Scars On Broadway @ Academy 2
SYSTEM Of A Down may be on hiatus following a disappointing couple of years, but you can't accuse their members of resting on their laurels.2001's epoch-defining Toxicity remains one of the century's great rock records, yet SOAD have treaded water since, hence first singer Serj Tankjan and now guitarist Doran Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan concentrating on different musical outlets.
Scars On Broadway are Malakian and Dolmayan's new project, and instantly noticeable is how much like a proper rock band they appear at first glance.
All clad in black with big hair and even bigger beards, they begin this gig looking as if they have just finished another one, and immediately get down to business.
Five songs rattle by before breath can be drawn, all sounding mammoth and much like SOAD (minus the recent bombast but with added melody), with varying degrees of success.
SOAD
Not that the crowd cared. No curious musos here; SOAD devotees were out in force, bellowing every word with fervour. When Malakian demands 'to see a pit right now', the people duly oblige.
Yet for a band who pride themselves on being politically charged, SOAD could be preposterously silly at times, and the same fault can be levelled at Scars.
Chemicals certainly benefited from a rousing live rendition, yet its puerile lyrics threaten to fatally undermine the admiral social conscience displayed elsewhere.
Naturally, the frightening pace at which the show started couldn't be maintained for an hour, but a mid-set lull lasts longer than it should, during which Scars appear surprisingly pedestrian.
However the finale is fantastic, a closing They Say sounding as if it could bring about the apocalypse of which it speaks in the chorus; the one moment truly worthy of SOAD at their best.
What do you think? Have your say.
Reviewed: Mon, 22 September, 2008
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