The Mars Volta Challenge the Audience and Themselves in Royal Oak

On a recent, temperate autumn evening in Royal Oak, north of Detroit, The Mars Volta returned to bring their brand of progressive rock fusion to the stage to an attentive and supportive audience who most likely got a different show than most expected. Having performed at The Royal Oak Music Theatre on the first leg of their 2022 reunion tour, seeing the band on their only Michigan date this fall carried expectations or at least hopes that they would expand on their performances from the spring on a double bill tour with Deftones, and while they did extend some of the ambient bridges and jams that connected the songs on the setlist, they continued to play the exact same set in Royal Oak that they've performed at every show they've given this year, a track-by-track run through Lucro Sucio; Los Ojos del Vacio, their ninth and most recent LP, released in April.

While The Mars Volta are a blend of many styles and influences, more than anything, they are a modern progressive rock band, and this brings challenges to both the audience and the band itself to push forward rather than staying comfortably in the past or mining their greatest hits on stage. Volta's reputation grew as younger fans discovered them during their decade-long hiatus, and while many got to see the band run through some of their best-known songs during the tour for 2022's self-titled reunion album, the decision to dedicate the entire year of 2025 solely on this new set of material has been confounding to some and alienating to others. Aside from the material being unfamiliar, it also carries a tone dissimilar at times to the band's classic work, opting for an uneasy atmosphere over psychedelia and for calm vibes and intense focus over free form improvisation. In many ways, the latest album is the most challenging music they have yet released, building on the 33-minute "Cassandara Gemini," which closes 2005's Frances the Mute and expanding the idea to occupy the entirety of the 49-minute album, which is mixed to flow together as one big piece made up of several movements. Fans who saw them with Deftones last spring were introduced to the material as it was arranged on the record but prior to the album's release, leading to even more frustration for some. On their headlining tour, the band extended some sections (adding about 20 minutes to the set) to allow for a bit more of the vibe for which they are known without changing the running order of the songs or feeling an obligation to perform additional songs along the way or afterward.

The Mars Volta took the stage after short opening sets from Feliz y Dada and Kiana Medina, emerging artists that, like Volta, reflect musical and cultural elements from the Latin American members of each group. That they have always maintained musical connections to Mexico, Cuba, and Puetro Rico, it's notable that The Mars Volta's fanbase includes a greater Latino presence than their contemporaries.

To isolate any one track over another would be defeating the point of the performance, as it is all meant to connect, with almost no pauses between any two sections, somewhat comparable to live performances of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, where those in the audience who know where the individual segments end and begin applauded briefly as the next movement started. Co-band leaders Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals) and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (guitar) performed in a focused and understated way that carried more control and demanded greater attention to the music than their overly animated and often chaotic performances from the '00s. Famous for rotating various musicians among the supporting roles within the touring band, the current line-up includes returning members such as Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez (keyboards), Leo Genovese (keyboards, saxophone), and founding bassist Eva Gardner along with newcomers Linda-Philomene Tsoungui (drums) and Teri Gender Bender (co-lead vocals), who was the opening act on the band's previous tour. An unstated theme of the current era of the band seems to highlight androgyny as men in the group hide behind long hair while jamming with women who have buzz-cuts or sport false moustaches. The current line-up of four men and three women is the band's most diverse ever; however, it makes no difference to the music or the performance one way or the other.

Some elements of the performance recalled memorable moments from Maynard Keenan's shows over the past few decades. Rodriguez-Lopez spent most of the concert near the back of the stage, similar to Keenan's 21st century concerts with Tool, intentionally avoiding spotlights and stage lighting, and he was often the least-noticeable musician among the seven. Bixler-Zavala, having never been able to quite replicate his multi-tracked and multi-octave vocals from studio recordings live on stage, has added Teri Gender Bender as a co-lead vocalist, handling both the higher harmonies and accenting key notes with additional power and emphasis. Their voices blended well together throughout the show, but it was impossible to not compare their approach to the successful collaboration between Keenan and the great Carina Round in Puscifer. 

The majority of the time, The Mars Volta stayed focused on delivering each segment with comfortable precision and only deviated into noisy jamming a few different times throughout (though doing so made those moments the most sonically engaging of the night compared to the well-rehearsed delivery of the songs themselves). As the album cycle came to a close, it was clear the concert itself would as well, in spite of the band having been on stage for only 75 minutes. The audience responded with enthusiastic appreciation, and the members of the band seemed to reflect genuine thanks, but there was no encore,  and no material from any other Volta release was performed. Following a band like this one requires a fair amount of patience and a willingness to experience new and different things along the way. That part of their punk influence comes through as they do what they want when they want regardless of the crowd or the critics. The more open minded and adventurous among those who attended the Royal Oak show no doubt left satisfied and looking forward to The Mars Volta's next musical adventures and experiments where the less initiated or hit-focused members of the crowd may have felt overcharged or unfulfilled. 

The Mars Volta (Royal Oak, MI - 11/13/25) set list:
Fin
Reina tormenta
Enlazan las tinieblas
Mictlan
The Iron Rose
Cue the Sun
Alba del orate
Voice in My Knives
Poseedora de mi sombra
Celaje
Vocitero
Mito de los trece cielos
Un disparo al vacio
Detras de la puetra dorada
Mullidos

Morgana
Cue the Sun (reprise)
Lucro sucio
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