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Psychedelic Mars Volta Suprises Crowd With Musical Feast

Mars Volta Concert

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October 14, 2009 • Kasie Sahbaz, Staff Writer  
Filed under Entertainment, Music

The Mars Volta granted Soma San Diego a torrent of their psychedelic Latin infused rock on September 4, 2009. Their newest album, Octahedron, left many feeling disappointed with its unexpected mellow feel, yet the six man group powered though this two hour and ten minute show with energy and an impressive set-list, sampling songs from all six studio albums and EP’s.

The audience was pleased and surprised when The Mars Volta opened with the intro song duo to their first full length album, De-Loused In The Comatorium. The myriad of songs performed was delightful to all types of their fans: those who are old, new, devout, or who really enjoy their most popular hits. Breaks between songs were flooded with a textured sense experience, which was suitable for anyone who enjoys soundscapes, created by Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, the band’s percussionist and sound manipulator.

As for performance, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, the band’s creator, composer, and lead guitarist, played through precise and complex solos, especially during the fifteen minute jam in Cygnus, Vismund, Cygnus which led into a grooving bass line lead by Juan Alderete. Improvising is what The Mars Volta is known for, although its extensiveness polarized the audience into those who found it tiresome and those who were immersed in it.

Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the lead singer, is known for his outrageous stage behavior such as throwing cymbals into the crowd, stealing photographers’ cameras and chucking them, climbing up speakers, and his unorthodox dancing.

However, in this show, his focus showed on vocal performance, although some high notes were blatantly difficult for him, causing strain in his voice. Now that Bixler Zavala is in his late 30s, his outlandish behavior has been tossed out and replaced with a more mature musical focal point. Lopez even supplied back up vocals, something we have not seen happen since his and Cedric’s prior band, At The Drive-In. Thomas Pridgen, their drummer and newest addition, seemed boastful of his talent at times, although his abillity in Wax Simulacra was absolutely stunning.

No one can quite label The Mars Volta; they have been crammed into genres of art rock, progressive rock, and punk/Latin fusion. They have taken influence from their Mexican and Puerto Rican roots, punk rock bands such as Black Flag and psychedelic groups like Pink Floyd, warping their sound into a phenomenal show, leaving the crowd chanting “Encore!” until the lights went on, the drumsticks and picks were thrown into the crowd, and the guitars were whisked from the stage.

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One Response to “Psychedelic Mars Volta Suprises Crowd With Musical Feast”

  1. Amanda Turull on November 7th, 2009 1:37 pm

    Kasie, oh Kasie, you are such an amazing writer. And such prose!

    Rock n’ Roll sistas forever. Love you dahhhling.

    Is this embarassing? meep.

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