mesa legend

August 22, 2005
FEATURES
Fans beg for more as mosh pit rocks

Michelle Goats
Mesa Legend

America West Arena played venue to System of a Down with The Mars Volta in the opening slot, Aug. 8. Their current summer tour is the first major tour for System of a Down in the United States.

Anticipation filled the arena as people lined up to push their way down into the mosh pit while System of a Down started the show off with the intro “Soldier Side” and their mainstream single, “BYOB,” which are both songs off their spring released album, “Mesmerize.”

Also in the “Mesmerize” line-up was radio single, “Question!,” and “Violent Pornography,” which is a stab at American Pop Culture and television media.

Midshow, guitarist Daron Malakian stood in the spotlight and offered a slightly political comment. “Since Bush was in office, everyone’s been either red or blue. Let’s be purple.” This comment sparked up their political song, “Sad Statue.”

Malakian led concertgoers with a lighterlighting guitar solo with “Cigaro” a song poking fun at the size of certain genitalia.

As System’s guitarist, Malakian, began strumming the first notes of “Arials” the crowd overpowered the band and chanted the lyrics alongside lead singer, Serj Tankian.

Nearing the end of the show, System delighted fans with the classic “Toxicity” to a crowd just begging for a reason to turn the mosh pit upside-down. The pit turned from mild moshing to a commotion of swirling, fired-up fans.

System concluded the show with “Sugar” a track off their first, self-titled album, “System of a Down.” Almost immediately, the mosh pit flew into a sweaty frenzy.

System of a Down’s fourth album and first disc in a double album set, “Mesmerize,” was released in May of this year, topping the Billboard 200 Chart at No. 1, on May 25.

The album has remained on the charts for 12 weeks and remains in the No. 25 spot.

The second installment of the two-disc set, “Hypnotize” is scheduled for release in late fall of 2005.

Similar to the doubled-disc album “Use Your Illusion I and II” that was released by Guns N’ Roses almost 15 years ago, System made the decision to record a two-volume set (“Mesmerize” and “Hypnotize”) and release them nearly six months apart.

According to the band’s official web site, the dual disc release is “with the understanding that attention spans aren’t what they used to be in the Too-Much- Information Age.”

Over the course of the last 10 years, System of a Down has struck the CD-buying (and downloading) public with an entourage of new, distinctive and innovative albums.

They follow in that tradition with “Mesmerize” and will most likely do the same with “Hypnotize.”

Hailing from Los Angeles, The Mars Volta introduced their style on stage, preceding System of a Down.

Labeled as new-progressive rock, The Mars Volta gave fans a new idea of a musical style called noisecore. And, yes, they were noisy.

The Mars Volta is unique in that their albums don’t simply have a track listing with five songs, telling five mini-stories. Rather each song blends into the other, telling one story; giving one big picture to listeners.

The Mars Volta intentionally recorded their tracks without a pause between each song. According to The Mars Volta web site, the pause between tracks on most mainstream albums is “a distraction ... like if there were gaps between every scene in a movie.”

Unfortunately, live in the arena, the band played to what seemed like a confused crowd. Loudly, the songs blended into one another. Concertgoers scrambled back into the inner concourse to escape the mayhem inside the audiotorium.

The Mars Volta did perform their mainstream, radio-play hit, “Black Widow” to a somber and unexcited crowd anxiously awaiting System to turn the show around.

It is no surprise that System of a Down would choose a band such as The Mars Volta to accompany them on tour. Both bands have an unusual, individualized sound that sets them apart from other bands in the mainstream music scene.