Concert review: The Mars Volta at the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas (September 16)

by Clinton Lynch of of North Texas Daily

The Mars Volta came out from at full throttle Wednesday night at the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas.

The progressive rock band started fast, opening with “Son et Lumiere,” followed by “Inertiatic ESP,” which has become a common one–two punch for the band.

This was definitely a crowd favorite and a prominent sign of what was in store for the rest of the night.

Hammering through songs with ear-bleeding solos and enchanting riffs, guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez played with precision and grace, undoubtedly a performer every fan must see.

From its curly-headed Afros to ’60s-style threads, the band was recognizably reminiscent of the 1969 performance of “Soul Sacrifice” by Santana at Woodstock.

With polyrhythm beats and continuous drum, guitar, and keyboard solos, it’s easy to see where the group’s great musical influences came from and how talented the individuals within the band actually are.

Bixler-Zavala stirred up the crowd with his perpetual energy and break dancing moves, alongside his piercing-but-superb vocals.

As things were shaping up to be another great performance for the Volta, things started to slow down, and the band’s once-striving energy and vivacity seemed to disappear. After the performance of “Roulette Dares,” the crowd seemed to lose focus and intensity.

On stage, the band members kept with their swaying and head nodding, but without the excitement. They started to play like they were going through the motions of a microphone check or a pre-show warm up.

For certain songs, the crowd got back into the feel for the show, but was not an overwhelming trend for the entire venue.

Compared to Volta’s show at the Palladium in April 2008, the fans kept an uncontrollable enthusiasm throughout the three-hour set, which made believers out of those who called it a studio band — a band whose music, noise, and sound could never translate into a live music spectacle.

As the night came to an end after a lackadaisical hour-and-45-minute set with no encore, the fans left perplexed.

After waiting around as the house lights came up and the stage crew went to work -- hoping that this was all a joke and the Volta would at least come out and play one more song -- no one showed.

I’m not sure if it was the John F. Kennedy/Sept. 11 conspiracy remark by Bixler-Zavala that received mixed reactions from the crowd, or the subpar ending of a set, which was drastically opposite from the opening vigor where everyone was on their heels, but the night seemed a little off, with no real satisfaction from the performance.

With ticket prices nearing $40-plus, an hour-and-45-minute set is not enough.

With no opening band and following up from a 2008 performance that was one for the ages, the Mars Volta left Dallas with its fans begging for more.