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Rating: How long had it been since I last went to Ostia Antica? It took Mars Volta to bring me back! I didn't even remember what the Roman theater was like, and going there, I wondered where exactly they would have the dear Texans play. "In the amphitheater?... Possible?" "...Naaaa... It'll collapse on them!..." replied my trusty Aztiére from Centocelle, a great classical guitarist. We arrived there early. Among the first in line, the humidity would make your bones shatter at thirty, but the setting is a spectacle in itself. The gates opened around ten past eight, despite the 19.30 printed on the green ticket. The Mars' first time in Rome is greeted by a fairly diverse audience, yet calm, no particularly picturesque hippies. Better that way.
And we're in. The road leading to the Roman theater is three hundred meters on old Roman stones, the view of the excavations at sunset is breathtaking. Maritime pines overseeing walls, columns, and foundations two thousand three hundred years old. Around the corner after the remains of a villa, the stage. "Ah.. but it's right inside the theater!.." We take our place; initially, there seem to be few people. Shortly after, the half-moon fills up, and from my seat, I see the crowd continuing to arrive along the avenue.
Evening falls, psychedelic light plays on stage mix with natural light. Around a quarter to ten, they go out, and a mariachi-style music begins. Our band enters, and it's an uproar. They kick off with a track whose name I unfortunately can't recall because I didn't know it (for the concert setlist, I rely on the posts of some kind soul who may be more precise and attentive than me to the song titles) but it immediately proves a good example of what the evening will offer: perfect execution of a quarter of the song and wild improvisation for 20-25 minutes per track with jaw-dropping tempo changes, Omar’s frenzied solos, Cedric's high pitches with dances of the "springy" kind (in fabulous form, I didn’t think he'd manage to reach certain tones live), sound experiments built on funky riffs pumped beyond belief by drums and bass, all seasoned with Latin percussion (maracas & co.) and wind instruments (saxophone, and at one point, a clarinet).
The first track, as I was saying, was almost like attending a rock concert of some '70s progressive band but with an added value: the Volta make absolutely original music devoted to experimentation, some tracks, see at a certain point "Cignus Vismund Cygnus", turned into real jam sessions with endless solos from each band member, and the extraordinary thing is the astounding precision and at the same time very natural way in which the eight musicians closed and restarted the music, unleashing a bizarre energy wave of sound. The Roman theater (great acoustics) was hit for two full hours by a psychedelic avalanche of sounds and lights. The duo Cedric and Omar is a perfect example of stage animals: without addressing a single word to the audience (in this a bit cold, the two), they entertained and thrilled us with solos and only seemingly disorganized dances. The lion's share was played by the black fury behind the drums, one Pridgen, who is a force of nature: his continuous tempo shifts paired with impressive progressions made it seem like there were two drums on stage, often launched in exhausting solos and crescendo contests with Alderete’s bass and Omar’s guitar. All while perfectly maintaining the improvisation of each track.
I knew little of the setlist, and unfortunately, they didn’t play anything from "De-loused..", but I must say that both I and Aztiére, even more unfamiliar with the latest Volta than I was, were captivated by the stage and execution power of this extraordinary live performance. Again, I didn't think they could replicate all the album sounds live, but if possible, they aim to do even more: the ever-changing sound effects on Omar’s guitar and Cedric’s voice, combined with their excellent technique and the originality of their style (so varied yet so "theirs") make them the ultimate expression of the contemporary experimental rock scene. It's spectacular that in times of rampant marketing and spineless boy bands, realities like the Volta, intense musicians deeply in love with what they do (Omar, during a solo, seemed to be enjoying it according to me!) still exist.
Two hours flew by, and I don’t know what they took to keep up such a frantic and steady pace, and at the same time stay so sharp to play like that. The only break was "The Widow" (virtually perfect), which added to that somewhat melancholic atmosphere typical of Volta’s music, before the grand finale with the ethnic majesty of "Aberinkula", a ride with a vaguely Middle Eastern flavor. The concert ended without encores, and I, who had descended the steps to experience the last part amid the crowd, stayed there... it could have continued all night.
People slowly trickle out, a few of us remain below the stage believing in a bonus encore that wouldn’t come. Then the staff came out to dismantle the stage, some storing microphones, some throwing picks to the crowd like peanuts to baboons, and at that point, I was convinced. I took Aztiére, and we left. "Did you get 'em, these Mars Volta!.." surely they could have said goodbye. Anyway... monumental!
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