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Ozzfest headliner System of a Down delivers a frenetic send-off |
Posted by sugar_buzz on Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - 02:57 AM
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Ozzfest headliner System of a Down delivers a frenetic send-off
Ozzy Osbourne was absent from the last stop on this year's Ozzfest, but he wasn't really missed -- not by the 20,000 people who filled Sound Advice Amphitheatre on Sunday and not by the 17 metal bands that entertained them for half a day. At its usual tour finale in western Palm Beach County, Ozzfest got along nicely without its namesake atop the bill.
Osbourne, 57, scaled way back on personal appearances on the tour's 11th go-round, betting that his festival could thrive on brand name and reputation. It will be tempting for heavy metal's antic father figure to view the turnout as proof that he can spend his summers at home, and it's not clear when or if he will return to South Florida.
But a provisional goodbye is definitely in order for the band that took his spot.
"Tonight will be the last show we play for a long time together," Daron Malakian, guitarist and singer for System of a Down, told the capacity crowd during Sunday's last performance. "We'll be back. We just don't know when."
That announcement came well into a set of almost anguished intensity by one of the arena circuit's oddest combos: four Armenian-Americans who came together 11 years ago in Los Angeles to make socially conscious metal, inspired in part by the Armenian genocide of 1915-1917 -- the defining horror of their ancestry.
If System of a Down is going on an indefinite break, the band leaves at the peak of its powers. The band played its whiplashing songs with stop-start precision, while Malakian and lead vocalist Serj Tankian sang with operatic and sometimes comical fury. This was a frenetic send-off and, at the same time, a reflective run through material released between 1998 and 2005.
System of a Down's greatest fame coincides with some of the bloodier years in recent American history. But even a song such as War? -- which predated the 9-11 attacks -- sounded as if it were written in response to current events. Tankian opened it with a poetic monologue containing a repeated refrain, "We don't speak of war," that he built up to a screaming incantation.
B.Y.O.B., the set's first song, combined a laid-back party rhythm and disruptive, rat-a-tat bursts to rail at the disconnect between chaos abroad and the comforts of home. The song fairly describes the band's own predicament: mere entertainers in times that would seem to demand a more meaningful response. But System of a Down draws a lot of its strength from helplessness: They are experts at flailing away at events and circumstances over which they have no control, and they recognize the absurdity of doing so.
They also have fun puncturing the vanities of others. Cigaro, sort of a profile of the self-impressed man, recalled a character in a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon: the opera singer who cries "Figaro! Figaro!" as his head shrinks. No other band on the bill sounded so naturally eccentric or as willing to grapple with the world.
Disturbed was all delusions of martial glory and "ten thousand fists in the air," as the band's terribly serious frontman, David Draiman, sang. Lacuna Coil approximated the quasi-gothic sound of Evanescence, while Dragonforce and Black Label Society recycled mid-'80s metal nostalgia. Between The Buried and Me showed promise, however, with its voracious appetite for the whole of metal's history.
By Sean Piccoli
Pop Music Writer
Sean Piccoli can be reached at spiccoli@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4832.
Source: Sun-Sentinel .com
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Comments
BurningPoop
16.08.06, 05:05
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Their last song together in a long time :( FUCK! Im sad....
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SOAGolfeR21
16.08.06, 05:21
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Thanks sugary!!! Good to hear from you, although it is kind of on a sad occasion
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mbeene_2006
16.08.06, 05:31
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I am going 2 be missing them badly.
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sugar_buzz
16.08.06, 05:50
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You're quite welcome, as ever, Golfer, my friend =) Yeah, sad occasion...well, in a way... Definately bittersweet...seeing as they are human beings and they need a break and some time to stretch their creativity in other ways But, we still have all of the art that they've already created and shared with us. And more on the way... And, of course, we've all been brought together because of them as well. A million thank you's and much love and luck to Daron, Serj, John, and Shavo!! Rest. Create. Love. Enjoy.
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Moonette
16.08.06, 05:51
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'Tis a very sad time for System fans. But at least we'll still get to see them while they're off doin' their own thing (i.e. Serj's solo album); we just won't see them together.
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Big_Eyez
16.08.06, 06:09
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wow im going to miss them so much.... ill always be a SOADfan though......... i luv them
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S.O.A.D.orV.O.A.D.
16.08.06, 06:10
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can't wait til they get back.
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gr8estbandEVER
16.08.06, 07:41
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fuck....its too bad they are takin a break. but damn, they need it. although it is a sad time, imagine how fuckin pumped we will be when the come back!!!! i mean, although STA came out in between, how long did we have to wait for mesmerize after toxicity? its gonna be AWESOME when they come back. get some rest system...cant wait to see ya again.
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nico
16.08.06, 10:37
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ok, its their choise and they deserve it .... they did long tours and many dates... im now looking forward for their first show! how amazing that is gonna be ! :-)
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ZAk
16.08.06, 13:43
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blah blah, I think its ok for system so far, 5 albums, loads of bootleds, singles, unreleased songs and other shit, i think its cool, time for new projects now I guess
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mom45
16.08.06, 13:57
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"We'll be back. We just don't know when." Sounds like a promise to me!
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Danie
16.08.06, 14:56
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Yeah, I think so to, mom45. They will be back! In the meantime, I'm really looking forward to Serj's solo album. That man has the most beautiful voice in the universe.
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Eskimoes
16.08.06, 19:40
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This article was posted twice....
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alma
17.08.06, 04:12
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hey, i am stll not sure if they will really be back. there is too much doubt in their words, especially daron does not seem very reliable to me since he says so many different things. still, i wish them all the best and i know that they need and deserve a break. and yes, this article was posted twice...
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