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  • System of a Down

    Synthesis, CA
    May 13 2005

    System of a Down

    It's the 21st century; at this very moment men are walking on the
    moon, people take phone calls while on the toilet, a rocket-powered
    jetpack propelled me to work this morning, and my cat has an e-mail
    address. The unfortunate crapfest that was rap metal has passed.
    The future is now and System of A Down's Serj Tankian's hip-hop
    informed delivery and hand gestures appeal to that new generation of
    music consumers, raised on hip-hop videos, mash-ups and iPods.
    But it's the crushing `chugga chug waaaaa's they come for, this odd
    collection of misfits: kids that should find punk, the guy playing
    junior varsity football when he's a senior, fleece-vested
    35-year-olds that are still `cool,' museum-quality heshers with
    broken-in leathers, comic book store owners, flag-waving Armenians
    and the round girls in scant Hot Topic skirts.
    The Fillmore show, according to the bootleg shirts hawked outside,
    was `Sould Out.' Reliable sources (in this case a beer breathed,
    A-Shirt wearing, blurry wizard tattoo-having, scraggly goatee dude in
    line in front of me) told this reporter the tickets, available only
    from the Fillmore box office, sold out as fast as the Fillmore could
    move the line. Some System faithfuls dropped upwards of $200 to see
    their Armenian rock deities.
    System of A Down, on a week-long mini-tour warming up for the release
    of Mesmerize on May 17th, powered through their Fillmore show, rarely
    stopping to chat during their 90-minute set. Being a warm-up show,
    System kept the production values lean. With the exception of a
    strobe light rig blasting into the audience, System relied on the
    Fillmore's stock lighting rig.
    They debuted a mere three new songs in a 24-song set of sweaty
    time-signature changing metal, the most notable being the catchy and
    political `BYOB.' Tankian's warm chestnut voice is back, and he
    maintains his tradition of politically colored lyrics, like
    `Everybody is going to the party/Have a real good time/Dancing in the
    desert/Blowing up the sunshine.' This ain't about Burning Man. I know
    this because at the end of the song, guitarist Daron Malakian screams
    in chipmunk-monster voice `Why don't presidents fight the war?/Why do
    they always send the poor?'
    System of a Down specializes in a kind of thundering dirge-rhythm
    that compels A-shirt wearers to slow-walk the pit's perimeter,
    filling their burning chests with humid, secondhand pot smoke laden
    air, feeling beer-soaked blood thump in their temples, and then
    erupting into a mass of damp slamming bodies when the strobe lights
    start blasting.
    I don't care who's on stage, it's always invigorating to see a giant
    roomful of fists pump in the air, or feel the second story dance
    floor flex under 1200 pogo-ing bodies.
    If I were a mean, old, intellectually superior rock critic guy, I'd
    say System of a Down is like Primus or Mr. Bungle for retards. I
    might also mention, to let you know that I have the most refined
    taste, I don't like Primus or Mr. Bungle. But that's not me. I love
    everyone and everything. So check it: System of a Down live, if
    that's your bag, delivers; and the three new songs they played at the
    Fillmore won't disappoint an ardent System fan.
    - Words and Photos by Pete Geniella (www.petegeniella.com)
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