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 Soon, the doors opened and we filed into the venue. Our patience paid off as we were able to line up against the barricade, center-stage. A truly amazing experience as the 10 of our eyes widened at the Persian rugs set on stage as well as covered drum sets, amplifiers, and towers of cabinets. After about an hour, the house lights dimmed and a little old lady appeared on stage.

 

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As the audience roared, and eventually settled down, she began “My name is Mary Morello,” to a flurry of cheers, “and I would like to introduce you to my son, The Nightwatchman.” Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine, performing as his alter-ego, “The Nightwatchman” skipped onto stage armed with an acoustic guitar, labeled with a black sharpie “Whatever It Takes” with a black star underneath, hugged his beloved mother.

He began to strum away a variety of political anthems including “One Man Revolution”, “Union Song”, “America the Beautiful” and an acoustic, harmonica-driven rendition of Rage Against the Machine’s “Guerilla Radio” which he dedicated to tonight’s unofficial host, Serj Tankian. Throughout the performance, he sipped on a warm cup of tea, and talked about the city of Chicago, his hometown.

 As the applause faded from Tom’s acoustic set, technicians began to tape setlists for Serj’s performance down to  the Persian rugs. A plethora of guitars were tuned, pedals were set up and tested, the drums were unveiled and tuned to perfection, and lastly a banner with an “Elect the Dead” logo was lowered behind the drum set to a huge cheer from the crowd.

As I looked backward, I could feel the energy as the tiny club was packed to capacity with around 1000 eager fans waiting to hear the System of a Down frontman’s inaugural solo show.

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Soon, the house lights were dimmed and a crew of black-tuxedo wearing, top-hat-sporting, musicians took the stage. The crowd began to clammer as chants of “Serj! Serj! Serj! Serj!” (all pronounced incorrectly, as “Surge”) began to crescendo. Instantly, Dan Monti, the lead guitarist for the FCC, sporting a tan guitar, banged out the opening chords to “The Unthinking Majority”. Then, Serj, SPRINTED out on stage, sporting a gleaming white tuxedo and top hat to scream “POW!” as the first song released off of “Elect the Dead”, as well as the first song EVER played solo, was off and running. The energy in the Vic Theatre was on redline, as I was instantly SLAMMED into the barricade, by a sea of seemingly inconsiderate fans. (Authors note: my ribs still fucking hurt).

Serj sang this song to perfection, letting the audience repeat the line “Making life more tolerable” which put a big smile on our eager faces. As the song ended, a tandem of electronic beeps could be heard, followed by a fast-paced guitar riff, a harbinger of none other than “Empty Walls.” Serj again performed this song flawlessly, as this theme of incredibly high quality performances would ring true time and time again on this night.

Following the crushing finish to the first single off of “Elect the Dead”, Serj gave a speech to the audience, reminding us, that this was his first ever solo show. As well as screaming “Chicagooooo!! How are you motherfuckers doing tonight????”

 

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Then, Serj launched into “Feed Us” another crushing song, that is sure to make audiences on the remainder of this promo tour scream. The chorus of this song is incredibly catchy, and will be a major highlight of the new album. During this song, Serj locked into my girlfriend’s eyes during a verse for a solid 3 seconds which prompted a priceless scream out of her, and creating a huge smile for the 15 or so people surrounding our group of 5.

As “Feed Us” ended, Serj, armed with a second microphone for vocal effects, took off his white Tuxedo jacket to reveal a brilliant white dress shirt with black trim. The FCC then played an unknown riff, followed by a chorus of “La la la la la la la la, lie, lie lie” from “Mario” on bass as well as Dan Monti. Obviously, “Lie Lie Lie” was a huge hit for the audience, as the band’s performance was really tight. This song is sure to be a fan favorite for it’s goofy lyrics, yet still being very rockin’.

 As the song drew to a close, Serj was given a black acoustic-electric guitar and an incredibly large, triangular green guitar pick with two people having sex on it. Not to brag, but I was THAT close to Serj where I can confirm that indeed, he was using one of DARON MALAKIAN's signature guitar picks. He strummed 4 successions of 3 notes, known to us as the intro of “Saving Us.” I thought this performance was incredible, ESPECIALLY the wailing segment of “Forever I lie!” which evoked screams from the audience, and an overall feeling of awe as the Armenian-American showed off his incredible vocal power.

