You do need to be in a certain mood to watch a Mars Volta concert... as Omar and Cedric showed at Birmingham Academy on March 9th.

In order to support their release of Frances The Mute in late February, the Mexican-formed Mars Volta toured various venues in the UK playing a mixture of new stuff, old stuff... and very old stuff.

It was a strange spectacle... the doors opened at 7, and at 8 the stage was lit and on they came... The Mars Volta. No support, no special guests, nothing. In total, seven people wandered out onto the stage. Omar Rodriguez and Cedric Bixler led the pack, followed by the five friends recruited to help with performances. A drummer, extra guitarist, keyboardist and two people working in perfect sync on the percussion table, with some of the most unexpected percussion on view.

At eight, they started. And 8:40, they finally had a break in their music. After starting with their brief interlude of 'Tira Me A Las Arañas', they then ran into an epic 35 minute combination of songs, before having a brief pause and flying straight into a new song of electrifying guitars, vocal effect, synthesized riffs and instrumental perfection. After two and a half hours, The Mars Volta upped and left, leaving a crowd of hypnotised fans wondering if they'd come out for an encore to play their famous 'Inertiatic Esp'. Instead, the lights came up and they disappeared into the dimness of the backstage. Neither single from 'De-Loused In The Comatorium' was performed. Fortunately, for their needy fans, they played their new single 'The Widow', along with their ever-popular 'Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)', plus a collection of eccentricities from their 2002 EP, 'Tremulant'.

The atmosphere was electric; and the show was a sell-out. Enough people were packed into the academy and sang their hearts out. The only thing was, nobody actually knows what they're singing about. With lyrics like "Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed" and "He's got fasting black lungs made of clove splintered shardes", it really is a case of singing because you want to, or you've deeply analysed the psychological states of Omar and Cedric and do understand what they mean by "Clipside of the pinkeye flight". The first option, though, is by far the more enjoyable.

The only disappointment of the show was the fact they did not play their most famous hit, 'Inertiatic ESP' or their other released single 'Televators'. But as with all famous hits, they probably just got bored of it. Still, they more than made up for it with over two and a half hours of music at its best. Musical brilliance.

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