THE Mars Volta: Let's make sense of the genuis

[Thorngrub]

Well I never bothered to put in my review -- of their May 31st performance in Denver, at the Fillmore. Don't get me wrong - - what they DID play, they tore into with their usual impromptu gusto. I mean, it's the Mars Volta. But the way the entire evening went down, I'd have to give it to the "opening act":

It was to be "An Evening With The Mars Volta", and as any longtime rocker knows, that means we get the Volta, uncut, uninterrupted. No openers.

Now, when a classic, real professional band such as RUSH advertises "An Evening With Rush" - - you're in for a 3 hour + show. Of course, the guys in RUSH have surpassed deity-status and are firmly entrenched in the Hallway of the Immortals, so they could play an hour straight without breakin a sweat. Poor lil newer bands like Tool and the Mars Volta . . .well, let's just say they need to break for some water every now and again, and by the time the 2.5 hr mark goes by, these poor lil pups are winded and DONE.

But with the Mars Volta - - it ain't even so much that, as these kids seem to be taking themselves a tad too seriously - or self-importantly, perhaps. Well at least that's the impression Cedric Bixler Zavala left me with. Halfway through their extremely short set (they played just under 2 hrs, about an hour and 50 minutes), Cedric broke composure to scold us about someone having thrown water up onstage. He admonished us for "costing them money" since it could have ruined equipment, made an allusion to getting electrocuted, quickly tried to save some grace by adding "thanks for your enthusiasm and all but", and finished off his pathetic pseudo-idol posturing by stating "so if you got some water in your hand, fuckin' drink it".

Then they went back into their set, played a real mean Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt, and thus ended what I positively knew must've been their first set.

~Intermission~ (of course)

I went up to the T-shirt stand for my memento, but then I noticed too much of the crowd leaving. House lights going on. After getting my shirt, (a red medium T for that hot tight 70's look), I walked over with a stupefied look on my face, and noticed the bars had "BAR CLOSED" signs up already.

So the show really was over. It wasn't an intermission. WTF-?!

I looked at the time. 10:30 pm.

So you mean to tell me, Mars Volta, that we drove *7 hrs* from *Salt Lake City* for. . . this?!

*shakes head*

Total bullshit. I guess lil ol' Cedric really had his panties in a wad, that night. That was real thoughtful of you, Cedric: treatin' your Denver, Colorado fans to . . .a scolding, and a shortened performance.

The first half of their "set" was . . . stellar. But where was the closer -? They should've come back with "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore", and then closed up with a rocking version of "Cassandra Geminni", but they didn't. That showed us, huh Cedric.

Whatever.

3 stars.

[Thorngrub]

(sorry I didn't get deeply into the songs they played, I already forget the order - - but that's what you get, an underpar show begets an underpar review, just passing the buck along)

I am psyched to catch em with SOAD, however. Maybe System will light a fire under TMV's ass, get em to put out their best effort, and play all their most powerful songs. Cuz I'll tell you one thing - - no matter HOW great the tMV portion of that show is -- System Of A Down's goan come on and blow em right out the proverbial water. I guarantee you that much.

[Thorngrub]

I think Roulette Dares was the high point, for me. L'via was good - - but not the highlight I thought it was going to be. It didn't quite have the bite it does on the album. And they played Drunkship of Lanterns - always a favorite of mine.

Yeah, I'll be giving them a "second chance" when they open for System Of A Down. If they blow it -- I'll be like, "whatever".

[Thorngrub]

vicious in its wishes. sounding like the soundtrack to swimming with the fishes. intentionally insensitive. intending to give. insolent & dynamic. demanding insistence. a cycle self sustained on its own feedback. a repeat play in three acts. the distorted essay tree axed. one question of a portion of the truth. two combined in return. the answer divisible by itself. an invisible honesty ray. audial truth serum. jarred awake from a moment suppressed while a life momentarily lost and snapshut in the back of a car could be snapped up and painted into myth which is more or less precisely what The Mars Volta do on their post-calculated sophomore effort, Frances The Mute.

[ken]

I will hopefully be catching them with SOAD when they come through VA. Love Frances and Deloused, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Without an encore of Cassandra Gemini, the best their show can hope for is 3 stars.

[Thorngrub]

I intended to catch this show . . . now I'm not so sure: for some reason, the Denver date is the ONLY date on the tour which lists "seating" . . . this puzzles me . . . there is NO way I'm driving 7 hrs just to park my ass in the back somewhere . . .this show is ALL about getting deranged, letting go, and more'n'likely, walkin out with some bruises . . . that's not the "aim", of course, I'm merely predicting the outcome, looking ahead so to speak . . . I do not go to shows with "intent" to harm or that bullshit . . . a despicable attitude . . . yet, I DO go to shows to have fun, jump in the moshpits if the fancy strikes me (and at a SOAD show, it would be fundamentally IMPOSSIBLE to resist), and we all know the potential outcome of this sort of endeavor . . . in any case, SOAD ain't about sittin down . . . god I hate Denver . . . lamest concert-scene I've ever frequented . . .people in Denver DO NOT know how to mosh . . . they are waaaaaay too laid back for that . . . can't knock em entirely, they're really amazing, cool, down to earth people . . . but when it comes to a hard rockin show like system of a down or korn, I mean, C'MON STONERS!, wtf?!, like, get DOWN with yer bad selves why don't you . . . I guess they're too busy sorting out piles of psilocybic mushrooms and loading their brass pipes and glass bongs that all venues in Colorado encourage.