As he played the intro riff again as an outro, Serj began another speech.

“Two years ago in Paris, I was lying in my hotel room. I had a dream, where I saw this guitar. Well, not this one exactly, but one like it. I could see the chords, I could see the lyrics, and I could see myself playing it. And from this dream I wrote a song….”

A maroon hat was thrown onstage, hitting the neck of the guitar, evoking a loud gasp from the front row.

Smiling radiantly Serj laughed, and added “Which is not called “Hat”. It’s called “Baby”.

On a side bar, this action displays what a TRUE professional Serj Tankian is, to laugh off obnoxious fan moments, in his first ever solo show, a quality that all of us should learn from.

“Baby” was an incredibly powerful number as Serj wailed once more to a deafening level of cheers, as the audience was privy to the new song directly from Serj’s mouth to our ears.

Following this dreamy song, was another new one (as almost all of them WERE new), “Sky is Over”. In my opinion, this was my favorite of his new songs, as the drumming on this song was truly incredible, crescendo-ing into Serj’s catchy chorus of “Even though we can’t afford, the sky is over.” Also, during the breakdown of this song, Serj began to raise his arms violently, in a similar fashion to the performance of “Science” from the Astoria 2005 concert, which got the crowd REALLY riled up.

After this instant classic, Serj began to hum a low-pitched tune. Following the verses of “Lay it down”, Serj began to chant something rather quirky, yet extremely awesome, following the scheme of “From the Prophet, came the King, from the King came the Pauper, from the Pauper came the Swing, from the Swing came Creation, from the Creation came Love. You don’t know what this love is all about. PRAISE! The lord and pass the ammunition!!!”

 Oh yeah! We were ALL “praisin’ the lord” during this awesome number.

Following this came a major surprise.

An announcement from the mustachio-d Serj, “We’re now going to do a song that I’ve only played once, by myself.”

A familiar piano intro was played by Erwin, the keyboardist from Slow Motion Reign. This intro, was played in the 2004 Axis of Justice Benefit Show.

A few fans in the audience, including myself, recognized this…………CHARADES.

CHA-FUCKING-RADES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He said he wouldn’t play any System songs………..He lied! In the best way possible (as Charades was co-written by Daron Malakian).

Unlike the AoJ performance of this song, this version was ROCKIN’! Played heavily by the full band, complete with a rapid-fire drum beat, and heavy distorted guitars both by Dan Monti and Larry LaLonde (of Primus).


Following this amazing hit with the crowd, Serj took a deep bow to an explosion of cheers.

Erwin got up from his piano bench to accommodate Serj.

Serj then knelt stage center and announced softly through a microphone, “as much as I love my country, I believe in no countries. As much as I love my flag, I believe in no flags. As much as I love my owners, I wish we didn't have anymore more fucking borders, thank you.”


The white-shirted musician sat down at the bench and began to coo a soft verse. This heartfelt song began to pick up as the FCC began to really rock out. This piano-driven number is known as “Honking Antelope” which features a truly moving segment with the lyrics “Run away with me”.
 

Soon after the song ended, a familiar bass line was played by “Mario”. Fans of Serj have heard this song very recently, in fact, as “Holiday in Cambodia” began to take form. During the guitar-driven introduction to this song, Serj introduced each member of the FCC, as they showcased each of their instruments.

The energy of the night was at an all-time high during this Dead Kennedy’s cover, as Serj chanted the chorus and made hysterical facial expressions throughout. The audience screamed out “Pol Pot!” with Serj as he sung this beautifully, yet aggressively. As the song came to a triumphant, yet politically biting close, Serj took a deep bow once again and announced to the crowd gently, “for those of you who didn’t know, that was a cover of a song by the Dead Kennedy’s.”

Then came a strange, yet oh-so-incredible moment in the show.

Serj started to squeal a tune that the lyrics were quite hard to make out. It ended with a very odd quote—“You have such beautiful eyes. You have such a beautiful ass. It reminds me of Beethoven’s little CUNT!” in a very squeal-y voice similar to the second verse of “Vicinity of Obscenity.”

