12 replies to this topic

[Armine]

Circle of Fear
By Serj Tankian

Labor Day weekend Sept. 3rd, 2001 KROQ FREE SHOW FEATURING SYSTEM OF A DOWN

What happened?

3,000-4,000 people were expected to attend this free Kroq show featuring System and 10,000 showed up. The venue and security were not prepared adequately for such a show of heads. Barricades came down early before the band was scheduled to play. The streets were overwhelmed with bodies outside of the venue, and got closed off. The police got weary of the situation and along with the Fire Marshal called off the show before the band was scheduled to take the stage at 5:00pm. The band was ready to play the show and even ceded to cutting their set list short, despite looming threats of arrests of band members and danger to their lives. THE POLICE WOULD NOT HAVE IT! SYSTEM OF A DOWN NEVER CANCELLED THE SHOW! There were so many people there that only a part of them could even actually view the stage. It was FEARed that had the band set foot on stage, people would push, shove, and possibly trample others to get a visual fix on the band. At that point, the barricades had all come down, and the band could not safely make it to the stage.

The police may have FEARed that had the band announced that the show was being cancelled by LAPD, that it would have lead to anger and hostility against their presence. HOWEVER, NOBODY GOT ON STAGE AND ANNOUNCED WHAT WAS GOING ON. This left everyone to assume everything and anything, and some people out of frustration started to loot, fight, etc. My belief is that violence in all forms is a low-level human energy output, and undermines our existence as beings of light.

MOST SYSTEM FANS WERE APPALLED BY ALL THESE ACTIVITIES AND IMMEDIATELY FLED THE SCENE.

The fleeing of this mass of people may have in turn caused FEAR in the police, seeing groups of people running, etc. Let's not underestimate the amount of fear created by the visible police presence, not in casual police uniform, but in riot gear and horses, reminding some of ancient feudal tactics. It is this CIRCLE OF FEAR that prevailed yesterday in Hollywood, much to the band's regret.

What was missing was an invitation to peace....a deer dance perhaps, as in the DNC protests a year before, where Native Americans from Arizona delivered a welcoming dance to deer during their respective season. The eloquent movements and delivery of methodical action on stage derailed the overwhelming aggressive visuals of riot police, and created the only thing that could have saved the day-the smile of a young child watching the event.

That did not happen yesterday....

We believe that all of this could and should have been avoided had the band been allowed on stage. We also believe that there is lack of understanding and communication dealing with such events between promoters and the LAPD. We strongly suggest the creation of a communications forum and an officer training program between the LAPD and KROQ, as well as other promoters/radio stations.

Someone told me that because of this, free shows will not be allowed in Hollywood, at outside venues. That's one more blow to our freedom to convene, and System Of A Down is completely opposed to this.

Today, we were told that our Tower Records "Toxicity" record release signing was cancelled in FEAR of more drama.

FEAR is the worst reason to make any decisions in life. People came to the show to have a good time, in peace. Someone needed to give them the respect that they deserved to let them know what was going on, especially since they would not allow the band themselves to do so. It is my firm belief that the problem of undefined and unknown fear among people is a direct result of the insecurities harbored in any densely populated Metropolis, and defines the times that we live in.

Without judging it, I have decided not to be a party to the CIRCLE OF FEAR, and I hope that you will all join me in doing so.

All of us are radiant beings with physical temporary shells that seem to define us more than it should. When you listen to music and you are uplifted, the place you go is not physical........

Serj

[wh00t]

Which other band would issue a long, intelligent reply to a riot like that the next day? No band. SOAD is awesome, one of the best bands out there. God bless em.

On a side note, I'm here listening to my newly-bought Toxicity CD (Ltd. edition - red cover), and I suggest you all do the same. You won't regret it.

[Armine]

I agree with you... whoever has not gotten the album yet should... there are very nice songs on it.. my personal favorite is track 14

[wh00t]

I'm partial to Chop Suey and Deer Dance myself, but they're all great. I hope they make it big with this, they deserve it.

[Pilafhead]

Didn't have my hopes up based on the new songs I had heard them play live last year, BUT the new CD is good stuff!!

I like Slipknot alot also, so I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and pay scalper prices for good seats at The Forum.

[MosJan]

nice staf i like the ter vorormya on duduk . it was nice .

