Mars Volta’s Guitarist Debuts New Band

Since the 2001 dissolution of post-hardcore heroes At The Drive-In, an El Paso band, guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez formed the Mars Volta, produced artists like Juliette Lewis, and released a more than 35 solo and collaborative albums. Monday night in San Francisco, his latest and most experimental project, the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group, played their first U.S. show — and they unleashed a prog-space odyssey on the Great American Music Hall, according to a review on Spin.com.

Rodriguez-Lopez was hardly the show’s only star — in fact, it wouldn’t be inappropriate to add the word “Super” to the band’s name. Rodriguez-Lopez’s little brother, Mars Volta’s Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez (also a member of El Paso band Zechs Marquise), played keys; Ximena Sariana Rivera (whose own work was nominated for a Grammy for Best Latin Rock Or Alternative Album) periodically added vocals; the Mars Volta’s Juan Alderete De La Pea played bass; producer/engineer Lars Stalfors (Matt & Kim, Mars Volta) manipulated sounds on a laptop; and experimental jazz drummer Deantoni Parks (Velvet Underground’s John Cale, Elvis Costello) manned the sticks.

Compared to Mars Volta, the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group’s sound is more mellow and experimental. Most of their hour-and-a-half-long set was impressive instrumental jams, which found electronic flourishes comfortably sharing space with Rodriguez-Lopez’s kaleidoscopic guitar riffs and Parks’ frenetic jazz drumming. With the band’s namesake — sporting his trademark big glasses and bigger hair — hiding out at the back of the stage, Parks became the focal point, his arms flailing as he pounded out the off-kilter beats. Even though Rodriguez-Lopez was running the show, his guitar heroics were just part of the mix; he democratically made room for solos from all of the skilled players in his band.

Read the full review here.

Read about the 10th anniversary of the release of At the Drive-In’s final album here.