sirshannon.com

I hate lines. I’ve never really gotten used to them nor come to terms with the idea that they are required.
So when I saw that the line for The Mars Volta at The Tabernacle was down the steps, down the block to the corner, then down the entired length of that side of the block and then around another corner, I wasn’t very happy. Luckily, there was a guy checking IDs that made a huge hole in the line near the second corner that we stepped into, so I never actually saw the end of the line. But it was still a long ass line. A long ass line that was moving faster than any concert line I’ve ever seen.
Seriously, the line was moving so fast that I couldn’t complain at all since I never actually stopped walking. This new UPC scanning process that ticketmaster and the venues are using is great, you barely even slow down as you pass the ticket check AND you get to keep the whole ticket. Beautiful.
I’ve never been inside the Tabernacle before, so after getting a beer, I decided to grab a seat on the top balcony so I could get a good view of the opening band. I wanted to see how the view and sound was from the balcony during the opening band and then decide what I would do during TMV’s show. The stage was covered by a huge drapery with a print of TMV’s “Spider” design, so I was wondering why the opening band would appear behind TMV’s design. But then, around 8:30(?), the trumpets of “For a Fistful of Dollars” (from A Fistful of Dollars) began playing over the soundsystem and I knew that my plan was shot by the fact that there was no opening band. Doh!
So the curtain dropped and the band came on stage and immediately launched into the 30+ minute version of Drunkenship of Lanterns that they’ve been playing live the last few months. And DAMN it sounded bad. The sound on the balcony was nothing but boom and reverb with muffled vocals and distortion. I could pick out the song, but only because I’ve been listening to the boots from the earlier shows (the 2005.03.01 show is my personal fave bootleg, if anyone cares), but I was struggling with trying to make myself not feel bad about the money, time, drive, etc, that was spent on the trip to Atlanta for a show that sounded so terrible. That had absolutely nothing to do with the performance, they rocked the song (and I am still slightly amazed that the drummer lived through the first song, let alone played his ass off for another 90+ minutes), the room just swallowed it before it reached us. I stuck out the first song, unsure of whether to gamble my seat on the chance that the sound would be acceptable downstairs. Thank god I only stuck it out for one song.
For the few hundred people who were upstairs on the third balcony for the whole show: I am sorry, but you really should have come downstairs. The sound was so much better downstairs, but really it didn’t have to be that much better, it just had to be acceptable, the sound upstairs was not. I hate that I basically missed the first 30 minutes of the show because I was sitting up in the balcony. When the second song (”Concertina”, my least favorite song of the show in the boots I’d heard) came on, I escaped downstairs and enjoyed a better show than I could have imagined the band being able to pull of after watching and listening to boots of the tour supporting De-loused in the Comatorium.
The backdrop and lights were almost subtle in how they changed slightly with each song, becoming a little more engaging, adding just enough to push the show from “great” to “fucking incredible” status. The best part, for me at least, was when the slow swell leading into “L’Via L’Viaquez” began. I hadn’t heard that song on any of the boots (but I haven’t heard any from the current North American tour yet), but every time I heard it on the CD, I imagined how great it would be live. And I was right. The song was the high point of the show for me. I also liked the way they went from The Widow into Cassandra Geminni and how putting Widow near the end of the show kept the energy flowing better for the full set.

The show ended around 10:45, I think that the addition of L’Via L’Viaquez put the show at a little over 2 hours total.

I can’t wait to hear a tape of this show, I think it was a better show than the 2005.03.01 show I’ve been wearing out recently. If you taped it (or can point me in the right direction), shoot me an email or leave a comment (tell me if you don’t want the comment public) and tell me where I can find it.

The full setlist, according to The Comatorium for April 29, 2005 at The Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia:

For A Fistful Of Dollars
Drunkship of Lanterns
Concertina
Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt
Cygnus….Vismund Cygnus
L’Via L’Viaquez
Roulette Dares (The Haunt of)
The Widow
Cassandra Geminni

Also, after the show, I found out that The Mars Volta will be opening for System of a Down this summer. Good pick, SoaD, you just talked me into seeing you live!

Tags: Music

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 1st, 2005 at 2:56 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.