Daily Forty-Niner via U-Wire
University Wire
August 15, 2005 Monday

Fans rock out to System of a Down at Long Beach Arena

By Jon Matsumoto, Daily Forty-Niner; SOURCE: Cal State-Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Calif.

>>From Disturbed to Avenged Sevenfold, there are plenty of bands
churning out generic heavy metal these days.

Thankfully, the so-called “new” metal scene still has System of a
Down to lean on when it requires a shot of instant credibility. The
Los Angeles-based band infuses its hard rock with challenging song
arrangements and exotic instrumental textures as well as alternately
thoughtful and playful lyrics.

All of these qualities were on full display last Thursday night at
System’s show at the cavernous Long Beach Arena, which has a near
40-year history of hosting thunderous rock acts from Led Zeppelin
to Slayer.

Even though it was the first show of their two and a half month
North American tour, the quartet appeared to be in fine form. The
Armenian-American outfit rifled out 25 songs during its 90-plus minute
set, including a healthy dose of new ditties from its most recent
album, “Mesmerize.” In fact, its first three songs of the evening
were all from the new CD, including the hooky “B.Y.O.B.”

“B.Y.O.B.” is a rousing example of the band’s ability to successfully
merge various styles and lyrical sensibilities. The song cleverly pairs
the rousing chorus “Everybody’s going to the party/have a real good
time” with the sobering lines “Why don’t presidents fight the war? /
Why do they always send the poor?” In the rabblerousing tradition of
the Clash and Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down isn’t afraid
to lace its songs with politically charged lyrics.

Yet in concert, the band is content to let its songs do the
educating. During the show, vocalist and social activist Serj
Tankian barely addressed the audience, much less made any attempts
at proselytizing. (Tankian and Audioslave’s Tom Morello are the
co-founders of a grassroots social advocacy organization called Axis
of Justice.)

The real visual centerpiece of the group proved to be
guitarist-vocalist Darron Malakian. The animated Malakian, who is also
the band’s chief musical architect, flashed an array of mischievous
stage moves including a dizzying series of 360-degree spins. He also
bugged his eyes out at the audience, pantomimed and served as the
evening’s indefatigable MC and party host.

At times, no less than five sizable mosh pits swirled on the floor
of the Long Beach Arena. It was an impressive sight given the fact
that System’s music isn’t always ideal for slamming because its songs
can abruptly shift in mood and texture. For example, Malakian’s power
guitar riffing is occasionally balanced out by some of his traditional
Armenian/Middle Eastern instrumental flourishes.

The evening’s highlight was clearly the double shot delivery of the
songs “Aerials” and “Toxicity,” arguably the two best songs in the
band’s arsenal.

The Mars Volta preceded System of a Down with a somewhat indulgent,
but generally fetching half hour of trippy, free-form music. The
multi-ethnic nine-piece band came across as a modern day Santana
as it jammed within a musical framework that embraced rock, soul,
jazz and Latin flavors.