{"id":297097,"date":"2026-07-15T22:12:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/297097\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T22:12:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:12:52","slug":"gig-review-system-of-a-down-queens-of-the-stone-age-acid-bath-tottenham-stadium-london-13-07-26-metal-planet-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/297097\/","title":{"rendered":"Gig Review : System of a Down\/ Queens of the Stone Age\/ Acid Bath \u2013 Tottenham Stadium, London \u2013 13\/07\/26 \u2013 Metal Planet Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Review by Hugh Spence for MPM<\/p>\n

This is a big one, its been 9 years since System of a Down has played the UK or Europe, but it\u2019s been 24 years since System of a Down played in Ireland at Ozzfest in 2002, so it\u2019s been 24 years since i was lucky enough to see them so this gig has been a long time coming.\u00a0 Although they haven\u2019t released any new albums since the double albums of Mezmerize and Hypnotize in 2005, 21 years ago and yet still remain one of the biggest bands in the world with selling out stadiums all over Europe with great ease.\u00a0 To add to System of a Down, we have the exceptional Queens of the Stone Age, who have toured relentlessly and released 5 albums since the SOAD\u2019s last release, although a very different band from System of a Down, they are still a very welcome bonus to the tour, personally I haven\u2019t seen them live in Slane 2003.\u00a0 To top this line up off is the legendary Acid Bath, a band I thought I\u2019d never get to see live after disbanding 19 years ago but reuniting in 2024 so this truly is the dream concert.<\/p>\n

An early rise on another beautiful sunny day so our group of rockers and headbangers to make our way to Belfast International Airport for an early morning flight, where we are joined by fans from all over the country making their way to London, plenty of SOAD and QOTSA shirts wandering all over the airport.\u00a0 Since we arrive in London early in the day we make a wee trip to the Carts & Horse pub, the birthplace of Iron Maiden, a brilliant pub with very friendly staff, lots of Maiden memorabilia and fairly priced delicious pint, so I\u2019d highly recommend any self respecting Maiden fan to make the short journey.<\/p>\n

As the evening rolls in we make our way to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, we just follow the hoards of black shirts taking over the streets and there is a real positive energy in the air.\u00a0 The stadium itself is huge with both nights of gigs sold out, it\u2019s a great venue, very little queuing, bar the merch store of course, plenty of space to move around but of course very expensive drinks.<\/p>\n

Acid Bath kick off the evening at exactly 6pm with \u201cBonus Poem\u201d blaring out over the PA system as Dax and crew come out on stage to start with \u201cTranquilized\u201d from 1994\u2019s \u201cWhen the Kite String Pops\u201d but unfortunately the first thing that is noticeable, except for the sparse crowd, is the terrible sound with the vocals being incredibly low so you can barely hear them. They continue then with 3 songs from 1996\u2019s \u201cPaegan Terrorism Tactics\u201d, \u201cBleeding me an Ocean\u201d, \u201cGraveflower\u201d and \u201cPaegan Love Song\u201d, thankfully by the time they play Paegan Love Song the sound has greatly improved to give us the full effect of Acid Bath, they finish their short set with \u201cThe Mortcian\u2019s Flame\u201d, although it was great to finally see Acid Bath live, the band was well received and I am extremely grateful to see them, I just don\u2019t think the sound and venue did the band justice, Dax, Sammy (Pierre), Mike (Edison), Shane and Zack are fantastic musicians and played perfectly but they were let down by the venue, I hope this was just a once and they get the sound they deserve for the remainder of the tour, hopefully they\u2019ll hit Ireland sometime in the near future so I can get the full experience.<\/p>\n

There is a 30 break while the stage is set up for Queens of the Stone Age, in that 30 minutes the stadium goes from sparsely crowded to being completely full, so it\u2019s safe to say the vast majority of the crowd also want to see QOTSA and not just SOAD.\u00a0 At 7pm, Josh, Troy and crew hit the stage to massive roars from the crowd, opening their set with \u201cRegular John\u201d from their 1998 S\/T album, a classic song showcasing the origins of QOTSA and right way to open the set, and in fairness, this set gives fans of every era of QOTSA something to sing along with, especially as they keep with the classics with \u201cThe Lost Art of Keeping a Secret\u201d up next from \u201cRated R\u201d.\u00a0 Another thing to point out is that from the moment QOTSA hit the stage, the sound is perfect.\u00a0 In this perfectly curated set we get \u201cDo it Again\u201d from 2002\u2019s \u201cSongs for the Deaf\u201d next, it\u2019s like playing through the timeline of QOTSA with every song being well received by the massive crowd, but it helps when Josh\u2019s swagger and hip shaking holds the crowd in the palm of his hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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We then get a double hitter from \u201cEra Vulgaris\u201d starting with \u201cSick, Sick, Sick\u201d followed quickly by the rarely heard \u201cThe Fun Machine Took a Shit and Died\u201d which they hadn\u2019t played live since 2014 so its a real hit with the die hard QOTSA fans. Next song of the set is \u201cPaper Machete\u201d from \u201cIn Times New Roman\u201d, the whole way through the set it looks like the guys are really enjoying themselves with\u00a0 bassist Michael Shuman pretty much constantly headbanging when he didn\u2019t have to add additional vocals and drummer Jon Theodore letting loose on the kit all the while smiling.<\/p>\n

