My Monolith
Because of my unfamiliarity with the artists, I had Steve lead the way. The first band we happened across was a trio called Monotonix. The band was set up in the middle of the crowd. The lead singer donned a handlebar moustache and long curly hair. He was only wearing shoes and a pair of short red velvety running shorts (and I still think he felt overdressed). Monotonix's hard bass lines and heavy drumming just barely drowned out the lead singer's guttural anthems as crowd members literally raised him up high on a pedestal while he "sang". He resorted to mooning the crowd and spit on several people. It was awesome! Here are the other performances we saw:
The Glitch Mob (Four dudes with controller pads and one on a turn table mixing tracks into rhythmic beats);
Passion Pit (falsetto vocals backed by techno dance tracks, keyboard, drums and guitar);
Phoenix (synthy beats combined with countertenor vocals, keyboard and drums);
And, finally, The Mars Volta (the main event). I thought The Mars Volta were exemplary. TMV manipulated extremely complicated guitar riffs, unbelievably fast drum beats, jazz piano, percussion, bass, and alto vocals to create both heavy hitting rock songs and soothing jamband-esque drama. Each element contributed fully even though it could possibly stand alone. The lead singer, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, resorted to many tricks of his own, maintaining seemingly falsetto vocals while performing ametuer acrobatics and microphone handling tricks. Omar Rodríguez-López , on lead guitar, was amazingly fierce and graceful. Like a fine cognac or caviar, TMV is an acquired taste. Not because it's repulsive, but because the music is wonderfully layered and complex. There is a lot going on in their songs but somehow the individual sounds are perfectly married.
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