The Mars Volta, Auckland, 26 June 2008

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   People have reported on MARS VOLTA gigs before, but as their setlist has changed, I thought I'd offer some thoughts on last night's gig.

First off, I was destroyed by the power and endurance of the band. I'll have hearing problems for weeks, I'm sure. That it was amazing goes without saying - it is THE MARS VOLTA, after all - but the playing, the sound and the intensity were all a step up from their last tour.

On stage 8:20pm, closed at 10:50pm, no encore

Setlist:

New Song (referred to by fans as 'Jacob')

Viscera Eyes

Wax Simulacra

Goliath

Ouroborous

Tetragrammaton

Aberinkula

Cygnus

That's eight songs in two and a half hours - seven, really, as Wax Simulacra was played exactly as per studio, all two and a half minutes. Yes, over twenty minutes per song. This is a significant change from the Amputechture tour, which had a far wider range of material.

I'm in two minds about this. I would have loved to hear some of the old favourites rather than another ten minutes of frenetic jamming, but the jamming served to build back into the song, and gave certain members of the band (Pridgen) a chance to rest. Each member got a chance to perform in the spotlight: highlight for me was Ikey's keys - I'm a sucker for swirly keyboard playing. Much looser than the tight song structures of last year's tour. But this is what they do, and last year was the exception.

The opening track was new, and put me in mind of Led Zeppelin. In fact, much of their jamming was more blues-based than I would have expected. At one point Omar had his back to the audience, co-ordinating with Thomas a series of staccato guitar/bass/drum riffs, all in the most outrageous timing.

I cold have done without the two Amputechture tracks: neither has the underlying compositional strength to sustain an extended jam (and both were mercifully short, for that reason). Wax Simulacra was the next highlight, so intense live, a concentrated nugget of sheer brilliance in a night of self-indulgence.

Goliath gets its own paragraph. They played this at an impossibly fast tempo, Cedric barely able to fit the words into the bars, and the jam must have gone on for half an hour. Given that the studio version has a couple of jams in it anyway, you can imagine what it was like. Highlight for me was the outro, with Cedric doing the 'Never heard a man' gospel line with a frightening intensity. His high-pitched (whistle register) vocals were spine tingling.

Ouroborous was also magical, a grat track to do live, but the next jam was saved for Aberinkula. This was clever: they took the bass line and opened with that, jamming away on that groove for ten minutes repetitively, then burst into the opening bar. They took this track far beyond the studio version - with Goliath, two truly memorable jams.

Cygnus closed the set, always a favourite but I felt the band were a little down on energy by then. No wonder. Thomas Pridgen performed superhuman feats of endurance on the drums. I'm not competent enough to reflect on his technical ability, but he entertained and his stamina is truly astonishing.

The sound of eight people playing amplified instruments at extreme volumes at times created an almost visible wall of white noise, but the show remained compelling from start to finish, even through the down-tempo recovery periods. Make time to see this act. There will never be their like again.

