleep phase it alludes to.
15/24
BOC?
[B] Blue Öyster Cult | Smart guys writing smart metal about Godzilla and death, proving cowbell could make any song better according to Saturday Night Live.
16/24
MGMT?
[C] MGMT | Connecticut art-rock duo whose shortened name MGMT appears on records and festival bills, evolved from their earlier moniker The Management.
17/24
STP?
[A] Stone Temple Pilots | Scott Weiland's baritone vocals and Dean DeLeo's guitar riffs created grunge anthems that outlived the Seattle scene they were accused of copying.
18/24
BTO?
[A] Bachman-Turner Overdrive | Randy Bachman left The Guess Who to form this working man's rock band, proving Canadian prairie towns could produce arena anthems.
19/24
DC5?
[A] Dave Clark Five | Beatles rivals who actually outsold them briefly in 1964, proving that sometimes the drummer really should be the band leader.
20/24
NKOTB?
[C] New Kids on the Block | Five Boston teenagers taught America the meaning of boy band hysteria, paving the way for every group that followed.
21/24
MC5?
[A] Motor City 5 | Detroit revolutionaries whose three-chord manifestos and feedback experiments inspired punk before punk existed, all while wearing American flag capes.
22/24
AWB?
[B] Average White Band | Scottish funk masters whose groove was so authentic that many assumed they were from Philadelphia, not Scotland's east coast.
23/24
OAR?
[C] Of a Revolution | Ohio State students who built their empire one fraternity party at a time, becoming kings of the college circuit without radio.
24/24
CSN(Y)?
[D] Crosby Stills and Nash (and Young) | Folk rock supergroup whose harmonies were so perfect they sometimes forgot Neil Young wasn't always part of the original trio.