FRENZIED PUNK-FUNK PARTY: SYSTEM OF A DOWN. 17,000 FANS SLOG THROUGH
STEADY MIST TO HEAR IMPRESSIVE ARMENIAN-AMERICAN HARD ROCK BAND

The Gazette (Montreal)
August 3, 2006 Thursday
Final Edition

By T’CHA DUNLEVY, The Gazette

"Welcome to the soldier side, where there’s no one here but me," sang
Serj Tankian, of Armenian-American hard rock act System of a Down,
over a solemn guitar line.

Make that no one there but him, his band and 17,000 fans – all
more than happy to tough it out through rain and muck to hear
this impressive band deliver yet another air-tight, no-frills,
riff-and-groove-laden performance at Jean Drapeau Park.

It was an action-packed evening, with six bands performing from
6 p.m. onward: Bad Acid Trip, Unearthed, Norma Jean, Hatebreed,
Avenged Sevenfold and the headliners.

System of a Down was here just last year, playing the Bell Centre in
support of its two-CD set Hypnotize/Mesmerize. A full two-thirds of
last night’s show comprised songs from that package, beginning with
four off the top.

>From Soldier Side, they kicked into high gear with the aptly-titled
Attack. A barrage of punk guitars and speed-metal drums provided stark
contrast to the melodic introduction. As if on cue, rain began to
fall. Not the torrential storm that had come down in the afternoon,
but a steady mist, nonetheless.

Tankian strolled about the stage with an aura of calm, while his
bandmates – guitarist Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian and
drummer John Dolmayan – raged away behind him. The song, like much
of the band’s repertoire, flipped between chaotic frenzy and more
spacious acoustics.

The prog-like shifts in tempo and tone carried into the anti-war
diatribe B.Y.O.B., with its Zappa-esque punk-jazz freakouts and ironic
chorus – "Everybody’s going to the party have a real good time."

Revenga carried a Balkan-inspired festive spirit, providing a
thrash-friendly hybrid of hopping funk and quasi-operatic balladry.

The rain relented about six songs in, as Tankian prodded the crowd:
"Clap your hands, people. We’re gonna do it like this."

He launched the rabid chant of Psycho, off the band’s 2001 album
Toxicity: "Psycho, groupie, cocaine, crazy!" Again, the mania was
played against a melodic interlude.

It began to feel a bit like formula. Without the canned intensity of
an indoor venue, and perhaps because of the weather, the drama wasn’t
building as effectively as it could have.

Respite came with Lonely Day, an introspective lament, with Tankian
singing of "the most loneliest day of my life."

But System of a Down can’t stand still for long. Things picked up again
with the rollicking Kill Rock ‘n’ Roll and the electro-disco-inflected
Old School Hollywood, following which Tankian finally addressed
the crowd.

"Where we come from, we live in a civilization that is not so
civilized," he began. "It feels more like we live in an organization
– that sells you war, that sells you religion, McDonalds, murder …

the organization is not on your side."

With that, the rain picked up again, this time with feeling,
as Tankian rattled off the tongue-twisting punk-funk of Violent
Pornography. Deadline, and the elements, sent this writer toward the
metro. In the background, Tankian was bandying the phallic boasts
of Cigaro.

tdunlevy@thegazette.canwest.com