The Mars Volta Take Over!
This is why you are in the ghost town of Camber Sands, only populated at this time of year by strange stragglers trapped in the cold and isolated corner of the world. You are here at Pontins because of this one band and their beautiful endeavour to host one of the most magnificent music festivals this side of anywhere. And they're treating their guests well; Mars Volta TV on in the chalets, a great selection of films handpicked by Cedric and Omar themselves, a comprehensive booklet free of charge for reference to the bands that are playing, accommodation, shopping facilities, all anyone needs to have a comfortable stay...
Well, all one really needs is just to see this gigantic tour de force of progressive, space-edged, cosmic music-making spew forth their lavish drawn-out intense splendour on the crowd of orgiastic and rampant fans, with such a fervour and ferocity unmatchable in all other music today. That's all one really needs, and that's what we got on the Saturday night for a brilliant two hours or more of uncontrollable magic emanating from the stage over the heads and into the ears and minds of all the crowd-members having the times of their lives.
People had come from all over to see this spectacle, in our chalet after the gig, there were Americans, Dutch, Germans, Italians, all drawn to Camber Sands for the undeniable Mars Volta... And the band themselves were awesome, a show worthy of respect from Zeus above us, unquestionably unbelievable. Launching into it with 'Roulette Dares' and really setting off the crowd, we were away, fifteen to twenty minutes later, after much wonderful noise and improvisation, the song finally draws to a close, such an immense display of augmented juxtaposition that you easily get lost in as it wails and cascades in front of your eyes, only to be suddenly jerked out of its trance-like state at the most unexpected time and plonked right back into the action of the song where it left off. In a word - incredible.
That's what The Mars Volta are all about though, pushing all the boundaries and envelopes that litter their way. With 'Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt' they do this immeasurably. From the flirtatious slidey opening to the outlandish blasting onslaught that is the chorus, no part seems dated or done before, it's all new, original and out of this world.
'Cut That City' is the shortest song in the repertoire tonight, taken from 'The Tremulant EP' this refreshing piece of music is more decisive than the rest and serves as a fantastic division between the 'De-Loused' era stuff and the 'Frances The Mute' material. They play 'Cygnus... Vismund Cygnus' and that gets everyone going, all screaming 'Whoo-ooo-doo-yoooou-trust?!!' with Cedric Bixlar Zavala at the helm and of course most recent single 'L'via L'viaquez' which, with its Cuban salsa rhythms and infectious guitars, proves a real highlight.
'The Widow' cools us down as we near the end and the whole thing's blasted apart again by 'Drunkship of Lanterns.' Oh, what a show, what a show indeed. Nothing comes close to the sheer exhilaration and energy exerted at a Mars Volta gig and this particular Saturday, the world belonged to them; they've done All Tomorrow's Parties and all that sail with her very very proud.