Mars Volta - Live

[sargebaker]

Last night at the Metropolis. They started over 30 mins late which is always fun. The sound was terrible for the first (20 minutesish) song and you couldn't hear the bass all night except for when he busted out the fretless and solo'd (which was pretty sweet) and during the Widow. All in all though, once the majority of the sound issues were resolved the show kicked some major booty. Cedric has the moves! And although Omar gets a lil redudant and maybe plays too much at times I like his stuff. The sax/flute/percussion guy was pretty good and so was the dude on keys.

Cedric at one point was like : you guys be safe out there, watch out for the little people. It's no fun if you're little to get squished by a big person. So watch the little ones, this isn,T and outdoor summer festival sponsored by Vans, this is a Mars Volta concert...
then he said somehtign about a punk show I didnt really catch

All in all great show, highlights: Roulette Dares, Vismund Cygnus and L'Via

Anyone else get to see em?

[NoNoise]

I saw them after their first album. I have to say that I absolutely hated their "modified" approach to the songs. Instead of the electronic noise fusion they did on the album, it sounded like what I would imagine Santana sounded like in his garage band days. Also, even though I'm into really long songs by bands such as Sigur Ros, Kinski, Mogwai, ISIS, et cetera, Mars Volta's 20 minutes songs were simply repetitive and boring, to say the least. I haven't seen them since, so I'm curious to whether they've stuck with that approach.

[jenderfazz]

I saw them in Montreal last night too! I really enjoyed the show, I was very close up and though the sound wasn't always good the band was very tight. Juan wasn't reall up front at first but when he whipped out the fretless he played some very nice stuff - that guy has tons of taste. There were many segments and jams where they played a long, drawn out riff and basically soloed over it, but it was done very well. Gave the crowd a breather before breaking into a heavier part. I remember they did this early on - maybe right before going into Take the Veil? Caught everyone by surprise.

Some of my friends got there at 9am! Needless to say, they got to the very front! But I was only 2nd or 3rd row back, and I knew almost everyone around me in some way. We were over 20 people in the same general area (plus more upstairs!) - felt like a private show or something, especially since we were the only ones all the way up front until the place started filling. Very cool.

[Toasted]

Originally Posted by mnolansoc

ISigur Ros, Kinski, Mogwai, ISIS, et cetera, Mars Volta's 20 minutes songs were simply repetitive and boring, to say the least.

I find this amusing as Sigur Ros songs are actually built around layred loops.