The Mars Volta
Thebarton Theatre
19th March 2007


The Mars Volta took to the stage and kicked straight into Rapid Fire. While singing the song, Cedric Bixler-Zavala - in all black with white shoes - was hugging the security guys and running in the pit, and all over the stage, giving the punters down the front a feast. It seems Cedric has developed a reputation for wild antics on stage and tonight certainly reinforced it.

Midway through the set, Cedric climbed up to the left balcony and into the crowd upstairs, knocking their drinks into the crowd below. At one point he was walking along the balcony rails and I noticed from below that someone had grabbed his ass - very funny. He then ran into the crowd upstairs and down the side stairs to emerge downstairs at the back, came into the crowd and stood on the barrier at the sound desk. He then moved on through the crowd back to the front stage. Meanwhile the band were keeping the song going. This was not the only time he jumped into the crowd or into the pit.

Cedric had a cold, which he did apologise for, and his voice did sometimes suffered from this but he could still hit those high notes. It only faltered occasionally, although it seemed like he was resting it and drinking a lot of water. With a setlist that included Roullette Dare, Cygnuss, Viscera Eyes, Idle Tooth and Meccamputechture, it was occasionally difficult to know where one track finished and another began as almost all of the songs went into a kind of free jam session before coming back to the recognisable melodies. There were moments (it was like I was having flashbacks of when I saw At The Drive-In in Melbourne) where it was like a prog-free jazz-orchestral extravaganza - definitely an amazing aural experience! The Mars Volta played for almost two and a half hours with no encore. I like that. Give the punters what they want and leave with them wanting more but happy - they saw and heard an amazing gig. Prog Rock at its best!

Words and Photo: Julie Richards