Boots for Beginners - Tremulant Years
These shows are super chaotic, rough, but bristling with a raw energy that faded over time and instead was replaced with a finessed ferocity. The band feels very much in transition from At the Drive-In and still figuring out its voice. There are not many knock out shows from the era, but its a series of concerts worth exploring to hear the band trying to figure itself out, fine-tuning songs, and testing new ideas that never came to fruition.
De Facto
Live in Berkeley, California
August 10th, 2001
924 Gilman
Before The Mars Volta there was De Facto. This is a great recording (soundboard even) of them just two months before The Mars Volta came onto stage. Great psychedelic dub going on here.
The Mars Volta
Live in Dallas, Texas
October 31st, 2001
The Door
Maybe not the best audio (can be a little blown out at times), but this is so early in the life of the band it a must watch/listen to see how it all started. These early shows also featured the catchy “Caught in the Sun” jam that would eventually morph into Talk Show Host by Free Moral Agents. Cicatriz is nearly a different song, and Inertiatic has this ricketiness that makes you feel like it is about to collapse at any moment.
The Mars Volta
Live in San Francisco, California
November 12th, 2001
Bottom of the Hill
For the very early The Mars Volta you can’t go wrong with this 2001 gig in San Francisco. The audio is crystal clear so you can hear all the dirty energy exuding from the band. You also can better hear Jeremy Ward’s fantastic audio manipulations going on. If you want more video check out the next show at the same venue – it has some great footage.
The Mars Volta
Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands
March 03rd, 2002
Melkweg
This is still a very primordial band that is still struggling with its identity, but in these European tour performances of 2002 there is a greater confidence and firm footing as opposed to the unfiltered chaos of 2001. The audio on this show sounds fantastic, the bass is thumping and the guitar is just wonderful type of shrieking. We love the random German audio sample and dirty synth sounds happening during Son Et.
The Mars Volta
Live in London, UK
March 24th, 2002
ULU
Another solid show with great video footage. They are having a lot of fun with Jon’s drum solo during Eunuch with Cedric hopping on the floor tom and ride. This is a slightly tighter show than the pro-shot Osterrocknacht – which is next in the list.
The Mars Volta
Live in Dusseldorf, Germany
March 31st, 2002
Phillipshalle
Can’t claim this is the cleanest The Mars Volta gig, but it’s the first (fairly certain) pro footage of them and it looks great. They are just going ballistic on stage and we get an interview as well. They actually show Jeremy which was not common as he hid off stage and an astute eye may also notice Ikey is just sitting on a gear case….
Hey, use what you got.
De Facto
Live in Long Beach, California
August 18th, 2002
Lincoln Park
The story behind Eva’s departure has shifted over time, but her absence meant that for 5 months The Mars Volta didn’t have anyone to anchor their rhythm section.
When all else fails, reunite De Facto.
This show features John Frusciante guesting on the guitar. We personally dig this show for its punchy take on Exit Template.
The Mars Volta
Live in Santa Barbara, California
October 02nd, 2002
The Living Room
This was a super short lived line-up with Ralph Jasso (a long time friend of Omar and Cedric) on bass and Linda Good on keys. They played only a handful of shows before Ikey was rehired and Ralph was replaced with Jason Lader. Of the few shows of this line-up there is not a whole lot of recorded material, but the audio here is decent, there is lots of great video footage, and we get some very early runs of Drunkship and Eriatarka.