The Mars Volta - HMV Forum, London

Having missed the chance to catch the Mars Volta alongside what was arguably the best line up a festival has ever seen, link, I was quick to seize the opportunity to see them at the select London date. It goes without saying, you walk into a Mars Volta concert with high hopes. Though as you find, most things so greatly anticipated usually end up falling short of your expectations. Fortunately, I was proven wrong not long into the epic 2 hour set - the intense juxtaposition of alternating up/down movements of 'L'Via…' quickly snapped me out the dreary state the long drive to London put me in. From the word go, the capacity 2,500 crowd were subject to extremely tight execution, well-calculated song transitions and a multitude of much improved guitar-playing sex faces from Omar.

Never in my life have I seen a group of musicians so in sync with what each other are doing; I can't help to think that even the extended 10 minute-plus jams splitting Eriatarka and Cicatriz in half must have been rehearsed. The latter jam, on a quick glance around the room, had a number of people in lulled into a serene trance. The newly appointed drummer, David Elitch, was more than up to the job, bashing out punchy latin-influenced rhythms with ease. My only quarrel came with the somewhat indistinct introduction of drums half way through Miranda, which on the album completely transforms the track. He was good form otherwise.

It was nice to see that Mars Volta kept a healthy balance of songs from each album in the set, with, in fact, tracks from Deloused, the first album, and Frances, the second album, utilising the lion's share of the evening. Not only this, they managed the pace of the gig down to a tee; in one case, Cicatriz and Viscera Eyes were punctuated with a Halo of Nembutals/Miranda/Teflon combination. Quieter numbers such as The Widow and Miranda provided ideal sing-along moments, justly accompanied by lighters waved high and aflame throughout the venue.

The sound, in particular, deserves a special mention. With the complexity of the music in mind, what could have been an incomprehensible wall of noise was instead delivered with perfect levels. The bass was low and deep, most enjoyable with the throbbing intro of Viscera Eyes, and Omar's guitar was loud and clinically messy, if such a thing exists. A nice touch was the exquisitely designed background fall/cloth (I'm not sure what the appropriate term is here): with red light, the audience saw a stern-faced man with fish skeletons either side of him, and with blue/green light, the skeletons became less apparent as the focus was diverted onto captivating patterns spanning the background.

After hearing some of the more recent songs live, I have a new found appreciation of Octahedron and Bedlam. There something different about the latest two releases that, in my eyes, showed a lack of flair displayed in TMV's first three outings. But as L'Via segued into the opening riff of Goliath, I realised what I'd been missing. While the three Octahedron songs played were enjoyable, especially Halo of Nembutals, it was quite clear that it was their songs from yesteryears that made the show.

As wonderful as the evening was, I can't help to help to wonder whether they could have substituted those long jams with another full song. A casual 'Tetragrammatron' or 'Day Of The Baphomets', for example, would have been a pleasure to hear. Conversely, I suppose, those jams constituted the extra half hour in the set, the norm being 90 minutes. Thus, they were a bonus either way. In any case, The Mars Volta very much lived up to their name and put on one of the most engaging concerts I've been to in a while. Highly recommended!

Setlist:

1. Son et Lumiere 2. Inertiatic ESP 3. Cotopaxi 4. L'Via L'Viaquez 5. Goliath 6. Eriatarka with extended jam 7. Since We've Been Wrong 8. Cicatriz ESP with extended jam 9. Halo Of Nembutals 10. Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore 11. Teflon 12. Viscera Eyes 13. Juan Alderete bass solo 14. The Widow 15. Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)

Moneeb