Last night I saw the Mars Voltas first concert for 6 months

[rainbownorth]

Not only that, it was the first concert with their new drummer, Thomas Pridgen. This cat you MUST check out. At ten, he was the youngest drummer ever to have been sponsored by Zildjian. At fifteen, he was awarded a scholarship to Berklee school of music. And he is mindblowingly good, at the very least on a par if not better than Jon Theodore.Check him out on youtube, hell make you wet yourself.

Heres what they played:
1.BRAND NEW SONG
2.Roulette Dares (The Haunt of)
3.Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus
4.Viscera Eyes
5.BRAND NEW SONG
6.Drunkship of Lanterns
7.Vermicide
8.Tetragrammaton
9.Cicatriz ESP
10.Meccamptuechture

They were as amazing as they always are, they extended most of the songs....I was disappointed about the lack of encore, i was really hoping for Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt as encore, that wouldve been wicked cool. And if i had one complaint soundwise, there was no low end, it was all mixed very high, Omars guitar was dominant as well as Pridgens cymbals and toms.Still, quite possibly the best way i could think of to spend a night. Just thought id tell you guys, ive been aching to spill the beans on Pridgen since seeing him, and it was a wicked concert.

[Embryodead]

Ugh, i saw Mars Volta a few years back because people ranted and raved how awesome they were..i left about 15 mintues in. It was the worst gig experience i've ever had.

[cash87]

I dunno MV just dont do it for me live...they need to work on their live sound a lot better

[rainbownorth]

They have a lot of stuff with serious effects involved, so i can understand their live sound being hard to get right. Just thought id mention it anyway.

[jomahu]

they're fantastic (i've seen them three times), but dang, omar needs to turn the heck down.

yeh, the new drummer is cool, but jon theodore will always be the man for me.

[Dash Rantic]

I saw The Mars Volta when they were touring with System of a Down, definitely one of the better shows I've seen. I really don't understand why people say TMV is so awful live... Maybe I just saw them on a really good day for 'em

-Dash

[rainbownorth]

Originally Posted by jomahu

they're fantastic (i've seen them three times), but dang, omar needs to turn the heck down.

yeh, the new drummer is cool, but jon theodore will always be the man for me.

Well, ole Tommy is no theodore, theyre different drummers, but man, he handled everything theodre usually does. The only thing we noticed he couldnt pull off like theodore was the end of Drunkship of Lanterns.But he really cranked it on the new stuff, and man was he enjoying himself. Omar high fived him half way through Tetragrammaton.
And yeah i dont understand the live issue either. The treble was a little high for me, but it couldve just been where we were sitting. and with the effects on every instrument its understandable theyd not get some of it quite right. Its not their fault anyway, its the damn techies.

Also, new info here: The first new song they played was called "Idletooth", and the second was "Rapidfire Tollbooth".

[JimmyM]

There are some things I like about the Mars Volta, but I think Omar is very (apologies to people who hate American Idol) pitchy live, and I find their songs and lyrics extremely pretentious and irritating. Having said that, the guitarist is amazing and the bassist and pianist are quite good as well. Always hated the drummer, though. Too much crap.

[rainbownorth]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

There are some things I like about the Mars Volta, but I think Omar is very (apologies to people who hate American Idol) pitchy live, and I find their songs and lyrics extremely pretentious and irritating. Having said that, the guitarist is amazing and the bassist and pianist are quite good as well. Always hated the drummer, though. Too much crap.

Well, yeah, the guitars are often mixed a little too high. Ive seen them at their best, and theyre perfect. Soundwise and musicianship wise as well. You do realise that Omar IS the guitarist though right?If youre thinking of the singer thats Cedric.Understandable about the drummer, you either love the sheer virtuosity of the drumming or hate it for being too busy and showoffy.

[Fishbrain]

Originally Posted by rainbownorth

Heres what they played:
1.BRAND NEW SONG
2.Roulette Dares (The Haunt of)
3.Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus
4.Viscera Eyes
5.BRAND NEW SONG
6.Drunkship of Lanterns
7.Vermicide
8.Tetragrammaton
9.Cicatriz ESP
10.Meccamptuechture

how long did they play for??!! iv never known TMV to play that many songs live.

i love tmv...on cd. I've seen them live a few times and i get bored. I love the parts where the whole band plays its just the bits inbetween when omar widdles on his guitar on his own for about 15minutes that bores me. play more songs and make less random noise!

[Vorago]

Well...the new drummer is cool, but with JT it really felt as if the Mars Volta was a band. Now it's an Omar Rodriguez project.

[Bob Clayton]

i saw TMV back in 8/05 when they opened for System of a Down.

they weren't right for that show, but they were awesome.

[GROOVEjunkie]

I've seen them twice; first headlining in a small venue and then a large (opening for SOAD).

IME, they are way too loud. The guitar distorts sooo much with all the effects it's painful. I had a hard time even discerning the songs when the opened for SOAD and I have all their albums.

