We kick off the long-overdue Europe tour in less than a week. After 3 years of postponements and false starts and cancellations… we are finally making this thing happen, come hell or high-water. The rock and roll gods have spoken! … and it turns out they reeeaaally wanted us to cancel the whole thing and go back to school to get an IT degree. But we’ve chosen to ignore the gods and get on the half-sinking ship across the Atlantic with nothing but our dreams and 19,000 metric tonnes of gear. We may not all come back, but we refuse to know when to give up!! 

On that note, for good or for bad, here are some updates:

NEW SHOW IN MÜNSTER!!!
March 16th at Sputnik Halle. We know it’s pretty short notice, but help us out now… let’s try to get the entirety of Germany to that show! We know it’s only a 250 capacity room, but maybe we can squeeze everybody in?

LONDON DATE CHANGE
Many of you know this by now, but we wanted to remind everyone that the London show has changed both dates AND VENUES (now O2 Academy Islington on the 18th), but existing tickets are still honored. We know this throws a massive wrench into a lot of people’s plans (ours included). Unfortunately, with the bizarre (and still unexplained) evaporation of both the Sci-Fi Weekender show and the Swansea show, these changes were the only way we could still make the tour happen. We’ve had A LOT of reasons to jump off this ship and swim home, but we know that when we finally get there, it’s gonna be such a glorious moment that it will have all been worth the struggle. Like, when that ship with the T-Rex finally made it to San Diego at the end of Jurassic Park 2. Everyone celebrated and nothing bad happened… right? It’s been a long time since we’ve seen that movie. Maybe we can watch it on the trip over. 

Speaking of monsterous lizard birds, we’ve got some more unfortunate news… Makeup And Vanity Set won’t be on the ship heading over to Europe with us after all. We tried begging. We tried twisting his arm. We even tried chloroform, but the ski mask kept him from breathing enough in to knock him out (he’s always one step ahead of us…).

We get it though. All signs have been pointing us towards cancelling this thing and it’s for sure financially irresponsible of US to carry on with two cancelled shows. MAVS is a pretty fancy dude… but he was ready to sleep in the gutters and only eat raw cabbage and rocks like we’re going to, however he’s got some other obligations that make it an unfortunate no-go and we support him in that. And also… he just had his teeth redone, so eating cabbage and rocks would do him no good. 

BUT ON TO SOME GOOD NEWS….
Most VIP Tickets are finally available!! — we’re still waiting on Amsterdam and Münster, but we’ll try to let you know as soon as those are live. Keep an eye on our socials (facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and Tour Page, because we might announce them first on those.  

>VIP TICKET INFORMATION<
If you’re wanting some VIP ticket’s you have to purchase them separately from the main show ticket. If you already have regular show tickets, all you have to do it purchase the VIP ticket and you’re good to go. But if you haven’t gotten tickets to the show yet, you should be able to buy show tickets and VIP tickets at the same time. And if for some interesting reason you ONLY want to come to the VIP pre-show session… because you love seeing grown men and women dolled up in silver facepaint but hate rock and roll, I suppose that’s a thing too?? We won’t judge! And I can confidently say that this tour is happening, so if you’ve been on the fence about getting tickets…. get off the fence and get to getting. We need all the support you can muster over there!

VIP TICKET includes:
• Early entry for the concert (one hour before Doors Open)
• Early access to merchandise
• Meet and Greet with the band
• Signing session
• VIP group photo with the band
• Tour Poster
• Exclusive VIP Tour Laminate

**ATTENTION** VIP Ticket does NOT include concert! Ticket for the show needs to be purchased additionally.

Grab some VIP tickets below so we can do some chit-chat with you and sign some stuff before the show. Also, help spread the word, because I know not everybody in the world is on this mailing list (even though they should be).

Speaking of which, let’s go ahead and activate the European Street Team while we’re at it to help get the word out about these shows so we can actually come back a 3rd time! It’s easy, all you have to do is tell other Europeans about the shows.

MARCH
10th – Paris – Les Étoiles (VIP Available)
11th – Amsterdam – Melkweg (VIP Ticket Upgrade Here)
12th -Berlin – Frannz Club (VIP Available)
16th – Münster – Sputnikhalle NEW SHOW ADDED! (still waiting on VIP)
18th – London – O2 Academy Islington (VIP Available)
19th – Oxford – 02 Academy (VIP Available)
21st – Wolverhampton – KK’s Steel Mill (VIP Available)
22nd – Glasgow – Stereo (VIP Upgrade Available Here)
23rd – Bradford – Nightrain (VIP Available)

SOME OTHER GOOD NEWS… CHICAGO WAS AMAZING
A huge thanks everyone at Reggie’s rock club, Cybertronic Spree, and to everyone who came out! And it was absolutely wonderful finally sharing the stage with Cybertronic Spree. If you haven’t seen them live yet, go find them… they’re hard to miss. They’ll be the giant robots playing rock and roll (as opposed to The Protomen… a comparatively short band of robots playing rock and roll).

We had an incredible time playing with them, and we can’t wait to do it again soon. 

Also, I just thought of something while looking at this European stuff. Is everyone aware that we have a European store with some pretty rad exclusive merch (including Act I records and the old Euro Tour shirt that’s one of the best shirts we’ve ever done)?! … because it sure seems like nobody knows about it. We have all kinds of stuff over there and it ships worldwide. We’re about to stop in and grab what’s left of that merch before these shows, so get it while it’s still there and help us clear out the closet!

We’ll see all you Europeans next week!

