Spring Break
Concert Review
Mars Volta out of this world
Jordan Kerfeld
Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: Culture
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Those attending the sold-out show were lucky. The performance was, and will likely prove to be, the best Kansas City concert of 2008.
I showed up at 7:30 and it would be more than an hour and a half before my feet would step onto the Beaumont Club's scarred wood floors, and two hours before the band would finally take the stage.
The Beaumont burst at the seams with bodies, as vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez walked onto the stage with a half-dozen supporting musicians. No time for an opening act. This was business.
Singer Bixler-Zavala, who has battled an illness that canceled the stop in Ohio immediately preceding Friday's show, talked about tobacco consumption like a Philip Morris spokesperson during a rare respite:
"You can smoke the rest of the night, but if you could just fucking stop for two hours, you'll get your money's worth - I promise you," he said.
While few honored his request, he fulfilled his end of this bargain.
Cedric grabbed the mic and didn't put it down for the next two and a half hours. No stops between songs. No friendly, city-specific banter. The movement and music did not stop, literally, for two and a half hours.
In that time, the band stormed around the stage, playing an even menu of songs from all of its albums. They played loudly, with a passion that was mirrored by adoring fans who enthusiastically matched the impressive volume. Bixler-Zavala would lift his mic stand vertically and slam it down on the Astro-turf covering the stage, while Lopez would fall to his knees and play a monster guitar solo that would have garnered an approving nod from Jimi Hendrix.
When they finished, they waved to the crowd and walked off the stage. There was no encore, but the crowd didn't seem to mind, shuffling to the exit in a state of awe. For the first time in my concert-going experiences, the crowd seemed fully satisfied by the spectacle they had just witnessed, their monumental expectations possibly surpassed.
I came in with little expectations, as I am a bit skeptical of bands surrounded by a lot of hype. Magazines like SPIN and Rolling Stone have slotted them as the best live act in the world for several years now, while their critics fearlessly join them with the likes of Rush and Led Zeppelin.
I no longer disagree with any of these claims. Seeing them is an experience I won't forget, and I cannot wait to be first in line when their fourth studio album "The Bedlam in Goliath," hits store shelves Tuesday.
jkerfeld@unews.com
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