System of A Down has preached about plenty of political issues over the years but one has always been close to their hearts: The band, comprised entirely of Armenian-American members, has always pushed for the recognition of the injustices against Armenians in Turkey during 1915 to be labelled as genocide. The band finally played its first show in Armenia as the nation prepares to mark the hundredth anniversary of the tragedy on April 24.
"In Armenia, our status is unparalleled," vocalist Serj Tankian said. "I don't want to use any monikers like the Beatles or anything, but it's a unique kind of thing. So we want to go there and play for the people, which we've never done as System of a Down."
The band made the trip worth it, performing nearly 40 songs across more than 2.5 hours of music. The show comes as part of System's "Wake Up The Souls" tour, which was planned to bring attention to genocide, both in the present and in the past.
The Armenian genocide is particularly controversial because historians can't agree on whether the "g-word" applies to the situation or not. Up to as many as 1.5 million Armenians died during the events, yet Turkey (home of the Ottomans responsible for the massacre) claims that the deaths were a side-effect of the migration forced upon Armenians, not intentional murders. A comparison point might be the American Trail of Tears (although "only" 6,000 died during that event).
Check out the setlist from the show below and then check video of the performance if you have a few hours of free time.
01) "Holy Mountains"
02) "Jet Pilot"
03) "Suite-Pee"
04) "Prison Song"
05) "U-Fig"
06) "Aerials"
07) "Soldier Side"
08) "B.Y.O.B."
09) "I-E-A-I-A-I-O"
10) "Radio/Video"
11) "Bubbles"
12) "CUBErt"
13) "Hypnotize"
14) "Dreaming"
15) "Needles"
16) "Deer Dance"
17) "P.L.U.C.K."
18) "Sartarabad" (traditional)
19) "Psycho"
20) "Chop Suey!"
21) "Lonely Day"
22) "Question!"
23) "Bounce"
24) "Kill Rock 'n Roll"
25) "Marmalade"
26) "Lost in Hollywood"
27) "Spiders"
28) "Mr. Jack"
29) "Science"
30) "Chic 'N' Stu"
31) "ATWA"
32) "War?"
33) "Arto"
34) "Cigaro"
35) "Roulette"
36) "Toxicity"
37) "Sugar"