Vocal pitch aside, we all knew what song he was about to play.


He ROCKED it. Both mom45 and my girlfriend turned to one another during the song, as they recognized a guitar riff from the System hit “Forest.” Again, the FCC played this song VERY tightly, as Serj’s vocal performance yet AGAIN wowed the Vic Theatre on this cold Friday night in October.

As the song came to a close, Serj took a final bow, and thanked the audience greatly.

The house lights were then raised as the crowd chanted “We want more! We want more!”

Thankfully, we were teased for only a few seconds before Serj re-appeared. However, the FCC were not with him. He strode to his piano and began to play an incredibly emotional song with lyrics that included “All I want is you” and “All I want is me.” “Elect the Dead.” The title track, was in turn the final track, as Serj had the audience almost in tears, as you could FEEL the pain in his voice.

Then, a US Flag with a red “Peace” sign drawn on it was thrown onstage. Serj held it up upside down and said “A US Flag with a peace sign on it, is my fucking dream!” As he held it upside-down, the international sign of distress.

It was wonderful.

Just wonderful, yet so sorrowful.

After the short closer, he took a true final bow, waved goodbye to the audience, who was ROARING, and he left the stage.

As the house lights were raised, the crowd began to filter out of the Vic. Being in the front row, pressed against the barricade, our group stayed for a few moments extra. As the tech crew dismantled the stage, setlists were being ripped off the Persian rugs. I politely asked one of the tech guys for one, and he handed it to me!!

Such a wonderful collector’s item for the first show EVER, was in my grasp. I ended up giving it away though, as it really belonged in another’s hands more than my own.

Then comes the highlight of the night.

We filtered out of the theatre eventually, and made our way to an alley to the side of the venue, hoping to maybe meet Serj.

Waiting for about 20-30 minutes in the cold, we met the drummer of the band, who was really tall, and an incredibly nice guy, as well as “Mario” the bassist. Then, we met Erwin, the keyboardist, who we talked to for 5 full minutes.

This man, known as the keyboardist for Slow Motion Reign, is one of the coolest, nicest musicians, I have ever met. Instead of being all “rock star”, Erwin was down to earth, and hopeful that we liked the show, and hoped that his hard work had paid off. We couldn’t help but shower him with compliments as his playing, ESPECIALLY on “Charades” was just mind-blowing.

About 10 minutes later, we hear a scream over near the tour bus. Serj had snuck out the front door of the venue, nearly unnoticed, wearing a hoodie, with the hood pulled over his head, and was signing autographs and taking pictures with a throng of fans outside.

The 5 of us RAN over to try to meet our hero. He was engulfed by crazy fans shouting “Surge! Surge! Sign this!!!” Luckily, I’m a very tall guy of 6’3”, and was able to kind of reach over people with my camera. I again, tried to be polite and asked “Serj, will you take a picture with me?”

It must have been a stroke of luck at this point, if you believe in such a thing, but the man himself turned right to me, looked into my eyes, and said “Sure, bro.”

I went to the front of the line, and took a picture with Serj!!!!!!!!! It was the highlight of my year thus far. Giddily, I then shook his hand, and said “Thank you so much for having us tonight.” And he looked into my eyes, shook back, and said “My pleasure.”

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We also met "xquestion" there who's a really cool guy, as well.

On the TV, “The Unthinking Majority” video was on repeat, but on MUTE.

Through the stereo, the ENTIRE “Elect the Dead” album was being streamed.

After hearing the entire album, I will say that, although it is a departure from System, it ROCKS!

I also received a booklet of Official Lyrics to each song on “Elect the Dead,” which are all themed on special Serj-watermarked paper. A truly nice touch, along with various stickers and posters.

So many highlights, I can’t even begin to describe…but what I can tell you is this. On October 23rd, an audiological bomb is going to be dropped in the form of “Elect the Dead.”

Overall, this weekend was one of the best of my life, great friends, great music, great people, great time. The band played an EXTREMELY tight set for their first show together, and Serj was in rare form, smiling, dancing, rocking, screaming, and being Serjical.

Vote for the dead, and most importantly, always remember to Fuck the System…….

--SOAGolfeR21.

DO NOT READ PAST HERE IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE THE SETLIST....

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