The Protomen at the Red 7

It's hard to believe that over 3 years have passed, since I first saw this band. I have blogged about the other occasions that I have seen the Protomen play live:

1. Game Over Video Games in July, 2010.
   
2. Emo's in August, 2011.
   
3. Red 7 in August 2012.
   

Excluding SxSW, this was their second straight show at the Red 7. It is not exactly my favorite venue, because of the lack of air conditioning. Also returning was opening band, Urizen, from Dallas.

The Protomen went on shortly after 11PM, and played somewhere just shy of 2 hours. Although they are actively claiming to be working on Act III, they only played one new song, that I can recall. Other than that, the rest of the material came from their first 2 albums, Acts I & II. They did sneak in one cover, Queen's Don't Stop Me Now.

All in all, the Protomen still put on a great show, but the lack of AC, sucked. They're one of the best bands you have probably never heard of. Here's hoping for bigger, nicer, air conditioned clubs, in their future.

The Protomen at the Red 7

Arrival at the Red 7

It seems the Protomen are still on the rise. Granted, there were two shows going on at the Red 7, but the line to get in to the club, was all of the way up the hill to Red River, and wound around the corner.

Many of the people around me were there to see the Protomen, and I talked for a while with a guy standing next to me, from New Braunfels. He was long time fan, and was joined by a friend, a filmmaker making a documentary about the band, who had toured with them full-time, when they played at Game Over video games.

When I got inside, it seemed both inside and outside were packed. There was really no AC inside for our show, so I pitied the bands in makeup and costumes.

Amanda Lepre

Like the show at Emo's that I saw last year. Amanda Lepre returned as an opening act. I got the feeling this was a different band than I had seen previously. She has very good vocal and guitar chops, so her 45 minute set was enjoyable.

Urizen

I didn't enjoy this band, as much as the opener. It seemed they were more costume and gimics, than music. If there had been AC, perhaps I would have found their 45 minutes more tolerable.

The Protomen

This time around, the Protomen opened with a Queen song, Flash. After finishing, the lead singer promised more Queen interspersed throughout the set. For the most part, however, the set consisted of material from their first two albums, sticking to the Mega Man theme.

I estimate that they played about 90 minutes, and sounded fairly good despite the crappy PA, and sweltering conditions. I'm hoping that perhaps they will be able to graduate to better venues in the future, with their rising success. It would be nice to see them at least once, in a venue that didn't feel like a sauna.

Towards the end of the show, they mentioned that they would be returning to the studio to records, Act III, which was great news. They did a one song encore, Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, which was very well received. Everyone in the crowd was singing along, a sign that the band had the audience in the palm of their hand.

I still highly recommend this band, particularly if you want to catch a group on their way up. I know that I have always enjoyed their shows.

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Update

Someone did the honors, and posted the set list.

The Protomen at Emos

Deja Vu - Twitter to the Rescue Again

After attending the Long Star Ruby Conference this past weekend, I was paying more attention to Twitter than normal. In an eerie replay of the events that led me to seeing the Protomen last year, a just in time tweet notified me that they were on tour.

Quickly checking their website, I discovered they were playing Emos in three days. I immediately bought a ticket.

The Openers

For The Most Part

Knowing that there were two openers, both from Austin, I didn't really bother to leave the house until 10PM. As a result, I missed the first opener, For the Most Part.

The Descendants of Erdrick

The other opening act, Descendants Of Erdrick, bills themselves as Austin's Premier Video Game Tribute band. They were a five piece, with two guitars, a flute, bass, and drums.

The band were all very good musicians, but since I am not a Gen-X'er who was weaned on Nintendo, I didn't find hearing covers as engaging, as the Protomen's more creative approach. The lack of vocals was also a bit of a deal killer for me.

The Protomen

While waiting around for main act, I went over to the Merch booth and bought a T-shirt. I was also able to talk to Protomen guitarist, Robert. After telling him that I had been at their show last year, we commiserated about the stifling heat, and conditions at Game Over Video games.

I was also able to find out, that they intend to do one more album along the Mega Man story arc, with producer, Alan Shacklock, and then something new is in the works. We'll have to wait and see what happens. I was also surprised to hear that they had trouble getting back into SxSW, last year.

The Protomen's show started with one of their members in a jump suit and robot mask, as K.I.L.R.O.Y.! His banter and come back lines were very well practiced, and raised the level of their showmanship.

The line-up for the band appeared to be the same as the last years, with one exception. The second female member was MIA. I believe she was the member that played trumpet, keyboards, and sang backing vocals.

I estimate that they played about 75 minutes, with a mix of songs from both of their albums. There was one encore, and this time around they did an excellent cover of Queen's, Princes of the Universe. Frankly, I was amazed by how close the Protomen's lead singer was able to sound like Freddie Mercury.

I really enjoyed the show once again, my only complaint was with the sound, which was muddy at times. But, that's really the fault of the crappy house P.A. at Emos.

I will continue to be a fan of this band, and I'm anxious to hear their new album, in the coming months.

The Protomen at Game Over Video Games

About a month ago, I was listening to the Wired Audio Playlist Podcast (one source I use for new music) and immediately noticed a cut called the Hounds. The production on this cut was exceptional, and had a very familiar vibe. I remember having to rewind the podcast later in order to find out that the band was the Protomen.

Finding their website and myspace pages, I listened to some more of their tracks and enjoyed them as well. I found out that Hounds was a track from their recently released, second studio album, Act II: The Father of Death. The songs all had a Meatloaf feel to them, mashed-up with some Peter Gabriel.

A little further research on the Internet and Wikipedia revealed that they had 3 albums total (1 live), the band was from Nashville, and the second album had in fact been produced by famed Meatloaf producer, Alan Shacklock. I noticed that I had missed them performing at this year's SxSW, chalking that up to bad luck.

The most interesting thing about this band the fact that they have conceptually based all of their music, on the Capcom Video Game for the NES, Mega Man. (Which I had played with my little brother about 20 years ago). Obviously, they have a small cult amongst the gamer crowd. Although not a gamer, I had already decided they were creative and great musicians, after listening to their material.

Fast Forward to Friday

Friday evening I noticed a tweet go by about the Protomen being on tour, and their Battle Wagon having broken down, in Texarkana. I went over to their website and discovered that they were scheduled to play in Austin, Sunday night, with two opening bands, at Game Over Video Games. I really don't get into video games, and am not that into All Ages shows, but decided to go anyway.

When I arrived at the venue it was obviously a congregation point for those on the nerdier side of the tracks. The store was in a strip mall near the corner of Anderson and Lamar, and is like a museum for video games and game consoles, going all the way back to the Atari days. The actual show was in an empty stall next door. About 30 people were already milling around waiting for the show.

An announcement went out that the band had arrived late, without the 2 opening acts, but that the show would be going on. When they finally let us into the empty stall, it was hot and loud. None the less, this 9 piece band (7 guys and 2 gals) delivered the goods. They have multiple vocalists, and every person was a first rate musician. In addition to synths, guitar, bass and drums, 2 of people also doubled on trumpet and violin. Their set consisted mainly of the Act II material, followed by a smattering of the songs from their first album, and a cover of Styx's, Mr. Roboto complete with Vocoder.

The lighting was insufficient to get a good picture, but these guys were fantastic. I would recommend you check out the samples on their website, and would go on to say that I would gladly see them again (hopefully in a better venue).