Reunited And It Feels So Good

When a band reunites, it can go one of several ways. Some bands come back together for the wrong reasons (money, boredom, etc) and it goes horribly. The fans end up disappointed and the love of that band is replaced with memories what they became. Luckily for me, System of a Down's reunion seemed to be for all the right reasons and came together like they never missed a beat. 

We hit the road Tuesday morning bound for DC for the System of a Down/Deftones show. The drive there was pretty uneventful aside from a little rain here and there and navigating DC to find our hotel was surprisingly easy as well. The hotel (Helix) was INSANE! It was like walking into Studio 51 or something. There was a bar/nightclub downstairs and the whole place had a very trendy/artistic feel. Here's a few pics of the room:

We had dinner at a place called Logan's (not the steakhouse) which was all locally grown and was super delicious. Then we tried to walk to the venue (which wasn't far) and ended up getting good and lost. We then caught the worst cab ever (dude screamed into his phone the whole freaking ride and kept pumping the breaks at stops to keep the meter running... douche). 

Finally, we get to the show and before we go find out seats, we got to meet Serj Tankian with a group of fans. I met him in California and he was just as friendly and excited to meet the winners as we were to meet him! 

After that we grabbed a beer with our buddy Ravi and his girlfriend and headed to our seats.One of my favorite things about a tour like this is that neither band has a current album out (Serj's solo album but not System) so there was no requirement to play more new material or whatever, basically they played what they wanted!  Deftones kicked it off with an amazing set mixed with hits, deep cuts, old, and new!

Then the moment we'd been waiting for...

The boys blasted through a setlist including old favorites, their big hits, and everything you could want from a SOAD live show. And their chemistry on stage was just as prominent as always. They were all grinning from ear to ear, headbanging like teenagers, and having as much fun (if not more) than the fans!

After that we caught a cab (with a much nicer driver) back to the hotel, got some sleep, and headed back to ENC. The drive home was a little hectic at times but not too bad either. All in all, it was an amazing rock experience and I'll have fingers crossed that either or both of these bands come back through soon!