The Mars Volta Create Bedlam In The Right Ways

The Sound Academy

Toronto, ON

on May 12 2008

Andre Mihsin (CHARTattack)

05/15/2008 1:00pm

Were post-hardcore misfits At The Drive-In truly the legends so many people make them out to be? Or is it that a bunch of hipster geeks discovered them way too late with Relationship Of Command, just as the band members realized they could do so much more?

Whatever the case, ATDI established a lasting legacy, one that Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez are having difficulty breaking ties with. Is it because Drive-In were truly as great as people say or is it because The Mars Volta really haven't been as they should be?

As is the case with At The Drive-In diehards, The Mars Volta faithful will insist their favourite band are rock saviors. But since the promising De-Loused In The Comatorium debut, Mars Volta have frustrated many with the occasionally rewarding, often challenging album Frances The Mute and the forgettable Amputechture.

Finally though, it looks like Mars Volta are living up to their high expectation and seem poised to break free of their past band's shackles. The Bedlam In Goliath, their latest record, is their best since De-Loused and their energetic and unpredictable live shows continue to be a consistent strength.

When I arrived at The Sound Academy The Mars Volta were already finishing off one of their many lengthy improvisational interludes. Yes, they're an extremely self-indulgent bunch. You either hate the band for the sonic overkill or you accept its purpose of creating a musical environment. Either way, you have to be truly blindly loyal to stick with every one of their over-pretentious jams. Even if most of them lead to the right place in the end.

Somewhere in the murk of a flute solo, a familiar rhythm started to creep up and people gradually began screaming in preparation for what was to come. Then, with a sudden burst of Latin and funk fusion came "Viscera Eyes." Its moments like these that make The Mars Volta so special. When they're on top of their game, they're not making pointless jams, but ambient passages to hook you in and set up a dazzling swirl of rock, electronic, salsa and jazz.

They carried on the frenetic pace with newer no-frills numbers "Wax Simulacra" and "Goliath" and then... they stopped.

Another agonizing aspect about these guys is their habit of killing their momentum and starting over again. In avoiding that sonic wave, Mars Volta walk to the beat of their own drum.

Which isn't a bad thing when the newly recruited and phenomenal Thomas Pridgen plays that drum. If you were able to look past Bixler-Zavala dizzying dance moves, you were treated to an awe-inspiring performance by Pridgen, who's relentlessly rhythmic attack resembled Animal from The Muppet Show.

So starting from scratch once again, the band slowly began building momentum back through a rendition of the old school reggae hit "Cocaine In My Brain" by Dillinger before they segued into "Ourobrous." They ended the night on an high with a wonderfully excessive version of "Cygnus... Vismund Cygnus" and closed with another solid one in Bedlam's "Aberinkula."

And thus came the end of another spectacular show in support of a great record. Truly, if you didn't see the postings for the drive-in theatre outside The Sound Academy, you wouldn't even think about that band Cedric and Omar used to be in.