-Commander

EURO TOUR IN ONE MONTH
We’ve had a couple big blows to the tour recently with the cancellation of two shows (Sci-Fi Weekender and Swansea), but by damns… we’re still gonna make this thing happen! We’re not exactly sure what went down in either case, but best of luck to those events and venues. You should have gotten or should be able to get a full refund on both of them from point of sale. And if you were planning on going to either of those shows, please join us at any (or ALL) of the other shows on the tour! 

*edit update*
Another update that just came in is that our London show has changed dates as well as venues to O2 Academy Islington on the 18th (instead of 16th). Existing tickets are still valid… just a different place and date (actually the same venue we played last time we were there and we loved it). We’re incredibly sorry for any inconveniences this may cause. Please bear with us, we’re doing everything we can to make sure this tour actually happens! Please contact the venue if you have any questions or concerns. 

And along with all that, we’ve added a limited number of VIP tickets to every show of the tour! If you grab a VIP ticket, you can expect:

• Meet and Greet with the band
• Signing session
• VIP group photo with the band
• Tour Poster
• Exclusive VIP Tour Laminate
• Early access to merchandise
• Early entry for the concert
• 1 pocket-sized clone of Panther that will sing to you any time you want (not really, but one day…)

We’re not exactly sure what day those go live, but keep an eye on our socials for that announcement – facebook – instagram – twitter – friendster

MARCH
10th – Paris – Les Étoiles
11th – Amsterdam – Melkweg
12th -Berlin – Frannz Club
16th – Münster – Sputnikhalle (NEW SHOW ADDED!)
18th – London – O2 Academy Islington
19th – Oxford – 02 Academy
21st – Wolverhampton – KK’s Steel Mill
22nd – Glasgow – Stereo (SOLD OUT) – but VIP Upgrade AVAILABLE
23rd – Bradford – Nightrain

CHICAGO WITH CYBERTRONIC SPREE
Chicago in TWWOOOO WEEEEEEKKSSSS… we’re real excited to get up there to eat some Italian Hot Beef Sandwiches for every meal for 3 days straight, and I guess we’re also excited to play a couple shows. It’s probably an even split on the excitement. Maybe it’s like 100% excited about the shows. And 114% excited about the sandwiches. I’m not a math wizard or anything, but I think that’s like 300% pure excitement!! Rest assured, we’ll be bursting with excitement when we get to Chicago. And bursting with hot beefs when we leave. But seriously, we can’t wait to finally share the stage with Cybertronic Spree for this sold out weekend at Reggies!

Here’s the new limited edition poster for the show. If there are any left over after the show, we’ll put them up on the Sound Machine Store.

THE FIGHT IS NOW ON BANDCAMP
Getting tired of streaming “The Fight” over and over and want to finally take the plunge and drop the cold hard dollar bill to purchase it outright? Now’s your time. Buy “The Fight” now on Bandcamp so you can own a piece of history. Take a picture of your purchase page, print it out, and then mount it on the shelf right next to your immensely valuable coin collection and culturally significant commemorative porcelain plate display. It’s sort of like an NFT, but makes way more sense. 

And we’ve got all the other fancy Fight merch on Bandcamp, too. There’s a super rad sweatshirt, windbreaker, and t-shirt! Grab 3 of each!

Hope to see some of you in Chicago or Europe!

-Commander

New single from Act III, “The Fight,” is now streaming on all the platforms. Click this link and pick your poison. We’re already up to like 30,000 plays on Spotify, so that’s something like 50 dollars! About 4 of us are gonna get to eat a burrito with that chunk of change (the other 4 will starve)!!! But seriously, we’re glad you’re all seeming to like it. There’s plenty more where that came from.

Cover design and new logo done by Caspar Newbolt with artwork by John DeLucca. I think they did a hell of a job, if I do say so myself.

And yeah… James Cameron may have beaten us by getting Avatar 2 out before we could release Act III, but mark my words, I almost somewhat guarantee that we’ll have Act III out before Avatar 5! The gauntlet has been thrown, Mr. Cameron. Come at us.

—FIGHT MERCH—
Like that Fight art and new logo? Get it on some shirts! We’ve got a regular coal colored (nearly black) Tshirt, and girl-style scoop Tshirt to choose from. 

And on top of that, we’ve got a pretty rad new raglan sweatshirt (raglan is the only way to go with sweatshirts. Believe me, I’m an expert). 

We’ve also got a pretty awesome windbreaker (with some rain protection) pullover with silver-ish print. This sort of a jacket is a first for us, so let us know how you like it by buying it or not (whichever is funnier). 

**please note** this new FIGHT merch will not ship in time for the holidays. 

—CHICAGO—
Our 2 shows at Reggies with Cybertronic Spree are now super sold out and we couldn’t be more excited to get back to Chicago for some Italian Hot Beef Sandwiches!…. and shows. See you there!

—EURO TOUR—
And let’s not forget our upcoming Europe and UK tour! Get to a show and you’ll hear “The Fight,” as well as some other Act III jams. So get your tickets and help spread the word over there. Send your friends the link to “The Fight” to see if they like it and then bring them to a show even if they don’t. Maybe bring them to 5 shows. While you’re helping us with promotion, go ahead and start requesting “The Fight” at your local radio stations. And call in to TRL and demand that Cason Daly puts us on the show. Then Google who/what Carson Daly and TRL are. 

MARCH
10th – Paris – Les Étoiles
11th – Amsterdam – Melkweg
12th -Berlin – Frannz Club
16th – London – Shepherd’s Bush
19th – Oxford – 02 Academy 
21st – Wolverhampton – KK’s Steel Mill
22nd – Glasgow – Stereo
23rd – Bradford – Nightrain

Remember that time in the last email where I said, “see you back here in about 3 weeks?” This is what I was talking about. Now that “The Fight” is out there, we’re gonna do the holiday thing for a bit, but then get right back into the studio at the start of the new year. Feeling good about this one.

-Commander