On Monday, March 14th, a more-than-capacity crowd pushed our way into the tiny Garfield Artworks venue. The sweaty, grasping masses were not just there for a concert, oh no.
We were there to fight back.
We were there to see The Protomen, a 10-member strong group from Nashville, TN. Using the Mega Man video games as a starting point, the band has composed a rock opera about a dystopian future run by the evil Dr. Wily, and the struggle against him. Currently, they’ve written and released parts I and II of a three part story. The third part is in the works and, well, according to the band, humanity sounds pretty-well boned.
The Protmen at Garfield Arworks by Ashly Nagrant/New Age Amazon, some rights reserved
The Protomen bring their concept to life in concert, even on a tiny “stage” like the one in the Garfield Artworks. Most members take to the stage in silver and black face-paint, resembling robots. Lead singer Raul Panther, however, begins the show in a pair of aviator shades and a bandanna, throughout the show he’ll don two different helmets, one of which is mic’d internally, and a prosthetic machine-gun arm. The stage is also lit by a constantly changing barrage of projected images: Dr. Wily’s futuristic propaganda telling people they will be safe so long as they surrender all control to the Dr. and his robotic army.
The music itself is fantastic, employing not only synth, guitar and drums, but also the occasional violin, trumpet and a tiny sledge hammer being pounded against a metal bar. The group cites influences such as Radiohead, Toto and Queen.
And it needs to be said: this group is doing what My Chemical Romance WANTS to be doing with their Danger Days concept. Yes, in both you have synth-laced rock and a story about rebels in a dystopian totalitarian state…but The Protomen do it BETTER. They have comitted to telling the story, to making music the weapon against evil, whereas My Chem’s “Art is the Weapon” message seems to get lost. It’s because The Protomen have committed to their story entirely. My Chem seems reluctant to repeat the rock-opera-esque performances of The Black Parade tour, possibly because of how draining it was, but The Protomen don’t shy away, turning their
The Protomen at Garfield Artworks by Ashly Nagrant/New Age Amazon, some rights reserved
performances into rallies against the oppressive forces in their world. Hell, they even kick off their concerts by asking the assembled crowd “Will you fight with us tonight?”
I went into this show a Protomen virgin. All I really knew was related to me by one of the band’s extremely dedicated fans (he brought the band chili to eat for after the show. They greatly enjoyed it), that I was attending a rock opera based on Mega Man video games. And yet it was so very easy to agree to fight with the band, to raise my arm in solidarity and to feel so very proud when, at the end of the show, the audience was dubbed “The Warriors of Pittsburgh.”
But of course, it all had to end with those two words so very familiar to anyone who’s played a video game. “Game. Over.”
Oh no, my friend. The game has just begun.
More photos and video after the cut… (more…)
