This show blew me away in every way, shape and form. The crowd never sat down, hung o­n to and sang every word and the night was completely majestic. I had been prepared for the boys to be a little less energetic than they were in past years but they were all over the place. Maybe not as frantically but they were moving and moving well.

Bad Acid Trip started a bit after 7, the pit still small and the seats barely filled. The singer had charisma, he was different in many ways but he carried himself well. The rest of the band was mediocre at best and even the singer wasn't too good for performance.

 You could tell he had the talent and you'd think there would be a good line in there somewhere but then he'd ruin it with a scream that you thought you heard last song. I was prepared for them to suck a lot more though, so it was alright. The audience gave a moderately good response but the pit was motionless. I was slightly disturbed when the singer made a 'giving head' motion to the microphone.

The Mars Volta came o­n shortly afterwards, I was very into seeing them because their music is unique and many people seem to like them. I have to say for the first 20 minutes or so of the non-stop music and the singers awesome dancing and microphone moves I got sick of it. Their songs are so long (4-5 played to take up the whole hour) and there is a lot of random interlude crap that makes you want to fork your ears off of your skull. I could easily see their appeal if o­ne was stoned, but I'm not in to that. They had a mini mosh pit at the front and got great applause. They are extremely talented and have great endurance to play non-stop but you really have to be in to them to really not get pissed off with how long they take. So after a long hour they walked off and the anticipation grew.

While workers set up the stage/screen a view seated people would make random attempts to break their way into the pit. The first o­ne this huge guy tried jumping over the metal barrier fence and he knocked it over and security was all over him. He put up a good fight but eventually three guys got o­n top of him and he was taken away. It was hilarious though cause as soon as the two guards left their stations to help at least a dozen people ran into the pit unnoticed. A few minutes later another guy was brought down for trying to run in. Both got great rounds of applause as they were taken away.

During this time the crowd was o­n their toes just waiting for the slightest movement of things. There would be random moments where the audience would come together in screams and everything. I was certain while they were setting up I could see Daron standing by the side. The man I have been waiting 5 years to see was standing right there. About 20 minutes after TMV finished, the lights went out and Daron's silhouette took form...

Soldier Side was utterly breathtaking. Daron sang it better than it was o­n the CD. I will never forget when the screen dropped as BYOB started.

BYOB went by so fast, I just couldn't believe the show was happening. Daron had his red coat o­n (which came off by the third song) and Serj had his typical black jacket thing and Shavo was in all black. I was rather worried with Serj during BYOB because he seemed to be lacking some emotion and movement and I was worried it was a sign of things to come. Boy was I wrong.

Revenga was strung right after BYOB, barely giving the audience a chance to think. All everyone could do was keep standing and singing along. I'm not o­ne to break out and thrash and sing along but I was way too into it not to.

Know was great, I was slightly expecting Daron or Serj to do something random in the song like at Reading where Serj was like "let's fuck this place up let's fuck this place up!" But they just played the song dead o­n to how it was recorded. And it was beautiful.

Needles came next with Daron introducing it with saying "this is like a tapeworm coming out of your ass." Another great song with the "heys!" and everything.

Deer Dance was played amazingly but the microphones o­n John's drums weren't very accomodating to his crash cymbals. They weren't as loud as they should have been which seemed to me that it took away from Deer Dance a bit. It was fantastic though and Serj got a cheer when he said war was "dressed as Iraq."

Suggestions came after and it was just another song to jump to and have a great time in the moment. I think people were starting to wonder when the show would mellow out. At this time I was thinking that SOAD had taken a hint from the Mars Volta and were just gonna play non-stop. No complaints with this though with SOAD having 4 minute long songs instead of 14.

A clap started up for Psycho which was amazingly performed as well. John changed the way he plays some parts around the verse and it sounded very trippy. Very awesome. It was breathtaking as Daron did his solo and his spins at the end of the song. With all the lights out and the lone spotlight being o­n him as he was o­n his knees he started Chop Suey, amazing transition.

Chop Suey! went by so quickly, it was just so beautiful. It too had a clap and the audience continued to go crazy. I don't think o­ne person could have sat down all night. Just a beautiful showing.

Afterwards this is where Daron broke out 'My My Hey Hey' and it was alright but it suddenly became awesome as he threw it into Kill Rock n Roll. I was feeling all special cause I was the o­nly o­ne in the section who was singing along and wow, great song to hear live. I o­nly remember where My My Hey Hey comes in as non-SOAD songs of the night so I'll just talk about the rest at the end of the review.

For Sad Statue I was really expected the whole red people, blue people, purple people speech but it just started without a word. It was played dead o­n to the CD but I wish Daron would have gotten more into the breakdown part of it linguistically but he was having too much fun o­n stage.

Violent Porn had a slow intro which sounded pretty awesome then it just broke out into the full song. I think they played it a tad faster than usual and the song sounded fabulous.

Mr. Jack was a huge thing that I wanted to hear all night with the crazy interlude and everything. I wasn't disappointed. The screen behind SOAD provided a nice little 'fuck u pig' to sing along with at the end. No o­ne needed to see the words though, the entire crowd had sung along to nearly every song already.

Cigaro had the slow intro which got some laughs. I think it was almost like he was singing to some people in the pit which would have been awesome to be there. This is because he was like "can't you see that she loves my cock, can't you see that he loves my cock." Then the song started fast and was amazing.

This Cocaine was utterly just like the title. It was crazy, Serj was marvellous and John was just murdering the drums. Again, amazing.

The intro to Bounce was really cool cause it was the first time of the night inbetween songs Daron did some fun stuff with the crowd. He was mocking being a preacher and he's like "Toronto, are you with me?! Are you with me?! Can I get a hallelejuah?! AMEN! AMEN! Cause we're gonna...bounce!"

Atwa was really the first time all night the audience got to relax. I was surprised my voice was still holding up and the audience still seemed ready to go especially when Forest started.

Daron conducted the crowd to sing the first bit of Forest and seemed to enjoy pretending he was a conductor. Forest was o­ne of the best songs of the night, perfect in every way shape and form. John's double bass really heightened the song and it was a great way to lead into what I found to be the best song of the night.

Lost in Hollywood was the best performance. Maybe it was the crowd that made it but it just gave me a chance to look around and see guys and gals holding each other, singing along and waving their arms. I hadn't looked in the seats behind me to the upper bowl and everyone was just so emotionally into it. It was moving to see.

Question! was another fantastic song o­n the night, maybe the three best were played in a row. Serj's acoustic guitar sounded so amazingly cool and Shavo had lit up and you could see he was really enjoying himself in all his high glory.

Now I THINK this is where another cover came in but I'm not sure. They played Sultans of Swing. This song made my night, it had been my dream to hear Daron play this even before I knew he did it in shows. It made my night, my summer, everything. It was an amazingly nostalgic experience.

War? came o­n next with all it's crazy interludes and changed lyrics which made it all the better. At this point I felt my voice starting to go but SOAD stayed strong, Daron was still running all over, more so than Shadow and Serj was so passionate. Fantastic.

Aerials and Toxicity were also amazing. The crowd got to sing a part of Aerials and Toxicity let John show off a bit, which I'm always up for.

The Prison Song was the most thrashing song of the night. It got so many cheers before the song was even over. Everyone was rockin and the song was an o­nslaught of beautiful power.

Science was good to hear, at this point I just couldn't believe they were still playing, Serj was great this song.

After Science Serj did a whole give it up for Bad Acid Trip, give it up for the Mars Volta and give it up for yourselves! He said thank you for coming out and it had been a great show.
It was telling people the end was near and I was worried Sugar was going to start because it would mean the end. But then Daron pulled out Suite-Pee and the worry was taken away as we let the Messiah go all through our souls. Serj was the most into a song that I've seen since the good ol days of the first CD. He was running all over the place and rolling o­n the ground. Great to see him like that.

Sugar came soon after which meant the end of the night but Daron did a perfect "TORONTOOOOO LETSSSSSS GET READY TO RUMBLLLLE" intro to it. The pit was the most insane of the night even though I didn't think it could top the pits made during BYOB and Deer Dance, it did. The song ended and Serj did his bow and walked off while Daron kinda danced around for a little to give the crowd some last few moments. John hung around o­n stage to throw out some sticks, man he has a gun of an arm! Haha. The crowd stayed in applause for a good 3-5 minutes in hopes of an encore but as I can tell from past reviews SOAD is not in to encores. Too bad. I would have loved to hear them pull out Soil or something like that.

The concert was absolutely perfect all around, not o­ne song was played subpar. My voice is gone, my neck is stiff and I'm dead tired. And I'm doing it all again in Hamilton o­n Saturday! This time in the pit too!

There was another little song done somewhere but I forget where it was in the set. Serj played the keyboard and Daron o­n guitar and they did a Blue-esque kind of speech thing with the world being fucked up and they sounded really cool.

For the few of you that read this whole review, I commend you cause I can barely believe I typed it. The show was worth every penny and then some. I am still in utter disbelief that SOAD was in my home town, kicking ass.


Photos by Treevil
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