I have to hear the new drummer because the last guy was a monster.

BTW, Deloused in the Comatourium is freakin brilliant. I don't think you can do a genius studio album like that justice live.

[rainbownorth]

Originally Posted by GROOVEjunkie

I've seen them twice; first headlining in a small venue and then a large (opening for SOAD).

IME, they are way too loud. The guitar distorts sooo much with all the effects it's painful. I had a hard time even discerning the songs when the opened for SOAD and I have all their albums.

I have to hear the new drummer because the last guy was a monster.

BTW, Deloused in the Comatourium is freakin brilliant. I don't think you can do a genius studio album like that justice live.

Yeah, theyre one of those bands that, on a good day will get their sound perfect and will put on a perfect show. Ive seen them twice as well, once previous to this time at the Big Day Out - its a festival, so maybe the open air atmosphere just carried the sounds better, cause Juan Alderete was a psychedelic funk beast that day. That and the Horns section was awesome, they were doing this duel with Omar, theyd play an arpeggio or a quick solo and try to match each, then both leave a note hanging, so one blended into the other - it was awesome.

you definitely do have to hear the drummer, Thomas Pridgens the name, hes %*^&ing unreal. Hes on youtube, check him out.They lose very little from not having jon theodore anymore.Apparently they WERE using a guy to finish a leg of the amputechture tour called Dean Tony Parks who was wicked as well (youd have to be), they played one show with him. The setlist was deloused. The entire Album. Then Cassandra Gemini. A 3 HOUR version. How freakin awesome would THAT have been?
But yeah they play that sort of music thats bloody hard to emulate live, on a good day it sounds wicked, on a bad day it sounds bad.

[rainbownorth]

Originally Posted by Vorago

Well...the new drummer is cool, but with JT it really felt as if the Mars Volta was a band. Now it's an Omar Rodriguez project.

It ALWAYS was an Omar Rodriguez project. He writes EVERYTHING.All the guitars, bass, keys, horn section, EVERYTHING.Seeing them live, hes like the director of an orchestra, he runs around giving the rest of the crew instructions for altering and jamming the next song. Whos the last person to leave the stage? Omar. Always. The rest of the band give you a wave, but he stands there till everyone else is gone, then walks to the front of the stage and waves to every section of the audience and says thank you every time he does it. To me, its always felt like his project.

Apparently jt left because the pressure got too much for him btw. I hear they were going straight to the studio from gigs and such like. And from the other side, Omar and Cedric both felt jt wasnt pushing himself and using all of his talent.Although i have heard jt is teaming up with Zach de la Rocha from RATM. God knows how thatll turn out, but it sure sounds interesting.

[rainbownorth]

Originally Posted by Fishbrain

how long did they play for??!! iv never known TMV to play that many songs live.

i love tmv...on cd. I've seen them live a few times and i get bored. I love the parts where the whole band plays its just the bits inbetween when omar widdles on his guitar on his own for about 15minutes that bores me. play more songs and make less random noise!

About 2 and a half hours.The new songs were pretty short...rapidfire tollbooth was only 3 or 4 minutes, which is midgety by tmv standards.There wasnt a huge amount of experimentation and omar-widdling, and they didnt REALLY jam out the songs like you know they can, but some them they played around a bit. Roulette dares was longer and so was drunkship. If i had to pick a fav for the night, it wouldve been Drunkship. They played it so well, and i can forgive Thomas for the ending. Its not that he screwed it up, he just didnt try to play those rapidfire drum rolls quite as qucik as jt. Cicatriz they usually jam out as well, this time just the standard 12 minutes.

Whoops, id forgotten to add, they also played Day of the Baphomets.It was kinda gutting though, the bass cut out for the solo at the start, i was ever so pissed cause i LOVE Alderete, hes the man.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by rainbownorth

Well, yeah, the guitars are often mixed a little too high. Ive seen them at their best, and theyre perfect. Soundwise and musicianship wise as well. You do realise that Omar IS the guitarist though right?If youre thinking of the singer thats Cedric.Understandable about the drummer, you either love the sheer virtuosity of the drumming or hate it for being too busy and showoffy.

My mistake.

[GROOVEjunkie]

Originally Posted by rainbownorth

Although i have heard jt is teaming up with Zach de la Rocha from RATM. God knows how thatll turn out, but it sure sounds interesting.

What is that project called? That I'd have to check out.

[Joey3313]

I really liked Jon, I thought he was terrific...but yeah, I don't smoke nearly enough pot to enjoy these guys in the slightest.

[Dash Rantic]

Originally Posted by Joey3313

I really liked Jon, I thought he was terrific...but yeah, I don't smoke nearly enough pot to enjoy these guys in the slightest.

Can't say I've ever smoked in my life, but definitely one of my favorite bands

They do take some getting used to, though.

-Dash