Concert review: Mars Volta spurn convention at The Wiltern

By Taleen Kalenderian
Daily Bruin

LOS ANGELES (U-Wire) - When today’s music fans make the effort to catch their favorite band live, they often expect a rendition, if not an exact duplication, of the group’s latest album. Sometimes pulling off live what was done in the studio is tricky enough to fulfill the crowd’s eager expectations.

But the Mars Volta boldly defied these conventions, shaking the audience this past Thursday at The Wiltern. Having toured with A Perfect Circle for several concerts this year, the Mars Volta summoned up the courage for a solo show.

With the members’ tight bell bottoms, bushy Afros and ornamented long-sleeved shirts, they looked like a reincarnation of the generic ’70s rock band. A mere glimpse into their sound offered a preview of unexpected sensations.
The band opened with the famous “Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)” giving the audience the impression that the show would continue with rigid adherence to their material.

Former At the Drive-In members Cedric Bixler Zavala (vocals) and Omar Rodriguez Lopez (guitar) surely had more than the standard rock show in mind. Reaching out into a series of unexpected high-strung improvisations, incomprehensive rhythmic alterations and mind-numbing sound effects reminiscent of the psychedelia-influenced acid rock era, the band delivered an original sound. Their combination of Pink Floyd’s progressive experimentalism with Led Zeppelin’s unfaltering acidic performance drive infuses the current indie-rock spirit with psycho-ambient energy.

Loaded with streaming guitar and bass solos and Zavala’s incredibly stretched octave range and streaming vocals, the band also utilized a multitude of synthesizers and guitar pedals bearing sounds alien to the human ear. The undeniable energy of the band’s sound was eloquently paired with Zavala’s histrionic movements, making for an unforgettable performance. Jolting all over the stage with his spider-like legs, he kicked and twitched in incessant jerking activity.

The band drifted in and out of familiar verses of well-known songs, offering no apology for half-hour abstract improvisations which chilled the audience, filling them with utter awe for the entire two-and-a-half hour set.