So there's the Aug 5 show, coming soon, in SEATTLE, but airfare is too expensive . . .

This means there is only ONE HOPE for me . . . and that would be keeping my fingers crossed for a SECOND LEG OF THE TOUR, after HYPNOTIZE drops . . . maybe THEN soad will come through Salt Lake City, where the kidz ain't afeared o' gettin hurt and PUTTIN THE HURT on freaks. My fingers are crossed for it.

Of course, I'll likely miss out on TMV opening . . . which'll suck . . .cuz that's one powerful combo, right there. But what am I gunna do -?-- drive 7 hrs to Denver to sit in the back of the Pepsi Center on my ass -? Homey don't play dat

[pattentank24]

AH the first thing to complain about in my Mars Volta Fan History

THE B-SIDE TO L"VIA is GOD AWFUL
"The Bible and Breathalyzer"

Spoken Word Nonsense set to a rythm I can't even describe,new b-side I was excited
then I hear this and ahhh I hope this was ment for people to further their story theories as it does contain a few key phrases I remember hearing from Frances
But hell I could be wrong

Still Doesn't change Frances The Mute is still the best album of 2005 so far for me

[Thorngrub]

Ha, sorta glad to hear it. Cuz I examined that piece o pic-disc vinyl the other day, and I was actually angered by it. I even complained to the clerk, "WTF is this? Man, tMV best take a cue from Dredg, who know humility. tMV are like bloated primadonnas bound to fall crashing to earth; whereas dredg are so down to earth already they are destined for true greatness", or something to that effect.

Mark my words. 10 years from now, dredg will be huge as Pearl Jam is today.

[Thorngrub]

I agree about FTM, though patten. With the possible exception of Eno's new album . . . but they just don't compare. I mean, Eno's an old hand. These young tightly clad afro-sportin kids are a new bonafide force in rock music. That counts for something, and their album is a stellar superimplosion of shrapnel storming force. Rush pulled through Cygnus X-1 & tied in a mobius strip knot, and yanked undone with a magician's flourish. Ta-dah, welcome to the Mars Volta.

I'll pass on that new money-grubbing picture disc single, though, thank U very much.

[Thorngrub]

Finally broke down and got this on VINYL. Lemme tell ya was it ever worth it! For some reason the sheer brilliance & improvisational genius comes out starker, yes warmer, & consequentially far more solid than on CD. I really have no idea why this should be the case, I actually liked the CD very much (as the music on it is exactly the same), but hearing it across four sides of vinyl in my living room over the weekend really brought it home to me.

I am really getting psyched for their 3rd studio release due out in 3 short weeks. These guys are simply amazing, bonafide modern rock godlings, and the proof is the pudding found on this pseudo-live release "Scabdates".

For the true blue Mars Volta fanatic - - all posers are invited to skip this one and find something else to gripe about. Sheer brilliance through & through.

[skvorisdeadsorta]

Oh I am so excited about the new one coming out.

[Thorngrub]

"This album's a commentary about the fear of God instead of the love of God, which goes hand-in-hand with Catholicism...To me, religion is the reason there is so much conflict in this world, and I think it's just so unnecessary to believe in this blue-eyed, white-bearded, white-haired God. Amputechture is my personal way of describing enlightenment, or just the celebration of this person who is a shaman and not a crazy person. It's about the pineal gland and how it has certain elements that mimic a DMT experience, and how we can come up with cures for cancer and AIDS if we're more in tune with what's going on in the rainforest."

[Thorngrub]

1/"Vicarious Atonement" – 7:19
2/"Tetragrammaton" – 16:41
3/"Vermicide" – 4:15
4/"Meccamputechture" – 11:02
5/"Asilos Magdalena" – 6:34
6/"Viscera Eyes" – 9:23
7/"Day of the Baphomets" – 11:56
8/"El Ciervo Vulnerado" – 8:50

[Thorngrub]

1/Vicarious Atonement is the theory that the atonement of Jesus Christ was legal in God's eyes. Jesus died in the place of the humans that sinned.

2/Tetragrammaton is a reference to the 4 letter name of the Hebrew God, that being éäåä, or YHWH.

3/Vermicide is any substance used to kill worms, especially those in the intestines, or the act of killing worms.

4/Mecca is the holiest city in the Islamic faith. "Ampu" may be from the word "amputate;" "techture" is from "architecture."

5/From the Spanish, 'Magdalen Asylums.' The correct spanish translation is "Asilos Magdalenos".

6/Viscera refers to internal organs, namely intestines.

7/A baphomet is an object used for idolising, also confused with popular representations of Satan.

8/From the Spanish, the 'Wounded Deer.'

[skvorisdeadsorta]

Is it good? Do you like it? I haven't bought it yet, but I will next pay day.