Sometimes when you’re burnt out from work, taking a break is just what you need. For the Mars Volta, ten years is just enough to do the trick. The Grammy-award-winning prog-rock band is back with a Blacklight Shine and a new tour starting in September at The Factory at Deep Ellum in Dallas.
It started with an announcement on their long-dead (or deactivated) social pages in mid-June. The post included a video with some flashing lights, some coordinates, a time period, and the words “L’YTOME HODORXÍ TELESTERION.” Some forum posters think that the first two phrases are an anagram for “My Orthodox Lie” but the rest is unclear at this time. Fans could look up the coordinates and it would lead to an art installation in Los Angeles’ Grand Park. During the next few days, visitors could enter a large cube (dubbed the Voltacube), listen to a not-yet-released Blacklight Shine, and “were taken on a full, immersive journey to outer space.”
For those who missed out, a press release stated that a “digital experience” will be available on July 1st. In the meantime, an 11-minute music video for the single came out shortly after the art installation ceased. The video begins as a young girl dances bomba, an Afro-Puerto dance where the dancer leads the drummers through their movements, along with Volta’s latest song. The song ends four minutes into the video but the dancing continues, depicting a lively freestyle session of bomba between conga musicians and several dancers.
The tour was originally going to be in 13 different cities. Just three days later, six more shows have been added due to high demand. That includes two more shows in Los Angeles, one more night in New York City, and an additional show before the originally proposed start of the tour in Dallas.
This tour has been long-anticipated. Singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala tweeted out in 2019 that a reunion was in the works but could have been postponed due to the pandemic. Bixler-Zavala also let fans know that the planned tour would not be a typical reunion tour consisting of their greatest hits and favorite band members. In fact, it’ll be whatever they’re feeling.
“Our past campaigns never relied on playing requests or going fully backwards. … It’s new shit, new people, left turns, tangent inconsistencies, mazapan [sic] dreams and churro wishes.”
We don’t know if that sentiment applies to this 2022 tour but Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez are known for their spontaneity. Fans of the duo expect the unexpected. Regardless of what the future holds, fans also know that they’re in for a show.
