As I said in my introduction post, System of a Down were one of the first, if not the very first, band my friend and I ever got into. As I grew into other types of metal, SoaD were the only band from that period that I held onto and still listened to, if only occasionally. I thought it was really cool that they got back together somewhat recently, and when I saw that they were going to tour the States (with Deftones), I thought it would definitely be really cool to see them. My aforementioned friend and my main concert-buddy was more than willing to see to go to this concert with me, and another friend joined us as well.
Deftones opened for System of a Down on this tour, obviously including this show at the PNC Bank Arts Center (where I have strangely ended up going to more than any other venue). Before this concert, I had never heard a single Deftones song, but this didn't get in the way of Deftones being interesting here. They put on a pretty long set for being an opening band, but this was okay despite that I really went to see SoaD. My not knowing any of the songs obviously wasn't optimal (for the experience itself or even for reviewing here), since, as it must be with most people, concerts are that much better for me if I actually know the songs, and even better if I know lyrics, but again, Deftones were enjoyable anyway. I may well even get an album or two by them. If they made a potential listener out of me, hey, good for them! I'd give my impression of their performance a very good 7.75/10. This would probably be higher if I knew the songs, but this isn't an objective rating of their performance, just my personal impression.
We had time to get drinks and use the bathroom before System of a Down took the stage. A curtain covered the stage at first, and, as usual at the PNC Bank Arts Center, everyone stood up as soon as the lights went out. SoaD opened with "Prison Song", which was probably the best song of theirs they could have opened with. They played the first few notes, accompanied by effective light effects, with the curtain still up, and when the song came full force, the curtain fell. I love it when bands do things live like this; opening with powerful, energetic songs, and doing things like having the curtain fall to get the energy going. SoaD's performance of "Prison Song" was excellent and set a great first impression for this concert. That song had always been one of my favorite heavier songs from their second album Toxicity, which had also been my absolute favorite album for a while until I got into other types of metal.
The calmer interlude "Soldier Side - Intro" followed the mighty opening "Prison Song". It made for a nice break before the chaotic "B.Y.O.B" started. This was another highlight of the night because of the energy of the song. Overall SoaD's set list was very strong; the only songs I would have included that they didn't would have been "Spiders", "ATWA", and "Mr. Jack" (whose album, "Steal This Album", wasn't played in any part). Other personal favorites of the night of mine included: "Question!", which was also one of my favorites when SoaD were my top band; "Suggestions", the very heavy breakdown of which got every head banging, and which got stuck in my head afterwords; the hit "Chop Suey!" which got everyone singing along; "Aerials", which for a long time was my favorite song ever (nowadays I even prefer other SoaD songs, but it was still great and got singing along as well); "Suite-Pee", which was preceded by guitarist Daron asking us awesomely loudly if we wanted more "System of a Down rock and roll music"; "War?"; and finally the closer "Sugar", which incited the most energy I've ever seen from a crowd at a show. Also notable was a hilarious ballad version of "Cigaro" which preceded the real song, both versions prominently featuring the lyric "my cock is much bigger than yours". You can see why a short ballad version would be funny. The crowd was pretty much as into the performance as I've ever seen a crowd at a concert I've been to, which was great because of the very energetic vibe there.
This was a great performance from System of a Down, as I expected it to be. Their brand of genre-debatable alternative metal is perfect for an extremely energetic concert, between their extremely heavy songs and their more artsy ones. I have to say that this concert reminded me that I really prefer SoaD's self-titled debut and "Toxicity" to the following albums "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize", probably because of the fact that I've always preferred anything heavier, but the last two albums still had a good amount of heaviness and every song was still fun. Despite that SoaD have never been an extremely technical band, the band played everything pretty much perfectly; any mistakes weren't noticeable and, when the energy level is as high as it can get with SoaD, they wouldn't have mattered that much anyway as long as the general gist was getting across. I would probably place this in the top tier of concerts that I have seen, maybe just under Iron Maiden (both times but especially the second), Megadeth (3/4 times), and Opeth (the first of two times), and about up there with the Death to All tribute, because of the aforementioned energy level at this concert and strength of the material played for what it is. System of a Down get a superb 9.25/10 for this concert from me. I look forward to see what System of a Down continue to do following their reunion; even if I think the first two albums were better than those following, a new album would probably still be very interesting to hear for me, and even if they never record again, I would love to catch them on tour again if they do.
Thanks for reading!
Set Lists (thanks Setlist.fm as I wasn't going to remember every single song or the order, and I didn't know a single Deftones song)
Deftones
1. Rocket Skates
2. Diamond Eyes
3. Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)
4. My Own Summer (Shove It)
5. Digital Bath
6. You've Seen the Butcher
7. Fireal
8. Engine No. 9
9. Roller Derby
10. Rosemary
11. Change (In the House of Flies)
12. Root
13. 7 Words
System of a Down
1. Prison Song
2. Soldier Side - Intro
3. B.Y.O.B.
4. Needles
5. Deer Dance
6. Radio/Video
7. Hypnotize
8. Question!
9. Suggestions
10. Psycho
11. Chop Suey!
12. Lonely Day
13. Bounce
14. Kill Rock 'n Roll
15. Lost in Hollywood
16. Forest
17. Holy Mountains
18. Aerials
19. Tentative
20. Cigaro
21. Suite-Pee
22. War?
23. Toxicity
24. Sugar
TL;DR:
Personal Rating: 9.25/10 (System of a Down), 7.75/10 (Deftones)
Personal Highlights: Prison Song, B.Y.O.B., Question!, Suggestions, Chop Suey!, Aerials, Suite-Pee, War?, Sugar
Recommend: See if you like or liked SoaD at all
