SYSTEM OF A DOWN with THE MARS VOLTA
San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA
Saturday, August 6, 2005

When RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE broke up so their singer Zach De La Rocha could go… solo? Turn into Axl Rose?... the void for bands that channeled their aggression and, well, rage against the political machine into something fans would respond to for more than just the loudness of it all remained unfilled until SYSTEM OF A DOWN came along. Other bands are equally loud, sure (see OZZFEST 2005 for any number of examples of that; also, see below to hear why I think that show failed at being much more than noise) but few get their fans politically motivated to explore organizations like Amnesty International and to question the goings-on that they live through every day. SYSTEM, and, to the fans that can follow what they’re saying, THE MARS VOLTA, do this. Their music, taken separately, can be challenging in different ways, so when the two bands paired up for a recent tour, it was due to be one of the more challenging, and also creatively intriguing and captivating match-ups of the summer. And it might even make people think after it was all said and done, if both bands lived up to their potential.

Of the two bands, THE MARS VOLTA has more of an uphill battle as far as winning over fans who might not be too familiar with them. Born out of the break-up of the indie-but-about-to-break-big band AT THE DRIVE IN, their first CD helped really foster all this talk of “prog-rock” being back in vogue. Their latest CD, Frances the Mute, adds to that prog reputation, even as it scares away the casual listener with its concept-album status, long songs filled with numerous time-changes, lyrics sung in Spanish (the English-spoken lyrics make about as much sense as the Spanish to this non-Spanish-speaker) and squalls of white noise, birds chirping and other such confections. I’d seen the band once before, so I had a good idea of what to expect. That is, songs that lasted maybe 15 minutes each, and extended jams. The crowd, only half-full at the time the band was on, seemed a little less sure overall. People stood… and then sat when the flutes and saxophones came out… then stood again when a song came on that they recognized… and then sat again as the song became a long jam for the band. Meanwhile, the band’s singer (who, together with SOAD’s singer, presented maybe the two best heads of hair in all of music), Cedric Bixler Zavala, stood off to the sidelines, dancing, doing impromptu push-ups and all kinds of other calisthenics. All of which just helped build the vibe the band was after, that of musicians willing (and quite able) to mix together elements of nearly every style of music and turn them all into something more.

The local San Diego newspaper, a dead zone of quality writing and the reason I still get the Los Angeles Times (definitely a lesser of evils, believe me) reviewed MARS’s fans as being in a fantasy world, thinking more about their twelve-sided dice than anything else (huh?). I’m not entirely sure how the reviewer, who reviewed the fans but had little to say about the show itself, came to that conclusion, but she just offered more evidence that the band isn’t for everyone. Thankfully. As an opener to SYSTEM OF A DOWN, though, they were as good as you could ask for.

The crowd was definitely more attuned to SYSTEM OF A DOWN, though, and when they took the stage, to “Soldier Side,” the arena seemed to double its attendance. The band had a huge area on which to perform, although it wasn’t necessarily because singer Serj Tankian needed the space—he seemed comfortable to stand at the mike, especially for the first few songs. He seemed to need a few songs to really get into the flow, only starting to dance (more like jump up and down) as the set went on. But the space was easily filled by guitarist/lead songwriter/sometimes-singer Daron Malakian (who has moved to the top of my list of best rock guitarists working today—check out his fretwork on the band’s new Mesmerize disc for ample evidence—and bass player Shavo Odadjian (who looks, and stomps around, like ANTHRAX’s Scott Ian). The band delivered maybe the most vibrant show I’ve seen in a long time, mixing messages into its angry, and often funny, songs. Not everyone will buy into all their critiques of America’s politics—Tankian took a lot of flack for some misconstrued comments after 9/11—but the music’s accessible even to the frat boy crowd who just likes it loud. Although, thankfully, that part of the audience was a definite minority tonight.

The band played nearly two hours, hitting all their familiar songs as well as a liberal mix of deeper cuts from Toxicity, the new disc and beyond. The band, which played some OZZFEST gigs maybe five years ago, is now fully in command of their powers, but chose to let their words only be heard through the music. There were displays out amongst the t-shirts, for Amnesty International and other peacekeeping organizations, but there were no preachy messages doled out on-stage. Just some of the best, most relevant rock music around today.

OZZFEST 2005
Hyundai Glen Helen Pavilion, Devore, CA
Saturday, August 20, 2005

I drove the two hours to the dust bowl that is Devore to see OZZFEST 2005 for just a few reasons—to see Zakk Wylde's BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, IRON MAIDEN (on their last night of this year's tour—VELVET REVOLVER is replacing them the rest of the way) and Ozzy's last tour with BLACK SABBATH (last for now, no doubt). And all three of those reasons got screwed up, for various reasons.

First, the strong security presence at the show had everyone take their shoes off on the way in, as they looked for drugs and confiscated everyone's lighters.

