While many students celebrated the win by Boston College football on Saturday night or were already snuggled in bed after a few too many beverages, a number of students could be found in the Avalon Ballroom attending the sold-out performance of The Mars Volta. Falling on quite possibly the most exciting weekend of the fall, it was hard to tear away from campus, but entirely worth it for the hour of innovative music unparalleled by today's rock talent.
The Mars Volta may be best recognized by its prior musical ventures. Creators are guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and singer Cedric Zavala, both former members of the now defunct At the Drive In. At the Drive In pioneered a kinetic transformation of punk that blew up across MTV with its catchy single "One Armed Scissor" in the late '90s.
Nearly everyone in The Mars Volta is also in another band. Keyboardist Ikey Owens is in the Sublime knock-off Long Beach Dub All-Stars. Flea, the infamous bassist from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, plays bass on The Mars Volta album but does not tour with the group.
The band's release, De-Loused in the Comatorium, is essentially a narrative on Julio Venegas, a fellow artist who was friends with The Mars Volta's founders. The debut concept album was inspired by Venegas' suicide: Lyrics by Zavala tell a fantastical story he imagined his friend experienced while in a coma following an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Though arguably dark subject matter, the band's ultimate goal was to detail the accomplishments of the free spirit who had left such a void with his untimely death.
The tribute is one of the most provocative albums in recent years. The art-metal is some of the most creative progressive rock seen since the 1970s. Zavala belts out lines reminiscent of Robert Plant in Zeppelin's early years, while Rodriguez-Lopez violates the guitar in ways Eric Clapton would probably only do had he remained on cocaine. Filled with complex rhythms and altering foci, the sound twists the brain with its long-winded songs, most more than five minutes long.
With keyboards, bongos, maracas, and computer manipulation, the band draws from multiple influences and bends genres into something ferociously captivating, a do-it-yourself punk aesthetic of sorts that drew a diverse crowd to Avalon on Saturday.
No longer confined to the more mainstream punk outlet that was At The Drive In, the band is able to experiment. Latin roots of Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez emerged for the first time with hints of Santana on many songs. Zavala was even seen doing the salsa onstage, in-between his kicking, flipping, and diving from speakers. The Mars Volta doesn't remain long in that mindset let alone any one influence, constantly recreating, going from jazz keyboard to heavy guitar in a matter of seconds. Songs became epics, changing keys and melodies to something which may never be radio ready, but who cares?
Radiohead listeners or those who appreciate Pink Floyd or even just dance around to Weezer may be fascinated by The Mars Volta's brand of rock.
Listeners who aren't immediately blown away by The Mars Volta's sound can't help but enjoy the band's live show. Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez are quite possibly two of the skinniest men alive, and their over-teased afros only make them look scrawnier. Their jerky dance moves put their fragile-looking limbs at risk with every kick or swing of the guitar. Owens, on keyboard, looked like Stevie Wonder, donning sunglasses and swinging his head from side to side.
Drummer John Theodore had to be careful of Zavala, who repeatedly smashed his microphone into the cymbals when not singing. The lighting was uninspiring and the sound was at times mixed poorly, but the crowd didn't seem to mind, completely awestricken with mouths gaping and heads bobbing at all times.
Few people sang along to the performance. Listeners dependent on knowing and understanding all lyrics won't appreciate The Mars Volta: the plot of the story is as twisted as the subject matter and only certain lines are easily audible in Zavala's onstage yelps. With lines like "You must have been phlegmatic in stature/ The gates of thanos are a spread eagle wide" from songs with titles like "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt" even the biggest fans have trouble figuring out what the hell they're talking about.
The great thing about The Mars Volta is that you don't have to have a clue as to what they're saying, what that distorted chord was, or what that crazy guy onstage was just doing. The band is genius, taking the entire audience on its own surreal journey into something they probably don't even understand.
A penance for a friend has become a cosmic adventure, and listeners have to wonder if these musicians are really human. With unexpected talent and euphoric experimentation, it is easy to wonder what drugs these people are on. It is hard to imagine people on drugs even listening to The Mars Volta: their heads would likely explode. Leaving Avalon Saturday night, I had to pause and catch my breath before returning to celebrate the football win.
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