Roseland Ballroom, New York City, Wednesday, February 23
KKKK (out of 5)
Serj Tankian and his fellow Armenian nutcases headline a winter sports-themed tour.
The �SNO-Core Tour� is ostensibly built around sports like snowboarding and skiing, but ironically it arrives in New York City during something of a February heat wave, with temperatures soaring nearly 60 degrees. So the �Extreme Winter Sports� videos shown on the stage curtain between acts cause much head scratching among the crowd. There seem to be two themes to Sno-core this year: condoms and jamming. The sponsor, Trojan, hand out the former to lucky fans, and all four bands indulge in a spot of the latter.
Puya are up first, and they make the most of their half-hour slot. Their music is a crackling, combustible fusion of Latin rock, nu-metal, and tight, percussive grooves which lends itself well to a spot of impromptu improvisation. The sound is clean and brilliant � every nuance of the Latin instrumentation is clear, while the heavy parts sound as huge as f**k. Sepultura�s �Roots� album was the last time anyone welded music this heavy to such a distinct ethnic style. The Puerto Rican foursome have a way to go song-wise before they catch up to the mighty Brazilians, but tonight bodes well for the future.
Mr Bungle are probably the band responsible for the inducing the other outfits to spontaneously de-and-reconstruct their songs, since that�s what they base their entire mutant sound upon. But while Mike Patton�s antics, and the band�s stop/go, roller coaster approach, works well with a small, Bungle-adoring crowd, the throngs tonight are respectful to the former Faith No More hero but clearly don�t get what he�s playing at. Not that Patton cares. He�d spazz all over the stage if nobody was out there. The band is spot-on, and the avant-death metal of �My Ass Is On Fire� gets a sizeable response. But unlike their last NYC gig at the Irving Plaza, they veer a little too far into obscurity tonight.
We�ve always been a bit down on Incubus� recorded input, especially since newie �Make Yourself� sounds increasingly like the water-down vanilla pudding 311 had been serving up lately. But the single �Pardon Me� is huge in the US. Meaning that lots more people are flocking to see the band play, which is really where Incubus thrive. There�s something about their live show that gives even their poppiest material extra power and resonance. �Pardon Me� ropes �em in and drives �em wild early on, while the title track from �Make Yourself� hits an epic high point, combining both melody and muscle in one sustained burst. Charismatic lead singer Brandon Boyd�s energy is formidable, even if he�s lost the wild dreadlocks that were his visual trademark. Only the latter third of the show � marked by some trippy, �psychedelic� �style jams � loses the momentum, and Incubus go out with a whimper.
That brings us to the majestic System Of A Down. Contenders for the �Sevendust Award For Most Gigs In The New York In A Single Year��, they�re still as powerful and mazing to watch as ever. Singer Serj Tankian, his madphrophet explosion of his hair now shorn, is as possessed and unpredidictable as ever. In fact, the edge of burnout that permeates the show (these guys have been touring for 20 months now) adds another dimension to it all. Like when guitarist Daron responds to one heckler in the crowd: �I suck? That�s right I suck. I suck tits.�
The set reshuffles all the hits from the debut album, with �Spiders� � the current single � added to the fray and Serj�s delivery is nothing short of chilling. If there�s any justice, this should e the monster that breaks SOAD into the upper ranks. We�re also treated to a blitzkrieg, Systemised cover of Black Sabbath�s �Snowblind� and an extended version of �Know�.
Even though it might be time for SOAD to get themselves off the road and start writing a new record, their uniquely eccentric sound and irresistible live presence is always welcome in these parts. Brilliant.