LIVE: THE PROTOMEN – Nashville, TN, USA – June 18-20, 2026

Venue: Marathon Music Works

City: Nashville, TN

Date: June 18-20, 2026

Review and Photographs by: Jacob Smith (https://www.jhs-photo.com)

I totally wasn’t ready for what I was in for with this three-night sold-out performance from The Protomen at Marathon Music Works in Nashville, TN. I had been familiar with their music for years, but never had the schedules align for me to be able to make a show. So this three-night event was pretty awesome for me. The fan base is by far one of the MOST intune fanbase that I have ever seen at a live performance…three nights in a row. From before doors until right before opening acts went on stage, the line to get in was at least a block long. The merch line never stopped. After the shows were finished for each night, they ended up staying open until midnight just to get people through so that they can get the merch they were wanting. The merch was so popular they had personnel from Grand Palace on site actually screenprinting additional merch the entire three-night event.

Night 1 Act II: The Father of Death — This was the first night of the three-night show playing all of their albums in sequence for the full story. I showed up 30 minutes after doors had already been opened and was absolutely floored by the amount of people still waiting to get inside. The Protomen pulled out some major players as supporting acts each night, and the first night really set the pace for the event with Imaginary Baseball League and Amigo the Devil. A lot of Amigo fans showed up just for him but left absolutely floored by how. The beginning of the show had a slight technical delay due to a microphone issue, but that didn’t stop Kilroy from crowd-wrangling and having a good time while they fixed the issue at hand. The sheer magnitude of the stage presence of every member of The Protomen was apparent to anyone with years of experience. The fans instantly had fun quips throughout the night, almost like being at a Rocky Horror Picture Show live performance with audience call-backs. From the first note, the crowd was enthusiastically singing word for word back to the stage, only increasing the vibe and excitement from the stage. The cover of Bonnie Tyler’s song “Total Eclipse of the Heart” had the crowd reeling. The evening ended before I even realized it and was already ready for the second night.

Night 2 Act 1 — This evening was the performance of their first album, which is second in the story for the overall story.  This evening, much like the first night, didn’t change other than the supporting acts performing for the opening acts. Unfortunately, due to issues outside of their control, Cybertronic Spree was not able to attend but had recorded a lengthy fun apology video to be played for the fans. The replacement act, Hans Condor and Urizen, knew how to get the room ready for the second night performance of The Protomen for Act 1. This being their first album and shorter than the others didn’t stop The Protomen from having a second set filled with amazing covers that showed their level of expertise and sheer pleasure of the craft. By the end of the night, they had members of Urizen come back out during the encore, and lots of streamers and stickers were tossed out, and they made a massive party of the end of the night on the stage. Much like the end of the first evening, the merch line did not even drop 1% of its steady line, and the venue stayed open later to ensure everyone was able to get the items they were wanting. I left feeling very enthused for the final evening coming up.

Night 3 Act III: This City Made Us — Upon the release of Act I, which came out in 2005, and then the subsequent release of the follow-up album Act II, which was released in 2009. The Protomen had already developed a die-hard fan base that was desperately wanting Act III. So this evening was a very special event for everyone involved. This was what everyone was waiting for, 17 years in the making. Act III performed for the first time live, as the album was only just released earlier this year, back in January. This evening’s opening acts were nothing short of legendary. Tim Cappello was the special guest of the night, starting the evening off with stories of the music world and Hollywood. Then local legends Diarrhea Planet showed true form to a crowd that wasn’t familiar with them and helped to hype the already overly hyped crowd for the main event and what everyone was there for. Much like the other two evenings, the show starts with Kilroy coming out to commence the evening. From the first note of the new album, the crowd was already singing word for word every single lyric back to the stage. This was by far one of the more astonishing things I have witnessed in my 20 years of music work. For an album only to have been released so soon, to a concert where the fans know every single word and be hyped and able to fully sing along with what was being played truly let me know how special The Protomen actually are. This final evening was nothing short of legendary for showing that even after two full nights of performances behind them, the energy pushed forth from the stage was actually even more intense. Since they had the special opportunity to have Tim Cappello in the house as their guest, The Protomen took no hesitation to seize the moment and went into an absolutely stellar cover of The Call’s song “I Still Believe” with Tim Cappello, for those not familiar with this song. This was the song Tim Cappello performed in the 1987 movie ‘The Lost Boys’.  They ended the evening with members of Diarreha Planet and Urizen getting onto stage to have a massive party to help end the three-night endurance performance in true party fashion, and several members were down in the pit greeting fans.

Leaving this three-night event has left me stunned. Why didn’t I go to a show in the past? Why did I put off seeing them play live? I don’t even know the reasoning, but I know for sure I will not let that happen again. This event was something special, and I will absolutely be in attendance at every single future Protomen performance in my area if I can.

Night 1 Act II setlist: Intermission – The Good Doctor – Father of Death – The Hounds – The State Vs. Thomas Light – Give Us the Rope – How the World Fell Under Darkness – Breaking Out – Keep Quiet – Light Up the Night – The Fall – Here Comes the Arm – Built to Last – Total Eclipse of the Heart – Due Vendetta

Night 2 Act 1 setlist: Hope Rides Alone – Funeral for a Son – Unrest in the House of Light – The Will of One – Vengeance – The Stand (Man of Machine) – The Sons of Fate – Tragedy – Mr. Roboto – Self Control – Land of Confusion – Due Vendetta – Against All Odds

Night 3 Act III setlist: The Calm – Hold Back the Night – The Trainyard – No Way Back – The Storm – Buried in the Red – Calling Out – This City Made Us – Hold On (The Distance Between) – The Redline – A Show of Force – The Dream – Light’s Last Stand – The Good Doctor Part 2 – The Fat of Thomas Light – Dr. Light’s Eulogy – The Fight – I Still Belive (Great Design) – Thunder in Your Heart – Due Vendetta

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Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries