The Mars Volta : Birmingham Academy

During the last two years, only a live televised reincarnation of John
Bonham could have done more to raise the profile of prog-rock than
The Mars Volta. Latest album ‘Frances The Mute’ has again
shown that Cedric Bixler Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez are
very much alone in their quest to reach music’s outer-territories, but how
many people are genuinely interested in watching them get there? NME
calculates the level of endurance required to get through a Mars
Volta gig…


8pm Most support bands are still sound-checking this early and as
a result, the queue outside is still massive when The Mars Volta go
on. It’s a mind-blowing start, though: Bixler spins the mic around
his head as if he were preparing to lasso a member of a front row as a noise
a lot like Led Zeppelin playing inside a black hole erupts. There’s
not a single person in the whole room who doesn’t look transfixed with
excitement and/or terror.

Number Of People At The Bar: 0


8.40pm After a quieter interlude of noodling, they finally come
to a definite stop for the first time. One song, three segments, 40 minutes
– yep, we’re at a Mars Volta gig alright. Bixler begins
‘Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)’ and instead of just standing
open-mouthed with awe, the crowd sing along with arms aloft. For the
briefest of moments, everyone looks like they’re having… fun. Surely not?


Number Of People At The Bar :14


9.15pm Time for a spot of free jazz. As the extravagant
improvising goes on and on (and on) NME can’t help wondering what the
Arsenalscore is. Then suddenly, Bixler talks to the audience
for the first time and issues some kind of defiant anti-media statement.
Trouble is, he speaks too quietly for anyone to hear him properly and is met
with confused mumbles from the punters.

Number Of People At The Bar: 25


9.55pm The stage has gone dark and the only thing audible are
random noises that sound like farmyard animals being molested. Christ only
knows what they’re doing up there. This is starting to feel more like an
exam than a concert.

Number Of People At The Bar: Too many to count.


10.10pm Another impressive groundswell of noise and excited
squealing from Bixler and then, after over two long hours, they
finally call it quits. Time to go home very quickly and listen to
Jet repeatedly until the equilibrium is restored. Note to masses:
everyone should leave a Mars Volta gig after 90 minutes – tops.



Number Of People At The Bar: 0

Hardeep Phull