Following a decade hiatus, The Mars Volta reunite to progressive, frenetic, fascinating results

Photo provided by Fat Bob

The brotherhood of guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, better known as The Mars Volta, are back together after a decade hiatus with not only a new self-titled album, but a live experience that’s as memorable as ever.

For its third overall visit to the Aragon Ballroom, and first since 2008, the set list featured fresh tunes, including “Graveyard Love” and “Blacklight Shine,” alongside a heavy dose of earlier material that went all the way back to “De-Loused In The Comatorium.”

The evening started off with a fog machine blanketing the stage in a thick, fast-moving cloud that was lit up in a pink hue as Bixler-Zavala delivered a great vocal performance via “Vicarious Atonement.” He raised his hands, uttered the cryptic line, “in the river Ganges God damns my name,” and the crowd roared. It was clear an intense, two-hour journey was about to unfold.

While The Mars Volta is surely within the realm of progressive rock, the players stray to whatever genre they want from song-to-song. For example, standout tracks, such as “Drunkship Of Lanterns” and “L’Via L’Viaquez,” had Latin rhythms and dancefloor grooves, yet still packed serious shredding from Rodriguez-Lopez and a memorable keyboard solo by Leo Genovese on the latter that would make Herbie Hancock proud.

Rodriguez-Lopez regularly put his assortment of guitar pedals to use, with nothing standing out more than “Cygnus Vismund Cygnus” from the album “Frances The Mute.” The song featured extended jamming from the band, which made an already lengthy experiment clock in at over twenty minutes.

The overall sound of Rodriguez-Lopez ranged widely, featuring tones reminiscent of Robert Fripp, Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin and Steve Howe. He may now be 47-years old, but nonetheless stomped around all night, slung the axe around like a mad man and was always ready to drop to his knees to deliver a wow-worthy riff.

Sometimes the show had slower and somber builds, such as “Empty Vessels Make The Loudest Sound,” which featured excellent interplay between Rodriguez-Lopez and new drummer, Linda-Philomène (Philo) Tsoungui. Philo executed her craft with precision and maximum energy, plus it was clear she fit in very well with the band’s steady stream of outstanding drummers.

Frenetic. Wild. Insane. A few words that describe the majority of The Mars Volta’s appearance at the Aragon, with Bixler-Zavala frequently adding to the mayhem. At one point, the singer picked up his microphone stand, raised it above his head and let out a shout as if he was going to throw it into the audience. The fans erupted in approval at the theatrics.

The front man later threw his thin and silver microphone across the stage, and at that moment, which also featured improv from the band, it felt like being transported back to seeing The Doors with Jim Morrison in 1968.

Like those legends, the essence and aura of The Mars Volta has a certain mystique to it, and all these years later, the group continues putting on a display that is unlike any other. In fact, this tour feels like the beginning and not the end, which in the event the innovative act does indeed stay together a while longer, consider it a must-see show.

For additional information on The Mars Volta, visit TheMarsVoltaOfficial.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom include I Prevail (Oct. 9); Sabaton (Oct. 15); Marcus King (Oct. 21); Yung Bae (Oct. 22); Turnstyle (Oct. 23); Marc Rebillet (Oct. 26); Young The Giant (Oct. 27); Sorry Papi (Oct. 28); Carly Rae Jepsen (Nov. 5); Maneskin (Nov. 17); Yung Gravy & bbno$ (Nov. 22); El Tri (Nov. 23); Amon Amarth (Nov. 26); Omar Apollo (Nov. 30) and Rainbow Kitten Surprise (Dec. 3). For additional details, visit LiveNation.com.

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Following a decade hiatus, The Mars Volta reunite to progressive, frenetic, fascinating results

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