"Suddenly, something hit me in the face...It was a cream-filled croissant!
I
asked to turn on the lights on the audience. I saw this motherfucker who did it, I started to yell at him in English, I felt fucking strange and I went off the stage!"
The simple pleasures of what some might not even take notice as threads are holding together certain things, in order to hide certain things – little pieces
of fabric are spun and held together to contain even stranger things – for stranger things to buy, to wear, to protect, to trade, or in other cases – to
throw...
It might not always be clothing that’s given away, but in many of SOAD’s onstage adventures, a thing or two other than apparel can take them by surprise.
"The cream-filled croissan" probably seemed like a joke or a rumor, but in
fact, that was Serj talking to a magazine about a concert from 1998.
In a 2005 issue of Polish magazine "Sync", the interview consisted of Serj
Tankian and Daron Malakian They talked about their music and other things, until
they were questioned, “What about Poland?”
"Poland. It was the last time I saw pissed-off Serj", remembers Daron. "It was
our first European tour. We were wearing make-up, we were doing strange things
on the stage and we were singing strange progressive songs, and these people
just didn't get it," says Serj.
"They were totally metal fans. But they liked metal from 80's - 90's. They got
banners with "SS" signs" says Daron.
Serj: "We tried to ignore all this hatred and just to play and have fun, but
suddenly something hit me in the face. It was a cream-filled croissant. I asked
to turn on the lights on the audience. It's easy to throw some shit at the stage
when it's dark all over. I saw this motherfucker who did it, I started to scream
at him in English. And then I realized something. These people had lived under
the communism control. When someone, who rules, throws mud at them, they're
absolutely quiet. It was so quiet in the audience that it was even appealing. I
felt fucking strange and I went off the stage."
If the previous incident had an obvious excuse like Serj tried to explain then,
the next one has actually no reasonable explanation at all! It’s possible the
guys needed at least five more things to add to their wardrobe, or the audience
was being generous with their styling techniques!
Do you prefer Italian-Made?
May 30, 2005, location Milan, Italy. It's 13 days after the release of the
long awaited album 'Mezmerize', and the first tour was in Europe. Milan was the
3rd concert after performances in Lisbon and Madrid.
The show seems to be going well; there are so many people. It’s been a while
since Italian fans have seen System of a Down performing live, people are having
fun, but someone else had another way for having fun with Daron specifically!
It started while Daron was playing the outro solo for "Psycho". Someone threw
an object that looked like a ball and almost hit him in the face. Fortunately it
didn't, and after Daron finished the song, he picked it up and threw it back.
During the middle of the live 6-minute extended version of "Mr. Jack", again
something else was being thrown at Daron (probably a filled water bottle).
Luckily it landed right in front of his feet! But whoever the culprit was, they
didn't get enough. After only 10 seconds a shoe is tossed, hitting Daron on the
right side of his face and the microphone all in one shot! Although he looked
mad for a minute, a much cooler Daron didn't lose his nerve and continued
playing.
Near the end of the song while Serj is chanting, “Your prospect of living
gone, You ran the light at dawn”, someone else followed suit by throwing a shoe
at Serj this time, hitting him in the legs. Serj looked to his feet, ignored it
and kept singing, then another shoe is thrown (probably the other pair of the
first shoe!) at Serj but he was moving fast so, lucky it didn't hit him at all.
After the song is done Daron went to the mic and said, "Don't throw shit on
me, man!"
But apart from those five playful things, the concert was amazing, the band
performed very well and the audience was really having fun, interacting so well
with the band.
Very Nice!Location, Australia, the Big Day Out tour in January 2005, the first live gig
for System of a Down from almost a year! Daron is introducing a new song called
"Cigaro" and everyone is excited. Daron tries to be funny by playing with cocks
in "Cigaro" “I can make my cock do tricks”, he sang when all of a sudden,
someone throws a shoe and AGAIN Serj gets hit in the legs. Serj told the
audience " very nice!" in a very cool yet sarcastic way.
The Nike Trading Post
The shoe incidents happened several times throughout System’s live shows. Seems
like they weren’t immune to the shoe escapade. It was even more remarkable in
the Astoria, London show, performed on April 4, 2005. The band kicked off with
the great “B.Y.O.B.”, and after a while, again another shoe was thrown on stage.
It didn’t hit anyone, but Daron couldn't resist as he picked it up, smelled it
and threw it back off the stage!
Also, there were more of these funny shoe incidents, happening again to Daron,
back in 2000 in the Snore, MTV Europe concert. Daron jumped into the crowd! The
crowd got so excited that they almost grabbed his pants; luckily with some help
from the security guards he got off the crowd and back on the stage but someone
took his shoe!
"Hey give me my Nike back man!" Daron spoke to the crowd. "C'mon man give the
guy his Nike back, he only has one pair," Serj commented, and I guess he never
got that Nike back that night!
Daron enjoyed another one in Chicago, September 30, 2005. Like always, System
was having another great show when someone threw a shoe at Daron and hit him!
Daron said "Besides being the guitarist for this here band of ours, I'm also the
stage janitor. I clean up......the stage!"
Before this shoe at the same Chicago concert, a baseball cap was thrown at
Daron, he picked it up, looked at it, and then threw it back to the crowd. Also,
during "Mr. Jack" someone threw a bunch of red papers at Daron and he called
them something during the song (sounded like “Dumbass”)!
In the latest tour, the first show at the Edmonton concert June 25, 2006,
right before playing "Radio/Video" someone threw a red shirt from the mosh pit. Daron simply picked it up and said,
"Ewww! Smelly! Throw me something I need, like a joint!" Immediately, joints
from the crowd landed on the stage! But it became extremely hilarious when Serj
picks up a suspicious white object thrown with the joints and says, "Is
that an eraser?
Somebody brought fucking ERASER to the show?! .. what THE fuck?" [click
here to listen to the whole funny thing]
Same thing can be said continuously about System Of A Down – they know how to
put on a good show. No matter what the reason is, even if something as quirky
and strange as an eraser, a shoe, or any other object is thrown at them while
performing (whatever happened to bras or panties!!), the guys seem to enjoy the
interaction.
This type of thing is an interaction any musician or performer can encounter.
It’s an interaction fans love sharing with the guys, and they’ve been totally
cool about it.
System’s material has always been tinged with a strange and twisted sense of
humor, the band clearly has no use for show-business nonsense, its just them,
their music and the crowd, and there, you get an awesome show! Like Daron
declared in one the 2005 shows "We are here to feed all you starving rock 'n'
roll children!"
-ZAk
Credits to: All the members submitted their concerts reviews,
cozmachina,
Polly and people in the Funniest
Soad Concerts thread.
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