Hey, man, look at me rockin’ out, I’m on the radio

This time last week I checked off something from the Bucket List that, honestly, I didn’t think I would ever do: I went and saw System of a Down - live. In concert. They did two shows in London this week – Monday 13th and Wednesday 15th - we were at the Monday show.

The journey to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was a bit of an arduous one, as there had been fires around the local area (which had – in some instances – lead to track-side evacuations) mostly due to the heatwave the U.K has been suffering the last few weeks. This impacted us significantly particularly because the easiest way for us to get there was to take the Weaver Line. Waiting at Livepool St. Station for 15 minutes, staring at the departures board with my partner, Alex and my nephew, Liam.

We stood on the concourse and watched as, train after train, heading in our direction was cancelled. All but one, which we traced as it made its way down the board. Still without a platform – I remained quietly optimistic.

Surrounded by fans all headed in the same direction - and the tension was plapable. If this train was cancelled, there would have been a riot! Our only option in that instance would have been to head back home and call a cab. I was having none of it.

After being delayed for ~fifteen minutes the train we were watching was finally assigned a platform - and the rush began! We made it though the ticket gates and headed for our train - and the game of Sardines started! We were all crammed in headed for one destination: White Hart Lane.

Those of us headed to the concert were in high-spirits – the commuters trying to get home, not so much. It was cramped and sweaty and, the very start of the London rush-hour. These folks were trying to get home after a long Monday at work.

Twenty-five minutes later we were there!

We met up with our friend, Ben just outside our designated gate – he’d been there for almost fourty-five minutes already. We tapped ourselves in (two check-points) and headed inside destined for the bar (Europes longest at 65m - something as a former bartender I was excited to see in person) and got ourselves a drink.

After exploring the hospitality areas for a while (Read: Getting a beer at every bar on the way up to our section) we went to our seats. We watched a little of the opening act, Acid Bath which sounded dreadful – not a critique on them – the sound system in the stadium wasn’t turned up to 11 for them – I don’t even think it was at 4.

After Acid Bath, Liam and I headed downstairs for a chat and to grab more drinks for everyone, then went back to our seats to watch Queens of the Stone Age, who were the support act. At this point we were joined by Paul and Katie – who had come from the opposite direction – and faced their own difficulties with transportation.

Queens of the Stone Age was a perfect pairing as a support for me as, when I was a youngling, I discovered them and SoaD at around the same time. I was almost as excited to see them as I was seeing System of a Down perform. They didn’t disapoint. The set they played was incredible. Everyone had admitted in the group chat ahead of time that they weren’t really familiar with the band or their songs, bar a few. Only knowing a handful. Liam hadn’t even heard of them at all. Leaving me as the only one sat there watching as a band from my childhood performed a selection of their hits.

After their set, we made the trip down to the bar area again for a toilet break and one final libation acquisition – this was a mistake, as the whole stadium had the same idea.

We finally relieved ourselves and almost half an hour later managed to get some drinks and head back to our seats just as the main act was taking to the stage.

The System of a Down Rock ‘n Roll Music Show

Serj, Daron and Stavo all putting on a great performance, and engaging with the crowd in front of them. 60,000 people all singing their songs back to them. As with Acid Bath and Queens of the Stone Age, the stadium sound wasn’t perfect for the first couple of songs. Hearing what they were saying to us was difficult as there was noticible issues with the sound system. We saw Gorillaz at the same venue two weeks before and noticed the same problems, even commenting that we hoped that System of a Down didn’t fal victim to the same gremlins.

The rest of the night is a bit of a blur. A mixture of pure euphoria and awe, as I watched my favourite band perform hit after hit. Liam and I jumping up and down screaming our lungs out along with every song. Sweating. A lot of sweating!

I had been keeping a weathered eye on the sets that they had been performing across the whole European tour, and there were some songs that were noticible by their absence - which I was a bit gutted about (Let’s just say the fans who had dressed up as bananas were going to be sorely let down.)

Regardless, they put on a great set. I’m glad we were in a seating area though, because I 100% would not have survived the whole show in standing - even though I would have loved to be in one of the many pits!

Leaving the stadium was relatively painless - only taking about fifteen minutes, with another twenty minute walk up the road to where it was quiet enough to try and book a cab home. Given the pain we’d endured getting there, a ten minute ride was very welcoming!