System of a Down’s Daron Malakian was in Chicago for the band’s two-night stand at Soldier Field, and happened to hear a SOAD tribute act performing as he was walking around the Windy City on an off day. The guitarist-singer promptly surprised the cover band by walking into the venue and jumping onstage to perform “Cigaro” with them.
The night before System played their first of two shows in the city, Malakian, a big baseball fan, decided to visit Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, to take some photos outside of the stadium. At first, his cousin, whom he was walking with, thought it might be a karaoke night, but when Malakian decided to peek in, he found out it was a System of a Down tribute band called Peephole.
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He walked right up to the front of the stage, much to the shock and delight of the cover band, and then ended up joining them onstage for a performance of “Cigaro.” Malakian documented the whole thing in an Instagram video, and wrote about the experience, which left him just as thrilled as the members of Peephole and the lucky people in the audience:
“Let me start by saying None of this was planned. We had a day off before our show in Chicago and I went out to dinner and after I decided to go take some pictures around town with @gregwatermann. We didn’t plan on going to Wrigley Field, but we ended up there. While we were taking photos in front of the stadium I heard the intro to ‘Needles’ from a bar across the street. My cousin who was with me said that he thought it was karaoke. I decided to walk across the street and go into the bar and found that it was a @systemofadown cover band called @peepholesoad. I walked right to the front of the stage and surprised the band and the audience. This was all so spontaneous. The look on everyone’s faces was priceless. To be honest, I was just as surprised as anyone else was that this was happening. I joined the band and sang ‘Cigaro,’ shook their hands, took some pictures with the fans in the audience, and walked out of the place. I can only imagine what a shock it was for everyone there after I left. It all happened so fast. The odds of this happening were so slim. Probably had a better chance of getting struck by lightning. So many stars had to align for me to end up at the right place and right time. One of the coolest moments I’ve ever had!!! I’ll always remember this night, and I’m sure everyone that was there will never forget it either!!!!!!”
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System of a Down played two shows in Chicago on Sunday (August 31st) and Monday (September 1st), which followed two nights at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey (review and photos). They’ll wrap up their brief North American stadium tour with two nights in Toronto on Tuesday (September 3rd) and Thursday (September 5th) with co-headliners Deftones (pick up tickets here).
Watch Daron Malakian surprise the tribute act Peephole and perform “Cigaro” with them in the video below.