Electing the Dead
Another big crowd for this stage. There was a fair bit of trouble getting in. Leeds is getting crowded now, with plenty of people crushing the exits, leaving after Dizzee Rascal. None-the-less, there are plenty of people for Serj to preach to. Yes, preach. I'm concerned about one of my favorite singer's new direction. It seems he's gone off on his own to preach his own brand of pretentious ethics.
Remaining impartial however, I'm keen to see how he measures up against System of a Down. Yes, I think everyone else in the crowd is doing this too. Listening to the opening vocals I'm disappointed. The mixing has gone a bit haywire. Despite my position not being the best, the sound is too muffled. Halfway through we get another mixing problem where the backing vocals become stupidly loud and unbearable! Still, despite these problems, Serj is still looking and sounding strong in his Baron Samedi-esque outfit. Opening with "Empty Walls", he's sounding just like we remember him
We are introduced to guest vocalist Keeley to sing on "Lie Lie Lie" but personally, I'm not sure why she bothered. I cant really hear her anyway. "Sky is over", "Saving us" and "Baby" all sound really tight and just like they do on the album. Of course, Serj can't help but talk about the so-called epiphany he had which resulted in the construction of this awesome riff that he just had to play in order to save the world from tyranny and destruction. It just gets your back up really because it's not that great. You keep thinking "Why did System die Serj?!".
Still, Serj pulls a surprise out of the bag, creatively mixing Abba's "Rich Man's World" with the song, "Money" and this does go down a treat. There is a good round of applause as the set closes, but still, that energy, that passion that was so prevalent in System of a Down has almost dried up. Not quite though and taken on his own terms, you'll not be disappointed with Elect the Dead.