The line to get in started at the front door of the Beaumont Club and wrapped around the corner of Pennsylvania and Westport Road. Why were all these avid fans waiting for hours in sub-freezing temperatures, without jackets? The answer is that The Mars Volta was playing, and the Beaumont Club gets very hot very quickly. Little did those fans know that there was a back door with virtually no line!

The Mars Volta is touring small clubs to promote the release of its fourth studio album Bedlam in Goliath, and Kansas City found itself on the tour schedule for January 25th. The tour is a limited one in the United States. The Mars Volta will be playing a mere eleven shows before heading to Europe and Asia in April.

The crowd quickly descended upon the comfort of the indoors, and The Mars Volta wasted no time getting the show started. Not fifteen minutes after the crowd was inside, the band took the stage and instantly got down to business. They opened with "Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)," their first radio single, and went into "Viscera Eyes," a favorite on their third album, Amputechure. After a brief plea to the crowd not to smoke for the health of the general populace, they broke into the new material.

"Wax Simulacra" was the first new song debuted, followed by a half-hour jam which integrated four of their older songs into one flowing composition executed with flawless precision. They finished the three hour set with "Day of the Baphomets," a bass-driven epic that incorporates funk, rock, blues, and what can only be described as an island sound.

The Mars Volta is the creative brainchild of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, two of the original members of At the Drive-In, an influential indie band in the earlier part of the decade. Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez grew up in Puerto Rico as childhood friends. The two decided to part ways with At the Drive-In to pursue a more rock 'n' roll sound, and The Mars Volta was born.

The first album, De-Loused in the Comatorium, was released to mixed reviews, as it was a concept album about a degenerate future society. The album mixed rock beats with Spanish rhythms and new-age sound. The band toured with A Perfect Circle to promote the album.

The second album, Frances the Mute, secured their status as a force to be reckoned with in the jam community. The last seven songs on the album mix together to become one song, encompassing twenty-five minutes of dramatic highs and lows.

By the third album, Amputechure, they were opening for System of a Down on a nationwide tour and playing gigs - such as the Bonnaroo Festival and the Ve-Goose Festival - to go along with television spots on The Conan O’Brien Show and The Late Show with David Letterman.

The fourth album, Bedlam in Goliath, is a concept album about a Ouiji Board that they bought in Jerusalem, and picks up where Amputechure left off.

The songs have larger-than-life hooks and choruses that don't seem to follow conventional time signatures. Their classic rock roots are evident in songs like "Goliath" that take you on a psychedelic-sixties type of journey. And they get creative on "Soothsayer," in which rock beats are mixed with a Middle Eastern sound. This album has the power to both confuse and intrigue, while leaving the listener wanting more.

The Mars Volta seems to be more popular overseas, and its tour schedule reflects that. The band plays in Australia and New Zealand on every tour, and the Japanese can't get enough of them. As their popularity in America increases, expect them to visit Kansas City more frequently.

Get more info about the band and tour dates at http://www.themarsvolta.com.

Copyright 2008 Metropolitan Community College