Sacramento alternative metal band, Deftones, performs at the Golden Gate Park Concert Series on Saturday, Aug. 17.
Clemente Ruiz
Swedish rock band Viagra Boys perform at the Golden Gate Park Concert Series on Saturday, Aug. 17.
Skyler Greene
Armenian American heavy metal band System of a Down plays at San Francisco’s sold-out Golden Gate Park Concert Series on Saturday, Aug. 17.
Clemente Ruiz
Armenian American heavy metal band System of a Down plays at San Francisco’s sold-out Golden Gate Park Concert Series on Saturday, Aug. 17.
Clemente Ruiz
Armenian American heavy metal band System of a Down plays at San Francisco’s sold-out Golden Gate Park Concert Series on Saturday, Aug. 17.
Clemente Ruiz
The Deftones played during the first single-day event of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park Concert Series on Saturday, Aug. 17.
Eric Ananmalay/Another Planet Entertainment
The crowd watches as the Viagra Boys play their set at the single-day event of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park Concert Series on Saturday, Aug. 17.
Eric Ananmalay/Another Planet Entertainment
Armenian American heavy metal act System of a Down offered an 80-minute set at the single-day event of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park Concert Series on Saturday, Aug. 17.
Skyler Greene/Another Planet Entertainment
UPDATE: San Francisco’s next free concert is set for Civic Center Plaza
Despite cloudy skies and occasional sprinkles during an unusually humid San Francisco summer day, 50,000 fans converged upon Golden Gate Park for a second weekend in a row, this time for a history-making concert that featured a rare appearance by heavy metal rockers System of a Down and Northern California legends Deftones.
The outdoor event on Saturday, Aug. 17, which also showcased the Mars Volta, Viagra Boys and Vowws, drew a crowd that stood in stark comparison to the mostly Gen Z fans at Outside Lands who flocked to see pop stars like the Killers, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, but concertgoers weren’t any less enthusiastic.
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“The day I heard this was happening, those became my plans for this summer,” 29-year-old Katie August, who traveled all the way from Chicago to see System of a Down for the first time, told the Chronicle.
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In line for more than an hour in one of just a few merchandise tents on Saturday, she admitted it was “not ideal” watching the Viagra Boys perform on the jumbo screen over cheering them on from the pit, but she said it was more important for her to have “my piece of history from my first System show.”
And the Grammy-winning Armenian American rockers didn’t disappoint.
Crowds across the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park enjoyed hit songs by System of a Down.
Andrew Rosas/Another Planet Entertainment
The nostalgic set was the latest installment of the city’s ongoing partnership with promoter Another Planet Entertainment, the producers of Outside Lands, who also recently put on a surprise outdoor concert with Skrillex and Fred Again in front of San Francisco City Hall this May. Captivating the Polo Fields and guided by the distinct voice of front man Serj Tankian, System of a Down delivered an 80-minute set on what had been the festival’s main stage the weekend prior.
Sure, it would have been nice to hear more from the band — it felt like a missed opportunity to open the set with a song about a genocide (“Genocidal Humanoidz”) without mentioning the violence currently happening in the world at this moment — but ultimately, Saturday’s performance was a welcomed respite from politics during an already fraught year.
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Aside from the Mars Volta singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala shouting out “Free Palestine!” during the Texas progressive rock outfit’s time onstage, the five bands on the bill kept the day heavy only in their rock sounds.
Following a fun but sparsely attended opening set by Australian death pop act Vowws, Swedish punk rock jokesters Viagra Boys whipped fans into a frenzy. Lead singer Sebastian Murphy, who had moved to Stockholm as a teenager, proudly stated his San Francisco origins and performed bare-chested in defiance of the fog as he sang portions of “Sports” while doing push-ups onstage.
Fans cheer on Deftones’ act during the single-day event of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park Concert Series on Saturday, Aug. 17.
Skyler Greene/Another Planet Entertainment
It was a nice warmup for the audience as well, who then enjoyed the sounds of Texas progressive rockers the Mars Volta. Running through a well-curated selection of the group’s limited back catalog, Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López continued the strange musical dance they first started back in 1994 as the now-defunct group At the Drive-In.
But it was obvious that just about everyone standing in the Polo Fields was awaiting the night’s final two acts.
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Arguably both at their peak popularity during the alt-rock radio boom of the late ’90s and early aughts, System of a Down infamously learned that its sophomore album, “Toxicity,” had reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, while Deftones won their first Grammy for best metal performance in 2000 for the single “Elite” off their breakthrough third album, “White Pony.”
For Hector Garcia, 53, of Oakland, the night marked at least his 20th time seeing Deftones by his estimate. Decked out in a well-worn band shirt from a 2000 Deftones performance at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Center, Garcia was one of many just as eager to see the seasoned Sacramento band as the night’s closing attraction.
“I’ve never seen System, so I have to keep something in the tank for them,” he said midday, “but when I see Chino, I’m going to lose it.”
In many ways, the feeling was mutual. Deftones lead singer Chino Moreno wore a wide smile throughout the band’s set despite singing the group’s signature moody lyrics.
“I recognize some of you … that’s right,” he said, with a chuckle, pointing to the screaming fans before the stage. “It’s f—in’ beautiful, man.”
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Though indisputably popular, Deftones have managed to slide somewhat under the radar as a band that sonically bridges the gap between mainstream rock and the sonic machinations of bands like Tool. Showcasing their enduring talents as an impressively powerful wrecking ball of sound, Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter, drummer Abe Cunningham and keyboardist Frank Delgado showed a deep affinity for their fans with both their effort and concern.
The single-day event of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park Concert Series drew crowds numbering in the tens of thousands.
Sklyer Greene/Another Planet Entertainment
“If you see anyone going down, everybody help ’em up,” Moreno reminded the crowd during a brief breather. “I want everybody to have the greatest day!”
Closing with the triumphant trifecta of “Change (In the House of Flies),” “Genesis,” and “7 Words,” Deftones proved a perfect appetizer to System of a Down’s closing night performance.
It felt nothing short of historic, which is fair, given the band has played roughly 20 shows following the release of its 2005 double album “Mezmerize” and “Hypnotize.” Offering shot after shot of pure adrenaline, the group’s 25-song set delivered hits and rarities alike from its nearly three-decade catalog. Together, despite their well-reported differences, Tankian, Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John Dolmayan proved that collectively, they’re still as tight as ever as they stampeded through big singles like 2001’s “Chop Suey!” and “Aerials” to 2005’s “B.Y.OB.” and the unexpected deep cuts of “Mr. Jack,” “P.L.U.C.K.” and “Know.”
In response, the entire crowd sang while pogoing to seemingly every lyric, no matter how obscure the track. Throughout the Polo Fields, mosh pits formed and dissipated as quickly as tide pools, leaving only the foam of sweat-soaked shirts in their wake.
Following the group’s closing number, the frenetic fan favorite “Sugar,” it was evident that Another Planet Entertainment’s first foray into two weekends’ worth of music at Golden Gate Park was a success.
Similar to Goldenvoice’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival experiment of hosting a metal weekend before establishing its country offering, Stagecoach, and ultimately adding a second weekend to Coachella, perhaps the seeds have been sown for more mosh pits to bloom in future San Francisco summers.
Chronicle Senior Arts and Entertainment Editor Mariecar Mendoza contributed to this report.
Zack Ruskin is a freelance writer.
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