One of the reasons I wanted to get to PAX East this year was the great selection of live music. Well, the Friday night concert certainly didn't disappoint. The mysterious
Protomen kicked off the evening with one of their signature Mega Man-inspired rock operas, complete with flashy helmets, facepaint and images of Dr. Wily's fascist oppression.
Anamanaguchi took the stage next and poured eclectic chiptunes from their hacked NES and GameBoy. I enjoy good chiptunes but for some reason the synthesis with live rock diluted the experience for me--I'll have to listen to some of their prerecorded music later to get the full effect. Anamanaguchi is also working with Ubisoft on the music for the upcoming Scott Pilgrim game.
My personal favorite,
Metroid Metal, was the third act, eliciting cheers from the audience by throwing two large Metroid-shaped beachballs into the crowd. They then proceeded to melt our faces off with their powerful and virtuosic interpretations of classic Metroid music. They followed up with an encore that the crowd absolutely loved--the Space Pirate theme from Metroid Prime.
Last but not least,
M.C. Frontalot closed out the event with his typical aplomb. I didn't get to see all of his performance due to some scheduling conflicts but he was in fine nerdcore form as usual. If you're attending PAX East you can buy CDs and merchandise from these artists as long as the supplies hold out. Also, check out their websites if you want to learn about them or hear more of their music:
The Protomen
Anamanaguchi
Metroid Metal
MC Frontalot
