The Protomen: We Are In Control (PAX Prime and Vancouver)

Quite some time back, a random comment on Tycho’s newspost sent me searching for a song called “Breaking Out“, by the Protomen. The piano opening hook and the low, angry/mournful lyrics grabbed me viscerally, and I had to go and find out what these guys were about. Discovering a whole goddamn Rock Opera, in two acts (so far), based deep in Mega Man lore was such an unexpected delight that I was compelled to buy their albums off of iTunes.

It took several listenings to fully grok the whole elaborate world they’d built around the original game framework, but that just meant that I’d have more time to really experience the work in its entirety. There’s something about 80′s style rock with a chiptune sensibility, laid over a groundwork of apocalyptic dystopia and fallen heroes that just speaks to me; hell, it doesn’t just speak, it growls my name and grabs me by the throat.

So it was really goddamn awesome to see them rock out Beneroya Hall in Seattle last Friday, opening up the PAX concert weekend. And man, their live show? It kicks so much ass. From the opening narration, to the drum procession down the isles, to the bugle calls from the balcony, and the hard rocking all throughout, they delivered a show so incandescent that it could have blinded God himself. The fans certainly got into the mood, with the fist-pumping, light-fist glowing, yellow-scarf-swinging call-and-answer singalongs that ran through their set. Like PAX itself, the worst thing about experiencing their performance was knowing that it had to end all too soon.

On the other hand, they were coming to Vancouver in just a few days, so I’d get to see them again, this time in a much more intimate venue (the Biltmore Cabaret). When they took to the stage there, if they were weary of the 2500 miles of travel between them and their home in Nashville, you’d never have known it. Having them perform Act II in its entirety was ridiculously awesome; especially since you didn’t get to hear a lot of their quieter songs like “Here Comes the Arm” during their PAX performance. Plus, seeing them cover Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in the encore was one of the highlights of an already unbelievably cool week.

As of this writing, they should either be in St. Louis or on their way home to Nashville; godspeed to you, Protomen! Here’s to your return to Canada and your release of Act III!