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Troy then takes out his maracas for \u201cMy God is the Sun\u201d from the catchy \u201c\u2026Like Clockwork\u201d album, much to the delight of the eager fans. We get \u201cRun, Pig, Run\u201d quickly followed by \u201cLittle Sister\u201d to keep the crowd dancing, there\u2019s not much banter from the band but you don\u2019t need it when you\u2019re this solid.<\/p>\n

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As the set comes to a close with 3 songs from \u201cSongs for the Deaf\u201d, starting with \u201cGo with the Flow\u201d to warm up the audience\u2019s vocal chords, as a few mosh pits open up.\u00a0 After Go with the Flow Josh just says \u201cWatch this\u201d and hits the opening chords to \u201cNo One Knows\u201d and the whole stadium erupts into jumping mad fans and singing, so much so that Josh has no need to sing the first half of the song as the audience does it for him, he thanks use with a \u201cI fucking love you so much\u201d, this all builds to the finale, \u201cA Song for the Dead\u201d, which Jon absolutely nails on the drums. <\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a great way to end the set, although I did later find out they had to drop a song from the setlist, it will forever remain a mystery on what song it was.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s another 30 minute break until System of a Down hits the stage, although it\u2019s the quickest 30 minutes as I\u2019m still recovering from the buzz of Queens of the Stone Age.\u00a0 The anticipation builds as we get closer to the main event, you can feel an electricity in the air with an atmosphere I just can\u2019t describe so I\u2019m just not going to try.<\/p>\n

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Daron comes on stage first to open with the melodic \u201cSoldier Side\u201d, chills run through my body as I take a second to catch my breath before chaos ensues. The rest of the band comes out on stage to properly kick off with \u201cB.Y.OB<\/a>\u201d from \u201cMezmerize\u201d sending the crowd into a flurry of mosh pits and fist pumping along with \u201cthe lies from the tablecloth\u201d before breaking down into the melodic chorus for a bit of a sing along, but to the be honest, every song was a sing along, everyone here knows every lyric word for word for every single song.<\/p>\n

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Just before \u201cSuite Pee\u201d they properly introduce themselves \u201cSystem of a Down who play System of a Down style rock n roll music\u201d, I couldn\u2019t have it better myself, it truly is the best way to describe their genre. So after we\u2019re finished \u201cLying naked on the floor\u201d we are straight into instructions on making a pizza pie with \u201cChic N Stu\u201d from \u201cSteal this album\u201d, this was quickly followed up by one note and a pause and the crowd go mad as they know its time to build a prison with \u201cPrison song\u201d from 2001\u2019s huge album \u201cToxicity\u201d, another heavy and fast song that sets off the ever growing number of mosh pits. I would love to go into more detail about every song but with a mammoth 30 song setlist this review could go on for hours.<\/p>\n

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We are straight into another huge hit from Toxicity with \u201cAerials\u201d sending the crowd into a unison of harmonic vocals, its another moment of goosebumps and chills running through my body, the set is unremitting as are the crowd, by this point I\u2019m already drenched in sweat and loving every moment.<\/p>\n

We do get a slight break as Daron gets some chants going and singing the chorus of \u201cI-E-A-I-A-IO\u201d before the song fully kicks off and of course then the stadium goes berserk again, every band member seems to be having great fun on stage, although Serj doesn\u2019t say much you can feel the energy beaming from him with his infectious smile as he \u201clights up the sky\u201d and Shavo just looks delighted as runs up and down his podium on the side of the stage.<\/p>\n

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This brings us into \u201cInnervision\u201d from \u201cSteal this Album\u201d followed by \u201cDarts\u201d from the 1998\u2019s S\/T album giving us some fun vocal play from both Daron and Serj with his \u201cmeow meow meow\u201d and then System\u2019s most recent release \u201cGenocidal Humanoidz\u201d which they recorded in 2020 and was greeted by the audience with lots of \u201cFree Palestine\u201d chants.<\/p>\n

