System of a Down may not have a new album to tour, but they do have a cause; the ‘Wake Up The Souls Tour‘ commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide which saw roughly 1.5 million Armenians killed by the Ottoman Empire. It’s a cause that the ethnically Armenian band have supported for their entire career. They started the evening with a short animated history lesson concerning the genocide, and how various governments conveniently turn their backs on many other atrocities when it suits them. The sombre tone is followed by the appropriate opener ‘Holy Mountains‘, which is quickly gear shifted into ‘Jet Pilot.‘ Playing to their idiosyncratic strengths, the gig never wearies in terms of intensity, whether it’s hyper kinetic riffing or eastern flavoured, moody alt-rock; the entire arena seems enthralled. At one point, I counted five separate mosh pits throughout the floor.
Highlights include the Pop Mosh of ‘BYOB‘, the sweeping grandeur of ‘Hypnotize‘, all-time crowd favourites ‘Chop Suey‘ and the hit that started it all ‘Sugar‘. The end section of ‘Sugar‘ is a great example of how tight a unit SOAD still are despite the hiatus and years pursuing side projects. The riff starts off slow and builds in speed, like a Whirling Dervish, each player perfectly in sync. If you’ve ever tried to have ‘a bit of a jam’ with some mates, you’ll understand how the feat is all the more impressive.
System Of A Down, while essentially a metal band, refuse to fall into any of the usual clichés, veering as they do from quirky riffs, Dadaist lyrics and incorporating everything from alt rock to pop to Thrash, to the music of their ethnic homeland. Serj Tankian‘s vocals swerve effortlessly from the soulful to the crazed sidewalk preacher. His counterfoil on guitar, Daron Malakian, matches this with his own particular style – at times angular or brutal. He seems led around the stage by his playing, pirouetting or spinning in circles instead of the usual means of ‘rocking out’. John Dolmayan on drums and Savo Odadjian on bass, provide the rhythmic foundation for all the quirks and soaring musical fancies. Never letting up throughout the night, they dispense with an opening act and settle on getting their message across, covering as many highlights from their five albums as possible.
Mission accomplished.
Photo credit: Mark Williams
