This was my first time to the iconic San Diego Sports Arena and I had not seen System of a Down for almost three years. They were touring for their new album Mezmerize that had come out in May, the first of what could have been a double album with Hypnotize but the band decided to release the two albums separately and six months apart to give fans time to digest the first before releasing the next. Lucinda and I were talking again so just her and I went. I remember it was HOT AS HELL inside and the Mars Volta opened up. I want to say the stage was in the middle of the arena as opposed to being at one end.

System of a Down came out behind a semi-opaque curtain hanging from the ceiling so we could only see their silhouettes. Just like the album they opened with “Soldier Side – Intro” and right as they went into “B.Y.O.B.” the curtain dropped. We were right in front of the stage on the floor and everyone lost their fucking mind. After that I remember the band continued with the new album in sequence with “Revenga.” Other than that I remember Daron Malakian talking a little about Charles Manson before they played “ATWA” and I remember “Lost in Hollywood” seeming so much heavier live than on the album. This is one of the few bands I have ever seen that plays the songs better live than on the album. They definitely gave us our money’s worth on this night.

SETLIST: Soldier Side – Intro, B.Y.O.B., Revenga, Know, Needles, Deer Dance, Suggestions, Psycho, Chop Suey!, Kill Rock ‘n Roll, My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)
(Neil Young & Crazy Horse cover), Sad Statue, Violent Pornography, Mr. Jack, Cigaro, This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I’m on This Song, Bounce, ATWA, Forest, Lost in Hollywood, Question!, War?, Prison Song, Roulette, Aerials, Toxicity, Science, Suite-Pee, Sugar