CAPTURED! By ROBOTS: Announces 20th anniversary U.S. headlining tour

One man. Two Robots. San Francisco's automated heavy metal band, Captured! by Robots, will celebrate […]

October 17, 2017

One man. Two Robots. San Francisco's automated heavy metal band, Captured! by Robots, will celebrate its amazing twenty year career with an autumn U.S. headlining tour. Set to launch on Halloween night in Denver, CO, the 20 city fall trek will criss-cross the country, before winding down on November 25 back at the animatronic trio's Bay Area charging station.

Described by the New York Times as "an entirely mechanical touring rock band" that, "strangely, is in some ways a throwback to the earliest days of automated instruments," Captured! By Robots released its first album in 1997, and over the past two decades, frontman Jay Vance -- who performs as Jbot -- has fine-tuned his metallic bandmates GTRBOT666 and DRMBOT0110 to the point of mechanized perfection. The method to the madness is derived from a series of computers which activate air valves that allow compressed air to pour through in controlled bursts. Those blasts push and pull the mechanical fingers that hit guitar frets, and sticks that crash into snare drums. Pneumatics also power the robots' movement, giving them a disturbingly human sway.

Over the course of the last two decades, Captured! By Robots' whirlwind mix of speed metal and grindcore has captivated music fans from stages across the globe. Now, after 20 years of delivering both eccentric entertainment and scalding social commentary, Vance says that the current world-state makes the band's oft-times political pushback all the more relevant.

"Twenty years touring with a robot band has taught me a few things," says Jbot. "Most importantly that the human race as a whole is totally f*%ked, and we ALL deserve to be wiped off the Earth like the scum that we are."

Captured! By Robots tour dates:

October 31 Denver, CO 3 Kings
November 2 Kansas City, MO The Brick
November 3 Des Moines, IA Lefty's
November 4 Madison, WI Frequency
November 5 Chicago, IL Reggie's
November 7 Detroit, MI Rockery
November 8 Indianapolis, IN Taps Live
November 9 Lexington, KY Cosmic Charlie's
November 10 Asheville, NC Mothlight
November 11 Savannah, GA The Jinx
November 13 Greenville, SC Radio Room
November 14 Atlanta, GA The Earl
November 15 Knoxville, TN Pilot Light
November 16 Memphis, TN Hi-Tone
November 17 Hot Springs, AR Low Key Arts
November 18 Dallas, TX Double Wide
November 19 Austin, TX The Lost Well
November 21 Phoenix, AZ Yucca Tap
November 24 Ventura, CA The Garage
November 25 San Francisco, CA Thee Parkside