The Mars Volta & Le Butcherettes at Mission Denver

A friend told me a long, long time ago that their favorite band was The Mars Volta. At the time, I had honestly not heard of this progressive rock duo from El Paso, but after I looked them up, I knew I wanted to see them live. Trouble was, they have been on hiatus for a decade.

Lucky for all of us, Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala joined back up to put out a new album in 2022 and toured around to see us. The Denver stop was at Mission Ballroom, and it was a perfect venue to showcase the musicality and range of the band.

Lots of people felt the way I did – thrilled to see this band after all this time. Mission was packed and we photographed from the crowd, so you can see how bouncy fans were in the photos below.

Le Butcherettes, lead by Teri Gender Bender, was pretty much a perfect opener. Raw and wild, Teri bounced everywhere with a growl and a smile.

The Mars Volta played a great mix of songs. And while the new music could be classified as their perhaps poppiest music of all time, the mix worked, especially as Cedric gave us thrashing vocals to match Omar’s incredible guitar-playing. Having a full band with them one made everything seem bigger.

If you want to catch them in 2023, join me back at Shaky Knees, who just announced a killer lineup for their 10th anniversary.

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Le Butcherettes – Denver Concert Photos

The Mars Volta – Denver Concert Photos

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