Chattanooga Pulse

I will go ahead and admit that I am a closet gamer.

I was obsessed with all versions of Fallout, Baldur’s Gate, and Vampire the Masquerade for PC, although I would feel horrible if I left out the DOS game Dope Wars. I grew up fighting over Nintendo and Super Nintendo with my brother, who always made me play Luigi. Eventually, I moved into PlayStation and PlayStation 2.

Embarrassed by my addiction and terrified that I would inevitably be sucked into World of Warcraft and fall off the planet; I recently had to give them away, but now am an avid Mafia Wars junkie. Sad, I know.

However, I am always driven to salivation by classic arcade games, such as Galaga, PacMan or any form of pinball. You are probably wondering what any of this has to do with music—which is a valid question and I will give you an answer.

But first: a question of my own. Who remembers Megaman? For those of you who do not, I will give you a brief summary. It was an early NES game that has blatant political parallels. Dr. Wily, the villain, creates an army of evil robots that wreak havoc on the human race. People helplessly watch their world destroyed and their rights suppressed under such darkly strict control. Enter the good guy, Dr. Light. Dr. Light creates a savior, a robot messiah, named Protoman, “the son of light”, to defeat the evil robots. Unfortunately, the attempt does not work because the human race will not stand up and fight for their rights or their freedom. Protoman is thought to be dead (although he was still alive, he just lost hope in humanity). Instead of giving up completely, Dr. Light creates Megaman, another robot, but he warns this one that the human race is beyond saving. Megaman disagrees with this and still finds hope.

Protoman and his brother, Megaman, disagree about the human ability to save themselves. Understandably, Protoman lost a bit of faith when he was defeated right in front of the eyes of the masses without a single gesture of aid. Protoman dies in the arms of his brother, but before he goes, he wonders if his story is told, then the human race might come to realize that a true “hero is just a man who knows he is free.”

The Protomen, the band, as a result, are the storytellers passing on the tale of Protoman and Megaman through their music, hoping that perhaps, one day we will figure it all out.

The Protomen create music, or, rather, rock operas, built and based completely on the stories and tales from the game Megaman. The sound can clearly be described as rock and roll with a little twist of sci-fi and videogame effects. They do have some songs that are reminiscent of the in-game music played in the actual Megaman game, but with their own additions and subtractions. They dress up in costumes for every performance and refuse to come out of character for any reason, including interviews.

It takes a lot of people to put on a rock opera—and a big stage, considering there are ten members. Each member goes by a codename, and as with any true superhero, they keep their real identities hidden. The codenames are as follows: Commander, Murphy, Panther, Sir Robert Bakker, The Replicant, K.I.L.R.O.Y, The Gambler, The Nightwalker, The Reanimator and The Keymaster.

As far as who they really are—that pretty much remains a mystery unless you want to come out and see if you can coax one of the members to break character. They hail from Nashville, and some of them attended MTSU. That’s truly all I know about them behind their silver makeup and amazing stage presence. If you haven’t seen them, you really should give them a try just for the experience alone.

Whatever it is that these guys are doing, it seems to be working, as they signed onto the Sound Machine label, and are endorsed by Peavy Electronics, and C&C Drums, among others. They have played Ernie Ball’s Warped Tour Battle of the Bands, and have proven to be fairly successful since their start in 2005. Their second full-length album is available now, called Act II-The Father of Death. Their first album was pretty intense, so I am definitely looking forward to the new one.

The Protomen will be playing two shows, so pick your night to game it up and become allies! They will be playing Friday night at JJ’s Bohemia with Daikaiju, and a Toys for Tots benefit on Saturday at Midtown Music Hall. Here is an idea: Clean out some of your own games and give a needy child a happier holiday. Who knows—perhaps they will be so inspired by the game you got them, they may start a band based on it! Happy gaming, everyone!

The Protomen
Friday, December 11 (with Daikaiju)
10 p.m.
JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.
(423) 266-1400. www.myspace.com/jjsbohemia

Saturday, December 12 (Toys for Tots benefit)
10 p.m.
Midtown Music Hall, 820 Georgia Ave.
(423) 752-1977. www.midtownmusichall.com