Wednesday, September 21, 2005

System Of A Down / The Mars Volta 09/20/05

Last night I was in attendance at Rexall Place here in Edmonton as The Mars Volta and System Of A Down took the stage in concert. The air was pretty electric last night with a crowd that was going rabid with raw energy. Both bands put on huge performances and I recalled many times feeling like the bass of the drumming was going to implode my chest. I had a great view of the whole crowd and the stage and I especially loved watching all those crazy people jumping over the boards to join the general admission people on the floor much to the chagrin of the event security team, who tackled and manhandled them all. Between watching people getting nabbed by security and the absolutely hynotizing lighting it was a treat. Hands down, for me, though, was when System Of A Down played "Prison Song," which was punctuated by strobing lights and Serj Tankian's bellowing at its best.

If you remember a comment that I had made in a previous post you'll know that I didn't like Daron Malakian's voice very much on the latest SOAD offering Mezmerize, but I have to admit that hearing him sing live has really converted me. What I could hear last night was a nice foil to Tankian's bellowing and now when I listen to Mezmerize I'm not as put off by the screeching of Malakian. Malakian was featured prominently throughout the SOAD set, introducing many of the songs almost like a balladeer were performing classics from their catalogue and even a couple of covers in the form of Neil Young's "Hey, Hey, My, My" and Dire Straits' "Sultans Of Swing."

It was a beautiful night to be sure.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

How were the Mars Volta?

Anonymous said...

The last line of that had to be Sultans of Swings Eh? Now its stuck in my head swirling wirling.

Was the SOAD more electric then say an open mike poetry night? That shit can get pretty nutso.

"Test. Test. roses are red flowers are blue. April is the cruelest month I repeat the cruelest month."
Hows that for an obsure simpsons quote? HeH? HeH?

Michael said...

Yeah, the last line of the "Sultans of Swing" was changed just a little, though, and instead of "We are the sultans of swing" it was "We are A System Of A Down"
which, despite being off cadence wise just a bit, still seemed to work like a charm.

The Mars Volta was one of the biggest noises I have ever heard. So ecclectic. The drummer was going bananas, the flute player and the singer really played off of each other well. One thing that I did notice was that they did not really do much to engraciate themselves to the audience. There was no, "Hellooooo Edmonton..." It was just one song blurring into another replete with trippy lighting and racing instruments. It was one of the most unique acts I have ever seen play live.

Anonymous said...

I was there too dude--almost as good as Pearl Jam, about half as good as TOOL, but still--a once in a lifetime string of moments.

Nice work here, see you at the ROAR

Michael said...

See you at the Roar, indeed. We're both in the big finale!