the mars volta stormed through houston this past thursday, and i was there to catch their explosive live show; one that whittled down the free form jamming of past performances and made for an pure, elemental experience peppered with older material as well as frenzied takes of their newest material off their latest offering octahedron.

recap after the jump:

– sunbear

borrowing my co-blogger’s video camera to record songs for the mars volta’s show at houston’s verizon theater, i checked the battery life on the 2′ lcd and casually asked “how long will this let me record?”. “about an hour’s worth of video, so in mars volta time that’d be…. 2 songs”.

to label the mars volta’s live show as over-indulgent psychedelia, prone to extended bouts of prog-wankery capable of stretching an audience’s attention span to the point of disinterest would ordinarily prove accurate. but this last thursday’s show at houston’s verizon wireless theater revealed a more streamlined, efficient band; their material precision trimmed to pack the most punch; the expected 3 hours of vicious intensity crammed into an hour and a half set. this was a no-frills, bare-bones mars volta, and they were the better for it.

kicking off the night quite unexpectedly with “inertiatic esp” of their 2003 debut album de-loused in the comatorium, cedric bixler and co. seemed to be culling from their roots, material that had only been played rarely. the reaction was instantaneous: from the second ikey owen plinked out the song’s intro on his keyboard, houston knew it was in for treat. and just like that, from the humble, atmospheric overture that opened the show, the mars volta exploded into a fury of volatile rock, manic latin grooves and the showmanship of a band possessed.

the core duo of singer cedric bixler-zavala and guitarist omar rodriguez-lopez played off each other so smoothly, with such synchronization you’d swear the two were telepathic. their relationship extends back to their acclaimed 1993 band, at the drive-in. back then, their performances, reckless opiate-laced frenzies laid the foundation for the mars volta’s live show as it is today. though now playing completely sober and as focused as possible, bixler zavala retained his schizophrenic modus operandi: impulsive microphone swings, impromptu salsa dancing, donkey kicks. rodriguez-lopez on the other hand has evolved into a vehemently proficient guitarist. his time in at the drive-in found him not so much playing an instrument properly as he did creating dissonance: his guitar merely an accessory to his delirious salsa dancing. now a disciplined master of his craft, rodriguez-lopez plays with a skill that would rival that of any guitar virtuoso, his texturing and layering of effects adding to the overall effect of such atmospheric songs as “teflon” and “eunuch provocateur.

this isn’t to say that the other members of the mars volta are faceless and merely satellite players (an affliction any group involving bixler-zavala and redrigues-lopez is prone to). the “mars volta group” as they’re defined in the liner notes for the last three albums are indispensable, each member’s contribution adding to the tremendous sound that is the mars volta. the aforementioned keyboardist ikey owens looming over his keyboard like a faceless effigy, displaying a collected cool that offset the manic front-man. marcel rodriguez-lopez (younger brother to omar) was one talented multi-instumentalist, deftly moving from one latin-based instrument to the next, from maracas to the shekere to bongos. there were even times during “drunkship of lanterns” when he played all three succinctly. juan alderete brandished his solid bass lines for a solo into “the widow” and drummer thomas pridgen had only one setting; “blitz”. the band’s collective synergy and proficiency made for an immense experience where each element was integral to the overall effect of the mars volta.

the night’s setlist perfectly balanced the band’s volatile aggression with their ethereal, spacey material. the indulgent “viscera eyes” was immediately slowed to a crawl for the spectral effects and straightforwardness of “halo of nembutals” only to be brutally bombarded with the frenzied volley of “eunuch provocateur.” the lengthy jams, trippy guitar solos and progressive tendencies were left at bay, sharpening the mars volta’s aural attack into a concise effective atom bomb capable of not only a mind-blowing live show, but decimating the idea of what a progressive rock concert should be.

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[setlist]

son et lumiere
inertiatic esp
goliath
cotopaxi
roulette dares (the haunt of)
viscera eyes
halo of nembutals
eunuch provocateur
ilyena
teflon
drunkship of lanterns
luciforms
the widow
wax simulacra

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VIDEOS:

check the rest of the mars volta tour dates.

the mars volta on myspace

thanks for reading.

– sunbear