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russellk Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: February 28 2005 Location: New Zealand Status: Offline Points: 782	Topic: The Mars Volta, Auckland, 26 June 2008 Posted: June 26 2008 at 19:36
	People have reported on MARS VOLTA gigs before, but as their setlist has changed, I thought I'd offer some thoughts on last night's gig. First off, I was destroyed by the power and endurance of the band. I'll have hearing problems for weeks, I'm sure. That it was amazing goes without saying - it is THE MARS VOLTA, after all - but the playing, the sound and the intensity were all a step up from their last tour. On stage 8:20pm, closed at 10:50pm, no encore Setlist: New Song (referred to by fans as 'Jacob') Viscera Eyes Wax Simulacra Goliath Ouroborous Tetragrammaton Aberinkula Cygnus That's eight songs in two and a half hours - seven, really, as Wax Simulacra was played exactly as per studio, all two and a half minutes. Yes, over twenty minutes per song. This is a significant change from the Amputechture tour, which had a far wider range of material. I'm in two minds about this. I would have loved to hear some of the old favourites rather than another ten minutes of frenetic jamming, but the jamming served to build back into the song, and gave certain members of the band (Pridgen) a chance to rest. Each member got a chance to perform in the spotlight: highlight for me was Ikey's keys - I'm a sucker for swirly keyboard playing. Much looser than the tight song structures of last year's tour. But this is what they do, and last year was the exception. The opening track was new, and put me in mind of Led Zeppelin. In fact, much of their jamming was more blues-based than I would have expected. At one point Omar had his back to the audience, co-ordinating with Thomas a series of staccato guitar/bass/drum riffs, all in the most outrageous timing. I cold have done without the two Amputechture tracks: neither has the underlying compositional strength to sustain an extended jam (and both were mercifully short, for that reason). Wax Simulacra was the next highlight, so intense live, a concentrated nugget of sheer brilliance in a night of self-indulgence. Goliath gets its own paragraph. They played this at an impossibly fast tempo, Cedric barely able to fit the words into the bars, and the jam must have gone on for half an hour. Given that the studio version has a couple of jams in it anyway, you can imagine what it was like. Highlight for me was the outro, with Cedric doing the 'Never heard a man' gospel line with a frightening intensity. His high-pitched (whistle register) vocals were spine tingling. Ouroborous was also magical, a grat track to do live, but the next jam was saved for Aberinkula. This was clever: they took the bass line and opened with that, jamming away on that groove for ten minutes repetitively, then burst into the opening bar. They took this track far beyond the studio version - with Goliath, two truly memorable jams. Cygnus closed the set, always a favourite but I felt the band were a little down on energy by then. No wonder. Thomas Pridgen performed superhuman feats of endurance on the drums. I'm not competent enough to reflect on his technical ability, but he entertained and his stamina is truly astonishing. The sound of eight people playing amplified instruments at extreme volumes at times created an almost visible wall of white noise, but the show remained compelling from start to finish, even through the down-tempo recovery periods. Make time to see this act. There will never be their like again.

Statutory-Mike Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: February 15 2008 Location: Long Island Status: Offline Points: 3737	Posted: June 26 2008 at 19:44
	I might be seeing them in September, looks like a great set.


Jozef Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: June 17 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Status: Offline Points: 2204	Posted: June 26 2008 at 21:34
	Thank you for the review, I'm considering going to the Philadelphia show and I may just do that!

DJPuffyLemon Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: February 18 2008 Location: L Status: Offline Points: 520	Posted: June 29 2008 at 15:45
	This is just me talking, but each song was stretched out to over 20 minutes I can't help but think that this must've been a horrible concert. Sure there's energy, but i've heard TMV jam, and its 90% noise, 10% crazy guitar scales.

russellk Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: February 28 2005 Location: New Zealand Status: Offline Points: 782	Posted: June 29 2008 at 18:33
	One man's noise is another man's music, I guess. I did indicate that I thought TMV lost their way with the two 'Amputechture' tracks. However, many of the jams were brilliant. Omar has indicated that these jams aren't really improv, but are carefully orchestrated. I've listened to bootlegs of TMV concerts and there is an underlying structure to the jams. By no means was this a horrible concert, and the professional reviews were very enthusiastic: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=264&objectid=10518755 http://www.stuff.co.nz/4598392a1860.html

Moatilliatta Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: December 01 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3083	Posted: June 29 2008 at 18:47
	Sounds great! My rule is if the Volta are within 4 hours drive, you better go! Given transportation costs, there has to be some lenience, but it's worth considering. It's such an experience. The jams are great, as russell explained.
	www.last.fm/user/ThisCenotaph

Norbert Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: October 20 2005 Location: Hungary Status: Offline Points: 2506	Posted: July 01 2008 at 14:30
	The setlist of the Glasgow concert is more my cup of tea, than this one, but probably this was great, too. It was TMV after all. Interesting, that they did not play anything from their debut this time.