Concert Review: The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Beaumont Club
By ANDREW MILLER
Back in November 2001, the Mars Volta rolled into El Torreon as an unknown At The Drive-In offshoot, positioned on the bill between flaky indie-pop croissants Mates of State and The Anniversary. The group’s high-volume soundcheck, all burly Zeppelin riffs and brazen slap bass, so offended my date that we left immediately, freeing me to watch a delicious Yankees loss in the World Series clincher. I felt great about this decision until June 2003, when The Mars Volta’s debut disc De-Loused in the Comatorium arrived, announcing a heavy-prog act I’d favor over any sporting event.
The Mars Volta has since ascended to heights unfathomable for such an aggressively esoteric outfit. On Friday, the band’s rabid local following queued up for hours in frigid temperatures before the Beaumont doors opened, waited for another hour upon entrance for the music to begin (there was no opener: It was “an evening with Mars Volta”) then shouted along with non sequitur lyrics such as “exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed” during the 18-minute Comatorium-plucked set starter “Roulette Dares.”
Fan footage from the show by thereisnotruth:
