As much as they say success hasn't affected them, the members of System of a Down have changed.

They can now afford some lovely o­nstage threads. They can get away with being a little lazy at times. And they don't have to fret over broken instruments, such as the bass guitar Shavo Odadjian snapped the headstock off of at the end of the quartet's lively 95-minute performance at American Airlines Center o­n Thursday.

Don't worry: Shavo's got plenty of others, though he kissed the splintered Gibson Explorer goodbye stage left. Then he shrugged and smirked. When your band's 12-week-old album, Mezmerize, has already gone platinum to the delight of fans and critics (including this o­ne) alike, you can deal with a little slack. What hasn't gone slack is System's live performance, which is as manic and compelling as ever even though it's now slightly tempered by the big time. The boys aren't quite as reckless. The songs don't sound quite as critical (though their lyrical poignancy remains). And the flow is more considered. System talked little and got down to its melodic business, even eschewing an encore. Part of that is attributable to the tracks o­n Mezmerize, which are sonically cleaner and more digestible than past efforts. Three songs from the new disc started the set; the opening sequence, "Solder Side (Intro)" and "B.Y.O.B." (the latter is the band's current single) failed to work the crowd up to levels seen later in the set. That's because guitarist Daron Malakian and singer Serj Tankian just stood around in overcoats and played it, projecting little energy from the new album's most energetic tune into the audience. At least goofball bassist Mr. Odadjian shimmied around a bit. It took four songs for the coated o­nes to shed those skins and start to move around. Mr. Malakian commenced his ballerina-with-a-guitar movements. Mr. Tankian, who's never been especially animated, found his range and began to lean into his role. The mosh pits started forming (despite flimsy warnings against it taped to the arena's west doors) and the crowd started to coagulate. An hour into the set, the System steamroller was in flatten mode. The boisterous throng of roughly 8,000 frequently outsang the band and were utterly smitten after Mr. Malakian turned some of the hilariously explicit verses of "Cigaro" into a serene acoustic ballad. The electrifying sequence afterward – "This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm o­n This Song," "Bounce" and "Lost in Hollywood" – was easily the evening's high point. The real news o­n this night was show's middle act, the Mars Volta, which played a noise-littered 60-minute set marred by a host of sound issues. The first tune was a horribly muddled, painfully drawn-out version of "Cygnus ... Vismund Cygnus." Thankfully, by the time the usually, um, mesmerizing El Paso outfit hit "The Widow" and some older material, the startling vocals and Jim Morrison-like vibe of singer Cedric Bixler began to vault out. The Set list was (in no order): Soldier Side B.Y.O.B. Revenga Deer Dance ATWA Know Needles Cigaro Question! Science Dam Mr. Jack Areials Kill Rock N Roll Forest Sad Statue Bounce Violent Pornography Toxicity Prison Song War Suggestions Chop Suey Psycho This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm o­n This Song Lost in Hollywood Suite Pee Sugar Review By MIKE DANIEL / The Dallas Morning News Photo by JASON JANIK Thanks toCaptainTripps for the posting the review. Thanks for tymidisappear for the Setlist Read more Reviews in the FORUMS

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