The progressive rock band The Mars Volta is in outsider in every respect, and that includes this festival. The band of Cedrix Bixler and guitarist/composer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, former members of At the Drive-In, has a reputation of knowing no bounds in every aspect: the artists enthusiastically fling themselves into punk, rock, free jazz, hard rock, Latin and psychedelic music with concepts that are farfetched and always remarkable. Sometimes their music is funky, at other times it's groovy; to be honest, the music of this Texan ensemble can hardly be captured in one single style. A lot of bombast, heavy jamming, screeching guitar solos and a singer who moves across the stage as if his life depended on it. Their fourth studio CD, The Bedlam in Goliath, successor of Amputechture from 2006, includes a contribution by the Red Hot Chili Peppers' guitarist John Frusciante.
