The Protomen and I Fight Dragons blow up Broadway’s

ASHEVILLE – Chicago pixel pop band I Fight Dragons may have been the opening act for Nasheville video game musicians The Protomen, but that did not stop them from entering the secret code for epic awesomeness Sunday night at Broadways.

While they were clearly more emo-centric than the headlining act, the Dragons made up for what they could not achieve in passion with a fun and crowd-friendly stage act that saw the five brightly-clad lads do everything from cover Jonathan Coulton to drum on the walls of the small stage that they more than took over.

Playing a large variety of songs from the newly released work “KABOOM!,” the Dragons also wowed the crowd with their unique blend of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band meets Super Mario Brothers by having a keyboard player who rocked out the theme from the Nintendo classic Contra while the same game was also being played on an 8-bit projection screen.

Although that was an impressive first showing at Broadways, the band most people came to see was The Protomen.

Despite some technical gaffs involving the infamous microphone helmet and the physical limitations of getting all their members onstage, The Protomen easily built on their aggressive synth-infused power rock performance from Belle Chere this summer to bring new warriors into the fold.

First it was an impressively funked-up cover of Huey Lewis and the News’ “Power of Love,” then machine gun arm attachments were locked into places, modified welding masks and silver paint obscured faces. Arms flailed in the air to salute the raw passion that happens when a lead singer who blends the snarl of Elvis with the geekiness of David Byrne is singing to the nerd elite. 

The Protomen (and their awesome female keyboardist) played most of their first full-length album ACT I, but after its completion the masked man known as K.I.L.R.O.Y brought them back to a sea of pumping fists and wildly clapping hands for a few more songs with the unitard-clad TURBO LOVER.

By the time K.I.L.R.O.Y told the crowd it was “GAME OVER” and the line for merchandise had formed, it was clear that extra lives and extra fans had more than been earned.