“Now I’m lost…”
The night of September 15, I waited anxiously to see one of my favorite bands perform. I missed opportunities seeing The Mars Volta during their early years, and I was worried that I’d missed my time to see them perform some of their earlier material. Thankfully, I was wrong!
The show started promptly at 8 PM at The Neighborhood Theatre in Charlotte, NC. Puerto Rican singer Kianí Medina and guitarist Javi Perez played us 20 minutes of groovy Salsa. Kianí extensively works with Omar Rodríguez-López for production and engineering of her music, and her joy of being able to perform with The Mars Volta was palpable. The energy was high, and her dancing did a great job to warm up the crowd for the impending performance.
Right at 9PM, the stage cleared and the band walked out, bathed in blood red light. I recognized the ambient sounds at the beginning of the set, and the band launched right into Viscera Eyes off of their album Meccamputecture. I never thought I would hear this song live, and I was ecstatic to see the energy that they brought to the room.
Cedric Bixler-Zavala was front and center, with his high energy performance on full display. Teri Gender Bender shared the spotlight (and sometimes, even stole it) with her erratic dancing, beautiful accompanying vocals, and occasional deranged stares. Stage left was Philo on drums. And what a drummer they are. Pummeling us with heavy hard hits on Viscera Eyes, off the rip, but when the band flowed into Cue the Sun, they pulled back, and mellowed out to make space for the electronic heavy down tempo vibe.
In the rear of the stage, was the rest of the 7 performing members of The Mars Volta. Omar Rodríguez-López, with his Music Man Mariposa, delighted us with some of my favorite riffs ever, paired with his brother Marcel on percussion and keyboards. Also, near the rear was Leo Genovese also contributing keyboards and Sax.
I haven’t forgotten Eva Gardner. Another surreal moment from the night was hearing the massive bass and guitar groove from Goliath. The moment started in Graveyard Love from their self-titled album, and then in a jammy crescendo, I heard the huge guitar and bass riff from Goliath! The crowd erupted in cheers and movement and I was starstruck to hear a song off of my favorite Mars Volta album.
The show came to a close with some absolute classics. The Widow (from Frances the Mute) had the crowd singing and swaying and then Cedric looked into the crowd, with fury in his eyes and they launched right into Inertiatic ESP, their traditional closer.
This concert was a dream to cover. These icons have inspired me musically, and creatively, and I am so grateful that I could see them play, and I can’t wait until the next time I get the privilege to watch them perform.
GALLERY
