I was filled with both excitement and trepidation as I set off to see The Mars Volta at Glasgow’s notorious Barrowlands. Anyone that has heard either of The Mars Volta’s albums to date will know that, whilst the band’s fascinatingly named, afro’d masterminds Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (guitar) and Cedric Bixler Zavala (vocals) are capable of producing fantastic music, they are also quite possibly the most avant-garde, experimental musicians out there at the moment. The group’s sound, which could be broadly classified as metal-punk-jazz-opera madness, leaves the listener with the impression that this may just be the future of music – or, it could be a fantastic side-road doomed by its own weirdness to be experienced by only the lucky few. Whatever, I was fully expecting that this concert would either blow me away with its power and audacity, or bore me rigid with ridiculously long guitar solos and experimental noises that can best be described as ‘twiddly bits.’

Anyway, we arrived to find a crowd comprised of a surprising amount of skater-type teens, I can only assume hangers-on from the band’s ‘At The Drive-In’ days (either that or the youth of Britain has actually developed some musical taste). There was just enough time to muscle in and get a plastic pint before the band strode onstage (there are no support bands for the avant-garde) and began playing; Omar with his guitar strapped geekily high wandering around centre stage whilst Cedric stands to one side, alternately shrieking and wailing, swinging his mic around and occasionally convulsing madly along to the music. They play loud, fast and brilliantly, replicating the bizarre sounds of the albums perfectly but with enough flare to remind you that you are actually seeing them live. Besides the guitar and Cedric’s soaring voice the band employ a range of instruments: at one point one unfortunate band member juggles a flute and two saxophones, seemingly trying to play all three at once. They’re that sort of band.

The sounds, the songs, meld into one winding musical extravaganza of almost Herculean magnitudes, making it difficult to remember afterwards exactly what their set list was – they may even have returned to the same song several times throughout, I’m not quite sure. But be in no doubt, it’s a damn impressive show, not least for the band’s stamina – for almost two hours they only stop playing two or the three times, although those ‘twiddly bits’ do give most of the players time to stop and catch their breath.

Ah, yes, the twiddly bits. My fears were pretty much confirmed, there were plenty of ten minute distorted guitar solos which did start to grate after a bit, although in their defence they did provide ample time to go and get another drink. These moments of relative quiet were made particularly annoying because all of those skater kids took the opportunity to have loud conversations all around you, making it pretty damn hard to appreciate the music and generally taking you out of ‘the zone.’ Honestly, why do people pay fifteen pounds to go and see a live band if they’re just going to stand with their backs to the stage and talk with their friends? Go to a fucking café.

But I digress. Probably the most impressive bit of these overlong guitar solos is the way the entire band, which has been sitting dormant for so long, suddenly launches into the next song (interrupting the skater kids’ conversations, ha ha) in perfect unison: it’s the sign of a band perfectly in tune with each other, and makes for a stunning experience. They blast through most of both albums, the only major omission (and I’m still annoyed about this) being ‘Televators’. Highlights among the labyrinth of noises include the soaring ‘Inertiatic esp’ and ‘Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt’ from the first album, and the stunning ‘The Widow’ from their new LP. Moments such as these really drive home just how fantastic The Mars Volta are when they actually break into proper tunes, so it’s a shame they spend so much time messing around with distortion.

Nonetheless, the overall experience is a vastly rewarding one that leaves you feeling that you’ve just witnessed something really quite special. I would urge anyone to go and see The Mars Volta, they’re a truly unique band with a live show quite unlike any other I’ve seen. Excellent stuff.

Mathew West lives in Edinburgh, which he considers to be a vast improvement over Stonehaven where he was brought up (if you don’t know where Stonehaven is, don’t try to find out. Some things are best left alone). When he’s not throwing money away on cds, complaining, entertaining private Marxist fantasies, or watching TV, he occasionally gets around to studying for a degree in History and Sociology. Once he has his degree he has no idea what he’s going to do with it.

© 2005 Laura Hird All rights reserved.