I caught The Mars Volta last night at –I shit you not– a high school auditorium. They’re one of my favorite new bands and fuse latin rhythms and phrasing with Red era King Crimson aesthetics. However, I left disappointed. The sound was terrible, I couldn’t tell if it was the room or the mix, but the keyboards were inaudible, the guitar was way down and the drums were overpowering.
The new drummer was incredibly talented (TMV drummers have to be) but he failed to impress me. A lot of my enjoyment of TMV stems from the interestingness of the drumming. You’re always finding a golden nugget in there somewhere –the kick drum hits when you expect a snare. But last night it was apparent as he played over some of the more intricate passages that he was more interested in showing off than impressing us. Oh well, as they say, “If you don’t like the drummer for The Mars Volta, wait a couple weeks.”. They go through more drummers than Spinal Tap.
Still there were high points, Viscera Eyes is probably the most rocking song written in recent memory, and it made attending the concert worthwhile. Also, the song choice was impeccable –they played everything I wanted to hear, though with a slight bias to their latest album, Amputecture.
I even liked their backdrops –one had a very nifty 3D effect, and another evoked one of my favorite childhood books, a wind in the door. No doubt that last backdrop would look exceptionally creepy to those not acquainted with Madeline L’Engle.
So, unfortunately, it was a bit of a mixed bag, so I’ll wait before I label The Mars Volta “better on CD than live”.
P.S. I miss Phish.