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This brings us into a moment that has gone viral on social media in the hours that followed, Daron gets an \u201cAss\u201d chant started then he tells us that he wants to name the tapeworm, and that name is Oasis, so all 50,000 start shouting \u201cpull oasis out of your ass\u201d which has upset some Oasis fans, anyway, this leads us into \u201cNeedle\u201d, another classic from Toxicity which is followed directly with no break into another Toxicity classic, \u201cDeer Dance\u201d, although the crowd are singing every song, the next song \u201cRadio\/Video\u201d really brings out the mass karaoke.\u00a0 This brings then into slight lull in the set thankfully as my knees need a break, with a shortened version of \u201cDreaming\u201d from \u201cHypnotize\u201d then followed up by the title track \u201cHypnotize\u201d, another track easy on my knees, well, in comparison to most SOAD songs.<\/p>\n

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The guys make their way back then to the Toxicity album \u201cATWA\u201d melodic and heavy this brings the adoring crowd back to life and to keep the ball Daron starts his \u201cbounce pogo pogo pogo\u201d chant so before they even play the first note from \u201cBounce\u201d the crowd are already jumping so when the song kicks in the place is madness personified before they just go straight into \u201cSuggestions\u201d, keeping the chaos going, then followed by \u201cPsycho\u201d all blended so beautifully and seamlessly together that you\u2019d swear it was meant to fit that way instead of being from different albums.<\/p>\n

\u201cChop Suey\u201d is next on this onslaught, probably System\u2019s biggest hit they had in the UK or Ireland and hearing the opening riff and drums was another goosebump moment for me as I remember as a teenager (I\u2019m still young) watching Kerrang TV and seeing this song for the first time and instantly falling in love with System of a Down. More circle pits and buckets of sweat come to a gentle end as we get \u201cLonely Day\u201d followed by \u201cLost in Hollywood\u201d, as we waved our hands as if we didn\u2019t care, a truly beautiful moment of community.<\/p>\n

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\u201cStreamline\u201d is next on the set followed by \u201cSpiders\u201d as we slowly and worryingly get closer to the end of the show, these are moments in your life you just don\u2019t want to end.\u00a0 We then get \u201cForest\u201d from Toxicity, Serj has been pitch perfect all night and this is no different, every time the screen shows John on drums he looks so serious while the rest of the band are out there having fun but you can\u2019t deny how good John is as he is tight all night.<\/p>\n

Daron brings the mood down a bit as they play \u201cDam\u201d from an early demo tape and telling us \u201cthey\u2019re watching you, they\u2019re dividing you, they\u2019re controlling you, they\u2019re going to replace you, they want to kill you\u201d this brings real atmosphere and a reminder that System are and always have been an anti-war political band, of course this then leads us into \u201cWar?\u201d, the crowd was in unison once again with wanting to fight the heathens, System have always been a fun band but always preach a strong message.\u00a0 They are a band that came along at the right time, metal was at a low point in the 90\u2019s and bands like System of a Down brought it back to the spotlight and has been on an upward spiral ever since, controversial opinion I know but a hill I\u2019m willing to die on.<\/p>\n

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\u201cRoulette\u201d makes a delightful and surprising appearance before they take a short break to thank all the bands that played tonight, giving a shout out to Acid Bath and Queens of the Stone Age and then a simply line sends the crowd mad, \u201ceating seeds is a pastime activity\u201d, we are now down to the final 2 songs, the hugely popular \u201cToxicity\u201d, obviously. Daron gets the crowd going even further, just when you think it wasn\u2019t possible, with singing \u201cround and round everyone spinning around\u201d sends the entire floor into a mess of circle pits.\u00a0 Every good thing must come to an end and tonight unfortunately has to come to an end too with \u201cSugar\u201d from the 1998 S\/T album, it\u2019s a good thing they built these modern stadiums so well as the pressure was put on with the amount of people jumping both on the floor and the stands. As the night draws to an end you realise this wasn\u2019t any normal concert, for folks like myself this was a nearly 2 hour therapy session, I came out exhausted but mentally full of strength as I wandered out with the sea of people and bananas.<\/p>\n

No amount of writing or description can tell you how good this show was but the question is was this the last time we see System of a Down on this side of the world? Hopefully not but if it is I\u2019m fully satisfied with the experience.<\/p>\n

Photography \u2013 QOTSA \u2013 Owen Arnold<\/p>\n

Photography \u2013 System of a Down \u2013 Clemente Ruiz (@clemente_310)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Review by Hugh Spence for MPM This is a big one, its been 9 years since System of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-297097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}