A Night with the Protomen

Last night, I decided to treat myself and see The Protomen perform at Kingdom. This would be my first time seeing the Protomen on stage and needless to say, I was quite excited. This would also be my first show at the space formerly known as Alley Katz and I had been meaning to check it out (breaking news: Kingdom looks pretty much the exact same that Alley Katz did, although they did have a new box office instead of some dude at the door).

I’ve been told that seeing the Protomen is like watching a video game come to life. That’s a huge understatement. The Protomen are best known for composing original concept albums based on the Mega Man video game series and they took it very seriously.

“Are you ready to fight with us tonight, Richmond?” they asked as they began the show. I couldn’t really call this a show, but more like rock theatre. It was a spectacle with costumes, scarred battle helmets and laser light shows as they performed songs based on the video games, including stories of Dr. Wily’s robots taking over the world, Dr. Light’s creation and final battles. For the encore, the band played a whole bunch of rock covers including a stellar rendition of Queen’s “Princes of the Universe.”

And the fans were into it. There were tons of people singing along, fists going in the air, moshing, crowd surfing – all around a fun show. The Protomen know how to put on a good time.

The Protomen – Light Up The Night