An hour later, the numerous bonfires and clouds of pot smoke up on the lawn where we were indicated how successful they were at either of those things.

However, the delay with the line getting in meant we arrived just in time to see BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's last song. Which was really unfortunate, since Zakk Wylde (Ozzy's former guitarist and a bandmate in the movie ROCK STAR) is one of the best hard-rock guitarists around. Even more unfortunate was the duration test that followed.

I'm sure that SHADOWS FALL, MUDVAYNE and the Coq-blocking SLIPKNOT aren't all the same band... but, other than the masks that SLIPKNOT's members wear, I'd be hard-pressed to point out how. The order of this year's OZZFEST bands seemed to be all about generic aggression. Even the newer bands, those on the second stage, were all of the generic variety, the kind that build strong followings this year and are forgotten about by next summer. The one real exception to this is the band that has been the most well-reviewed act of the festival, IRON MAIDEN.

IRON MAIDEN, doing their full stage show in America for the first time in... well, a long time, instantly showed why they've stayed around for a good 25 years. The music, as the Dude would say, "pervades," still sounding current even as it sounds classic. And Bruce Dickinson, the singer, has energy and voice enough to spare for all the other dour singers on this tour. I'm sure I'll hear from SHADOWS FALL, MUDVAYNE, or SLIPKNOT fans that I don't "get it" or what have you, but it was clear on this show that thse bands have a lot to learn about showmanship and musical variety.

When Bruce and IRON MAIDEN took the stage, he and the band were immediately pelted with eggs. As he pointed out in a rant later, sneaking eggs in would be pretty tough to do. But they pressed on, opening with an old'un, "Murders in the Rue Morgue." Until the sound cut out. Four different times over their 55-minute set. Now, the sound never cut out during any of the other bands' sets, so what started to look like a technical error at first became something more by the fourth time. The band pressed on, but they, and the audience, got thrown off their game a bit.

It wasn't clear at first if the band had issues with Ozzy or what might have been going on. Like I say, we figured it was technical errors. Bruce made some pithy comments about the band never appearing on a "fucking reality show," but that wasn't necessarily a slam at OZZY. Or it was--who knows? None of the people watching the show cared about that, they just wanted to see a good show that, for whatever reason, kept getting interrupted. After a short encore, Dickinson stated that he'd had enough of the bullshit, and started to thank the fans for the support. This was even upended by someone who got on the PA and screamed "OZZY, OZZY" over his words. Did someone hack into the PA? Was this someone from OZZY's camp--this is about when the crowd started to think the technical errors weren't errors.

The band's show ended anti-climactically. And then Sharon Osbourne came out on stage. She scolded the band for cheering, as they still were for IRON MAIDEN, and quieted everyone down. She then said she wanted to thank IRON MAIDEN and their roadies... except for their lead singer. "Their lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, is an asshole. He's been disrespecting Ozzy since the tour began." She went on to say a bit more, but she was to hard to hear over the boos.

Did Sharon have a problem with IRON MAIDEN getting all the positive press for this tour? Is Ozzy that insecure, or did Sharon take this all into her own hands? Did Bruce really do something to prompt this? The thing is, none of that matters. I don't care what he did, or who was mad at whom... I'm sure people in the audience had situations going on, too. But the fact is, people there paid money to see these bands, not to be dragged into the middle of some backstage intrigue. These same fans, many of whom looked like they'd been following OZZY since he first joined BLACK SABBATH, are part of the reason OZZY and Sharon have the extreme wealth they have. They deserve to see the show they paid for.

We were disgusted by this, and decided that we'd had enough. It'd been a long, hot, dirty day, and this was enough to convince us that we'd put up with enough. So, thanks, Sharon, for killing anyone's enthusiasm for seeing BLACK SABBATH. The band, gasping for air as they finish their run (the tour just cancelled its final show, in Wisconsin, too), deserved better than to have Sharon's agenda supercede their performance. The fans, too, deserved better.

This left such a bad taste it seemed that hundreds or maybe thousands of fans were as disgusted as we were, and they, too, streamed for the exits before BLACK SABBATH's set. Nice way to manage your husband's final tour into the ground, Sharon. Meanwhile, IRON MAIDEN will no doubt prevail, despite her best, ugliest, efforts. Ozzy sang that you can't kill rock and roll, and maybe that's true, but you can sure ugly it up.

It's Apatow Time

I've rambled on long enough here, so let me just quickly proclaim my love for the works of Judd Apatow. I raved at length here before about the amazing FREAKS & GEEKS DVD set. Now, had I the space, I'd do the same for the double-shot of the new UNDECLARED box set and 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, too. UNDECLARED is a worthy successor to F&G, and VIRGIN is heads and shoulders above WEDDING CRASHERS for best comedy of the year. Nice to see it rewarded with a solid first-week opening, too. More, please.

/chris

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