The Mars Volta Tickets

This was my first Mars Volta concert. It's obvious to anyone who listens to their albums that they are absolutely fanatical about getting their sound just right and being really precise. When I go to a concert for any band that is known for their virtuosity, I hope above all else that the sound is good. Unfortunately, at the Clutch Cargos show, it just wasn't. The mix was horribly muddy; about the only instrument that sounded consistently good were the drums. Various keyboard and bass riffs went completely unheard, and the percussion player might as well not have been on stage. It's hard to determine if the venue or the man behind the sound board is at fault, but it was a major letdown.

This was my first time seeing The Mars Volta and it certainly won't be my last. These guys were awesome. Non stop energy throughout the show. Great fun.

They were mindblowing of course, I just had a couple little nitpicks: they started like a half hour late and then only played for an hour and a half. Maybe Cedric was sick? He was chugging tea (well, some sort of hot liquid) and spitting quite a lot. Does he do that regularly? That one roadie brought him a fresh mug like every 5 minutes. What a job. Anyways, they were pretty awesome. Sorry, I can't remember much of the playlist. I know they opened with Cicatriz ESP, which was awesome. Then something off of Octahedron. Cotopaxi, I think. Then Goliath. Can't remember the order after that. Other songs I remember were Viscera Eyes (sounded weird without horns), Drunkship of Lanterns, Teflon and The Widow. Widow was the second last song. Then Cedric thanked the audience for coming out then they played something pretty short then they left and the lights came up and the roadies started tearing apart the stage. No chance for an encore. Boo-urns. Oh well.

Fantastic show, but unfortunately cut short. They only played for about an hour and a half, I think because the bass player had injured his hand before the show. But it was a damn solid set. They were much better in a smaller, intimate setting than when I first saw them in an amphitheater opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They were like larger than life figures gyrating around on the stage. If you like this band, see them live. They put on a hell of a show.

Great show

Volta finally hit the stage about twenty after eight rifling through 14 tracks from their 5 full length and Tremulent EP balancing them out quite well... for those web geeks who spend27 hours a day on the web would have already known the set list and there was no difference from the past several shows they've done. Kickin' off with Son et Lumiere segue into Inertiatic from their debut Deloused set the tone for the evening... The volume could've been turned down a abit as it was very difficult to hear Cedric's vocals and felt like it was just one giant sound blast coming straight at ya. Juan Alderete stepped it up a notch with some great bass tones adding another element filling in for the loss of the second guitar and the flute/saxaphone ensemble. All in all great show... still miss Jon Theodore on skins as I find Thomas overplays at times. Set List

The show was great, lead singer was really entertaining. Although....bring ear plugs if you plan on getting close to the band.

The band was great - nothing but professionals doing a great show. My only problem was that they didn't do an encore, they just walked off the stage and that seemed a little abrupt. I was a bit surprised when they only played for 90 minutes, esp. since they have a reputation for going as long as 2 1/2 hours and you've forked out $40 to see the play by themselves! Certainly you would have eOh, that and the gestapo security guards were constantly hauling kids off for smoking pot in an extremely brusque fashion. I understand that they need to enforce the rules and keep the place clean, but it puts off the audience to constantly have people pushing through the crown when you're trying to get lost in good music.

They were great, but I think the singer was sick or something. he didn't seem capable of hitting the high notes like on the albums, and the didn't play an encore. They were only on stage for 1.5 hours, and I think that hardly justifies the ticket price.

Their reputation as an exceptional live band was never in question throughout their prefomance last night at the Kool Haus. They played songs off their first release (Intertiatic, Roulette) all the way up to their latest release Octahedron (Teflon, Cotopaxi), including Ilyena and Metatron off The Bedlam in Goliath. They held nothing back and blew the doors off the place! My only complaint; the sound was muddy at times making it difficult to hear Cedric's vocals. Even when the band wasn't playing and he was addressing the audience, it was hard to make out what he was saying. That's something the Kool Haus is known for though. Hopefully when the Mars Volta returns, it will be to a venue with a better reputation for sound quality.

awsome show last night! they played a good combination of classics and new stuff. played to the crowed too

Musically they're all very talented, and it was a good show, but I was not blown away like other times I've seen them. I've seen them 5 times, and it seems they play the same handful of songs at every show, then add a few new songs to mix it in. Omar, you're a musical genius, but please mix up the setlists. Oh and 90 minutes of music, with no opening band, and $110 for 2 tickets? Please, play at least 2 hours, or get someone to open up for you.

I feel sorry for the drunken kids who sat next to us who spent that much money on their tickets and are going to have trouble remembering the specticle they beheld last night. Volta was amazing. I now know the feeling that the last generation felt when seeing Jimi or Zeppelin circa 1970. A new bar has been set. Everything that I thought I knew about music was changed last night. I have all of their albums but nothing compares to their live sound.