The Mars Volta’s Shocking Performance Captivates Crowd at Boeing Center
El Paso Prog legends The Mars Volta landed at Tech Port’s Boeing Center last Tuesday. It was the seventh stop of their 2023 tour and the second wave of their extensive reunion tour.
Co-headlining the tour was Teri Gender Bender, who usually fronts the Mexican rock band Le Butcherretes. Teri’s erratic movements were reminiscent of pop icon Gloria Trevi’s early years, flailing through the stage and displaying brief sudden movements as they sang along. Teri’s voice and screams were powerful enough to overtake the sound system and could even be heard past the barricades. Joining her on stage was drummer Audrey Paris Johnson, bassist Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez and Rikardo Rodriguez-Lopez on the Synth. The band wore matching neon green bodysuits , finished off with an image of Teri’s latest EP “Catspeak” cover on their shirts.
Then came The Mars Volta. The first noticeable detail since their last show in town were the changes in their lineup. Notable new members included the prolific Linda-Philomène Tsoungui replacing then-drummer Deantoni Parks as well as keyboardist/Saxophonist Leo Genovese, filling the shoes of the late keyboardist Ikey Owens and ex-saxophonist Adrian Terrazas-Gonzalez. On bass Josh Moreau filled in for Eva Gardner, the original bass player of the band before Juan Alderete took the reins. Eva has since re-joined the band for their comeback. There was no sound manipulator or rhythm guitarist previously held by Paul Hinojos. The remaining members from their previous hiatus then walked on stage: Guitarist Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and percussionist Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez.
Their set began with Vicarious Atonement from their Amputechture album. Their energy subtly escalated into a frenzy of instrumentation during Roulette Dares. Although Cedric is now much older than he was during his frenetic At The Drive In days, his energy and stage presence remains unmatched - he was still kicking the microphone in the air and flailing his body as Omar’s near dissonant guitar sounds filled the arena with familiar riffs and rhythms. Early material such as Cygnus…Vismund Cygnus and Inertiatic ESP, as well as deep cuts such as Televators and The Widow emitted nostalgic waves of the legacy that the band created when they brought this style of experimental prog to the forefront of mainstream music in the early 2000’s.
Notably excluded from their set was material from their Bedlam in Goliath album as well as their Cotopaxi and Noctourniquet releases, effectively shutting down a four-year span of releases which included their Grammy award-winning track. Despite the gap and missing songs, the quality of the performance went unaffected because the instrumentation and efficiency of the new multi-instrumentalist members created a seamless experience.
Their innovative performance took advantage of the venue’s built in features, including The Boeing Center’s Tesla coils. The venue managed to chain Omar’s multi-layered pedalboard into these coils to create sound. During the bridge of Drunkship of Lanterns, concertgoers noticed a peculiar buzz as they turned to the stage left side of the arena where the Tesla coils were synchronized with Omar’s guitars, sending bolts of static from its protected wire cage. The crowd from all sides of the venue were in awe. Moreso, the band’s conclusion of Son Et Lumiere to Inertiatic ESP had everyone singing along. Cheers, applause and pleas for an encore erupted as the arena stood in hopes that they would return, but in true Mars Volta fashion, no encore was made and the house lights lit up, concluding the show.
Among details of their stage performance was Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s knowledge of local San Antonio underground music history. Having a 30-year trajectory from playing dive bars to the biggest music festivals in the world, he managed to keep his fellow Texas cities close and as a result has developed a sort of encyclopedic knowledge of local El Paso and surrounding (we use the term loosely cause Texas) area bands long gone and others whose fame has not come close to the level of success his projects became. Near the end of the set, Cedric turned to the crowd to thank them for being at the show and said “we go a long way back at this city, we never played Tacoland but we sure as fuck knew about Tacoland” referring to the legendary venue which harbored 80's underground royalty such as the The Cramps, L7 and The Fleshtones to name a few. “…It was a beautiful venue” he continued “There’s a lot of beautiful bands from here, my favorite being Glorium" referring to the San Antonio punk legends. Not sure if he knew that they had recently reunited and played a set at Paper Tiger weeks prior. Regardless, his statement reinforced that the mutual love between the Mars Volta and San Antonio is more than skin deep.
