'Toon tunes

Young fans cheer Prozzak's animated debut

EDMONTON -- Sometimes the best things happen by accident.

 When James McCollum and Jason Levine came up with the idea for an animated pop duo and some goofy Euro-disco songs to go with it, they never dreamed it would be successful enough that they'd have to put on a live concert. Who knew? It took expensive visual effects and an hour-plus animated film to do it, but Prozzak's Edmonton debut proved to be surprisingly entertaining. Nearly 1,500 young fans turned up at the Shaw Conference Centre last night to see how they pulled it off. The verdict? They did pretty well, for a couple of cartoons.

 Simon and Milo had help, of course. Their creators are members of the veteran Canadian band the Philosopher Kings, and as such, actually have live performing chops to back them up. While relying heavily on canned beats, it was a cut above the usual lip-sync, dance around, make-the-girls-scream pop act.

 Levine did most of the vocals in a nasally British accent as Simon (the shrimpy one), while McCollum (Milo, the hulking one) played a mean guitar, fluent in everything from heavy metal riffs to Spanish guitar. Delivering tunes from the multi-platinum Hot Show album, they were backed by a DJ/vocalist and a live drummer. Lasers, pyrotechnics and a variety of images projected on a screen rounded out the entertainment. The animation was only slightly better than South Park, but it got the job done.

 It all started with a barrage of green lasers as Simon told the story of Prozzak's origin. During a fierce sea battle 300-some years ago, Simon and Milo were sucked into a mysterious vortex and given a message: "You have been chosen to live in a time that is not your own, sentenced to walk the earth in search of true love" and yada, yada, yada. Flames and sparks then burst forth to reveal McCollum and Levine standing inside the giant heads of their creations. The crowd, bewildered at first, was rewarded with a spectacle of fast-paced fun that walked the fine line between clever of cheesy Euro-pop that succeeded in being musical.

 Many of the girls in attendance came for the opening act, souLDecision. Ladies and gentlemen: the Wham! of the '00s!

 Could this trio be the new breed of boy group?

 They don't dance and they appear to have a live band backing them up, but the difference ends there. The songs are of the same brand of romantic fluff - with maybe a bit more oomph than usual - as the Backstreet Boys. The songs ranged from gooey ballads to modern pop to throwback R&B, and all of it was aimed directly at the hearts of young girls. That's where the money is. Yes, it was a big screamfest - and a laugh riot, too. During the big hit Faded, Power 92 DJ Chad Martin was brought up as the guest rapper. Move over, Vanilla Ice.

 With Ken Lewko in the back pretending to play keyboards, David Bowman has the great voice, while Trevor Guthrie is the good-looking one. Bets are now being taken which one will go on to become the future George Michael and which one will be doomed to be the future "that other guy in Wham!"

 I almost forgot, there was another opening act, McMaster and James - which presented the same song & dance & crotch-grabbing schtick they did when opening for 'N Sync.

 Will the horror ever end?