[MosJan]

SONGS

Prison Song | Needles | Deer Dance | Jet Pilot | X | Chop Suey | Bounce | Forest | ATWA | Science | Shimmy | Toxicity | Psycho | Ariels | Arto
(American - 2001)
No getting around it - "all research and successful drug policy shows/That treatment should be increased/And law enforcement decreased/While abolishing mandatory-minimum sentences" is one unmanageable mouthful of a lyric. But Serj Tankian doesn't try to manage it, doesn't try to make the statement sound artful or clever. Instead, the System of a Down frontman reaches deep into his lungs, fetches his most harrowing drill-sergeant bellow and spews this position statement as deliberately as a protester who wants to get every word out before a cop smashes his face into the cement.
System of a Down's sophomore album thrives on this sort of urgency, the adrenal rush that insists there's no time for ambiguity. Tankian's hectoring delivery says more than any lyrics do. Both manic and schizoid, he veers easily from sing-rap rhythm to Korn-ish hysterics to demonic baritone growl to doomily ruminative Maynard James Keenan impressions. And if "Prison Song," the anti-Drug War rant that kicks off Toxicity, ain't Noam Chomsky, it sure ain't "Nookie," either. Nor, more to the point, is it the meandering impressionism of System's 1998 debut, though Tankian is still capable of meaningless palaver such as "Trust in my self-righteous suicide."

Produced once again by Rick Rubin, the music insists on forward motion without trapping itself in a thrashy lock-step rut. On "Needles," bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John Dolmayan add an Eastern rhythmic lilt that explores the affinity between their Armenian heritage and their metallic stomp. On the single "Chop Suey," they unexpectedly drop an extra beat into the roil midsong, creating a chorus out of what was a verse. Guitarist Daron Malakian is better at eking out colorful squelching noises between the beats than composing distracting melodic detours. Then again, the instrumental intro to "ATWA" isn't just quiet - it's downright gorgeous.

Unfortunately, "ATWA" is also pro-Manson (Charlie, not Marilyn). And if the cops who "like to push the weak around" to protect their "plastic existence" are familiar targets for rebel rockers, so is the "psycho groupie cocaine crazy" Tankian disparages. Like I said, this ain't Chomsky. Maybe System of a Down's newfound politics, with their simplistic black-and-white divisions, make the world seem easier than it is. But that's a welcome progressive counterbalance to a scene where hard rock - whether it's the intricate psychodramatics of Tool or the depressed conundrums of Staind - makes the world seem so much harder than it is.

KEITH HARRIS
(RS 878 - September 27, 2001)

[Armine]

Nice pics MosJan

The more I listen to the album, the more I get attached to it.

[Pilafhead]

Movses,

Where'd you get that??? I haven't seen any of those pictures before!!! The black & white one in the jacuzzi is really cool.

Thanks!!!

Mike

[Pilafhead]

Martin,

Have we convinced you to run out and buy it yet?

Mike

[MosJan]

Mike JAn it was at rollingstone.com

[TigrannesIII]

i bought it the first day it came out, red limited edition. it's good, but still i'm having more and more reservations about these guys pushing the armenian agenda while singing about some of the stuff they do sing about. i like the end of 14, aerials. God bless the duduk, where can an Armenian outside of LA buy some Gasparyan?

[Azat]

System Of A Down Singer Appeals Americans To 'Concentrate On Positive Energies' During Troubled Times
Sep 18, 2001, 12:25 pm PT


System of a Down
System of a Down singer Serj Tankian appealed for Americans to "concentrate on positive energies" in a statement on the recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. on Tuesday (Sept. 18).

"Our whole world has been sickened by the terrible events in New York and D.C. I've been calling out to friends all week to make sure they're O.K. My heart goes out to all the families suffering because of this madness.

"As American citizens, we are in the privileged position to be able to speak our hearts, even if other people disagree. I highly value the fact that I can make a statement with my intention being to sponsor peace and understanding of the tragic events that have been unfolding. I ask only that, for the long-term survival of our planet, we all concentrate on positive energies in our lives while pursuing justice.

"I would not be alive if not for the American orphanages that raised my grandfather after the Armenian Genocide of 1915, so I have a lot of love and respect for the good things that America has and can continue to achieve."

In other System news, a recalculation of last week's SoundScan figures has given the group a debut No. 1 for its recent album, Toxicity, which originally was slated at No. 2 behind Alicia Keys' Songs in A Minor (allstar, Sept. 12). A bump-up of some 52,000 units sold put the Armenian rockers into the No. 1 spot.


-- Kevin Raub