System of a Down/The Mars Volta
Thurs. Sept. 1, 2005 @ Air Canada Centre, Toronto

I wish I could say I was looking forward to this show but it kinda snuck up on me. September already, wow. I arrived halfway during the set of opening band Bad Acid Trip, who sounded like bad death metal from outside. I actually thought it was a CD playing, but I can’t really judge. Noone cared though, and they were pretty much done before anyone was seated.

I wasn’t sure what I’d think of the Mars Volta. “Frances the Mute” is just now starting to grow on me, I put it in recently for the first time since I bought it, and I really wanted them to kick ass live. Needless to say it didn’t happen. The Mars Volta were one of the worst live bands I’ve ever seen. Maybe it was just a bad night, maybe it was the sound man, maybe it was because I was in the nosebleeds up and to the left of the stage, and there were so many people talking… but… damn. Only a few songs were recognizable. “The Widow” came out pretty good, and “L’Via L’Viaquez” was alright, although it seemingly went on forever. It seemed sometimes like Cedric was never really singing, just wailing randomly. And no, that’s not me misunderstanding Spanish for gibberish. The sound was tinny and the guitar work was especially horrible. It sounded improvised in the worst sense possible. There’s atonal and then there’s just being sloppy. Well, at least there was jazz flute. And yet they still got quite an ovation at the end. Go figure.

SOAD showed me how far they have come since they started. I think I’ve actually seen them on each tour, and musicially they’ve been better every time. They managed to pull off a ‘big event’ feel, and their set more than made up for the Mars Volta’s boring performance. “Lost in Hollywood” and “Revenga” were the highlights of an hour and 45 minute set that included most of their new album, the best of the others and a few b-sides. Daron Malakian still performs as excitedly as he did in the early days, but the others seem less active now that they’re on a bigger stage. The set was a simple light show and three Persian rugs.

A few other highlights of the night were the security guards catching the kids trying to rush the stage from the seats, the security guards who caught the kids smoking pot behind us while the lights are up, and the security guards who kicked out the people who were in our seats.

The System of a Down fans were mental, and during the show for the most part they added to the experience. The only other concert I’ve ever been to that had fans this riled up was Guns N’ Roses. However, I got stuck behind two girls who had to prove to everyone they knew all the words, who sang off key and off time… and louder than the band. I was on the brink of chewing them out, but then they blew out their voices. Fans also went haywire in Union Station for a good while after the show, tossing free samples of Peanut Butter Kit Kat everywhere and screaming for no good reason. Yeah, I could have done without that. — Goon

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