If Carlos Santana Did Meth and Listened to Black Sabbath

My friend Jerry is out tuning basses and what looked like making tea for The Mars Volta. They played in Berkeley the other night. I had only seen them in festival settings where they don't really do so well. There was a notorious performance at KROCK's weenie roast where I think they played one song that lasted an hour. The kids roasting in the 110-degree heat were less than impressed. Such is the band's style. The show the other night was pretty damn good. 2 1/2 hours, no support band and the jammy, meandering songs sounded huge, and always collapsed into screaming metal at some point. I was pretty impressed. They really never let up the whole time. The two furry ones are some of the most entertaining performers this side of Dana Carvey.