2004 marked a very important and impressive year in The Mars Volta's career. Recording of their second album would start When it comes to live footage from The Mars Volta, the 2004 Big Day Out Cicatriz live performance is one of the first thing to come to mind for any devoted fan. Its reputation has gone down as one of the best examples of how energetic and frantic their live shows could be. An hour long set, three songs being performed, with an unmatched energy that is displayed with an impressive onstage presence. Recorded on video and audio in order to appear on TV and radio broadcast much later to let people see the wonderful performance that the band provided. A lot of confusion has emerged with determining the specific date of the performance, since the original Channel V recording that is up online is labeled with the "01-23-2004", and the Triple J's radio broadcast is presented with the same date, but both of those are wrong.
While it is true that the setlist for the 23rd and 24th are basically the same, and it would continue being the norm for quite some time across the entirety of 2004, but there are quite a few things that indicate the exact date of this performance. First of all, some things have to be taken out of the way. The television broadcast was edited down in order to fit interviews in-between clips of the shows. Roulette Dares, Cicatriz, and Drunkship were all cut in order to fit into the show, so footage was missing overall, but even then, the date was not made clear during the TV segment. Thankfully, the first two track of this performances were transmitted on full (with Drunkship of Lanterns missing completely) during the "Impossible Music Festival" segment presented by DJ Triple J, where these recordings were extracted from, but he gave the date of January 23 for the recording of it, which was completely wrong. Checking with db.etree the only Triple J FM recordings are from the 24th. and Cedric states at the beginning of the show "Ah You Guys Again, Huh?", implying that this might be the second time the band performed live on that specific venue. But even then, those are the minor concerns regarding the concert, since the important thing here is that no matter the missing segments, the great sound quality allows fans to appreciate the impressive performance that was given during this day.
Getting the negative things out of the way first: the radio broadcast has some annoying reminders in the middle of the tracks that we are listening to something that appeared on the Triple J program, and even after multiple listens it can still feel displeasing. It is such a shame that the only recording of Drunkship of Lanterns that is available from this concert is the butchered half that was on the Channel V segment, fading in just when Facilis Descenus Averni is being played and not having a good sound quality on the rip. To be quite frank, these tracks would have been perfect on a long show from the band, where they were not restricted by time and started being able to flesh out even more with their performances, but that doesn't take away from how impressive these particular renditions ended up being. At the end of the day, this is nothing more than a fascinating document of what is an essential show for any Mars Volta fan. Starting off with a great rendition of Roulette Dares, where the end section is extended with a sweet improvisation, going into the mellow tones and showing what every member of the band is able to do with their respective instruments. Everything flows nicely and makes up for a very nice version of the song. However, right after that introduction is where the true gem of the concert comes into play.
The version of Cicatriz ESP found here is one of the best performances ever given by The Mars Volta on any concert, and for many reasons. What starts being dedicated to the local people goes into almost thirty three minutes of pure perfection coming from this band. It is definitely something that much be seen and heard in order to be understood. Cedric jumps like a madman, uses maracas at some points, puts the microphone on this mouth, starts playing with his voice like there is no tomorrow, screaming at some high pitch notes at points, and carrying soft and powerful tones at others. Omar's guitar is dynamic, Juan's bass is synced with the rhythm and it starts leading things on a great way, Jon's drumming is bombastic and incredibly intense, Ikey's keyboards are subtle and perfect in going on with the rhythm, Marcel's percussion complements everything on a great way, and Hinojos sound manipulation is to not go unnoticed, blending everything and adding a lot of elements to the mix. The coordination that every member has is simply unreal, leading to incredible improvisation segments where everything hold together on a very special way. It's also known that Cedric covers songs with his vocals during these live jams, and here it is no exception, vocal parts from their track Ambuletz are performed along side Cheo Feliciano's "El Raton", giving Cicatriz a really playful mood while still maintaining the intense energy carried before on the track. entirety of the track flows on a perfect way, transitioning to Multiple Spouse Wounds and even then managing to be varied within that segment, leading to the final part of the original song.
It is such a shame that Drunkship is missing from this recording, but from the butchered version appreciated in the Channel V segment, it was just as great as the other songs. But still, what can be heard in the bootleg is still one of the best live performances from the band at the time, showing that they were slowly evolving towards these sort of intense and energetic shows.
The Big Day Out festival is something that happens on various parts of Australia during the early months of each year. And Sydney was not the only place where Volta could be recorded performing that specific setlist. In fact, that would be the norm for these small venues where the band took an hour of time to perform those three tracks during that time. Only two days after the Sydney performance, Volta performed on another instance of Big Day Out this time in Melbourne, Australia; and the results were very much similar to the ones seen a couple of days prior. The sound quality here is far inferior and it presents a lot of problems, like the random cuts in the middle of the audio, the sudden changes in volume going on from time to time, with too much bass brickwalling, but still managing to be listenable. Performance wise it is the same thing, doesn't do justice to what a complete and fleshed out Mars Volta concert was able to do, but the renditions here make up for a more than enjoyable concert.
Roulette Dares is energetic as ever, Cicatriz ESP, this time dedicated to old Can's frontman Damo Susuki, has a fantastic rendition with the wonderful improvisations that expand the calm and fast paced moments, with Cedric's vocals being much more dynamic in their range, leading some segments on a very impressive way, and Drunkship of Lanterns, this time being complete instead of butchered by editing, having the same intensity with the varied song structure that can only be provided live. Cedric is as charismatic as ever with the crowd, being playful and full of energy, and it can only be expected that the way they moved onstage was as frantic as ever. If it wasn't for the quality this would be almost to the same level, and even better, than the Sydney bootleg. But, despite how things ended up being, this still is something that can still let people appreciate how The Mars Volta had an unmatched stage presence that earned the love of many people in how unique and powerful they ended up being.
The Sydney Big Day Out concert is a live archive that showed the slow but efficient growth of The Mars Volta as musicians and live performers. Despite the fact that it is incomplete, and will probably keep on being so for a long time, it is something that any fan of the band has to watch and listen in order to understand how much they stole the spotlight with their frantic shows. In less than one hour they were able to deliver so much with their talent, their coordination, and their charisma, and it is something worthy of praise from such a group. An outstanding statement of why people highly recommended their concerts. The sound quality is fantastic, and the live rendition of Cicatriz ESP alone is worth the try. A gem in audio form.
Definitely something essential for any Volta aficionados.
Sound Quality: 9/10
Overall Rating: 9/10
Favorite Track: Cicatriz ESP
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