SYSTEM OF A DOWN SHAKES OFF THE DUST AT REXALL PLACE
Edmonton Journal
May 11 2011
Canada
Heavy rockers play to 14,000 enthralled Edmontonians By Ben Gelinas,
edmontonjournal.com May 11, 2011 10:42 AM
EDMONTON – Frenetic heavy rock outfit System of a Down shook off the
dust Tuesday, playing their first show in nearly five years in front
of a packed bowl in Edmonton’s Rexall Place.
The incomparable Armenian-American four-piece, known for a
schizophrenic brand of metal that switches effortlessly between
squealing or thundering guitars and downright flowery melodies,
played to more than 14,000 faithful.
Their stage was sparse, adorned with rows of adjustable spotlights
and a cloth backdrop that projected the band’s logos and, during the
slower songs, some mountains.
At the band’s feet were their trademark Oriental rugs.
Guitarist and sometimes vocalist Daron Malakian sported a vintage
Edmonton Oilers jersey.
“We have come to pull the tapeworm out of you’re a**,” the band
announced early in the nearly two hour-long set.
SOAD unfortunately seemed in need of the same procedure.
The band last played together Aug. 13, 2006- and actually kicked off
their last summer tour that year with a show at Rexall in late June.
It’s no mistake that they chose Edmonton as the first stop on their
tour. The city loves the band and the room here was guaranteed to
bring positive energy.
This was as much a dress rehearsal as it was a kickoff for their
reunion tour, and at first, the cobwebs were obvious.
The band came out with a powerful sound, instantly comfortable with
their old catalogue of bangers and ballads.
But they had very little physical presence, seeming static and rigid –
at odds with their unflinchingly intense sound.
If you closed your eyes, you’d be impressed. Singer Serj Tankian’s
beautiful voice – yes, I know they’re metal – carried to every corner
of the arena, sailing over a back-bending wall of riffs.
But with your eyes open it was hard to believe such a voice in
particular was coming from the tall man in the collared white shirt
and jeans just standing there during the first few songs.
Gogol Bordello, the first band on, only made SOAD’s low-key opening
more obvious. The nine-piece Gypsy punk band, known as one of the best
live acts around, delivered rousing 40-minute set that won over a crowd
of largely metal fans with their first accordion and fiddle-heavy song.
It took System of a Down about half an hour to regain momentum.
Something changed.
Malakian broke up the music to say what an honour it is to play
Rexall. “I’ve been a huge Edmonton Oilers fan ever since I was a little
kid,” he said before heading the crowd in a chant of “Let’s Go Oilers.”
Tankian started to come out of his shell.
By the time they broke into the machine-gun chorus of Psycho,
Tankian was dancing and throwing his hand into the air, open-palmed,
delivering the lines: “Psycho! Groupie! Cocaine! Crazy,” like a crazed
preacher. He came alive. At times he went to his knees.
>>From then on, the system was up and running again at 100 per cent
and there was no slowing it down. The sound never faltered. The crowd
was nuts. The whole floor was moving like they were in the front row.
There were two mosh pits – one at the front, the other near the back.
Slower ballads like Lost in Hollywood had the lighters out and the
whole crowd swaying, arms up.
Lacking a new album, the band played through a deep catalogue of
old favourites, breaking out plenty of eccentric anthems like Forest
and Science, both underappreciated cuts off their breakout sophomore
disc Toxicity.
By the time they played Sugar, their final song, the set had stretched
nearly two hours and it was clear that System of a Down is back,
with few consequences from the lengthy hiatus.
Fans with tickets to their Thursday show in Vancouver should be
excited.