The band didn’t even need to announce so many commitments to reach this milestone: 13 performances were confirmed, most of them in South America
As reported, the system of a Down announced a tour of South America for 2025 — the first visit to the continent in a decade. There will be seven presentations, three of them in Brazil and the rest in Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina. Check out the full agenda at the end of this page and more details by clicking here.
Months later, in August and September, the Armenian-American quartet will perform six shows in North America. New Jersey, Chicago and Toronto welcome the group, always with a special guest: Korn, Avenged Sevenfold and Deftonesrespectively.
It is not known whether SOAD will confirm more presentations. Even so, it is already possible to say: this is their busiest year in terms of shows since 2017. This is because recent times have seen few collective commitments on the part of Serj Tankian (voice), Daron Malakian (guitar), Shavo Odadjian (low) and John Dolmayan (battery).
Separately, the musicians work a lot. Tankian has released solo music and even an autobiography, Down with the System. Malakian is taking it easy, but performs sporadically with the Scars on Broadway. Odadjian even put together a new band, Seven Hours After Violet, which performed in Brazil in October. Dolmayan occasionally collaborates with Serj and develops initiatives outside of music, especially in the comics space.
The problem is when they come together — or rather, they don’t come together. System of a Down ended its activities in 2006, reunited in 2010, but has not been a touring band since. In its most active year since the reunion, 2011, it performed just 27 shows.
See below the number of SOAD presentations since the resumption:
- 2011: 27
- 2012: 17
- 2013: 15
- 2014: 1
- 2015: 19
- 2016: no shows
- 2017: 21
- 2018: 6
- 2019: 2
- 2020: no shows (pandemic)
- 2021: 3
- 2022: 4
- 2023: 1
- 2024: 2
- 2025: 13 (announced so far)
Creatively, the group is also slow, almost stopping. Since the breakup, he has only released two songs: “Protect the Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz”both in 2020, in a charitable initiative to support the Nagorno-Karabakh region, affected by the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Another vocalist?
In his aforementioned autobiography, Serj Tankian said that, in mid-2017, he recommended that System of a Down continue with another vocalist. He, who no longer wanted to tour, did not want to be a hindrance to the band — who refused to bring someone else to take his place.
In an interview with Bullseye with Jesse ThornTankian explained his reasoning for making his position available:
“I think System of a Down should always be the four of us. But regardless of what I felt, because I was the only one standing in their way. I wanted to give them an option. So, that’s why I did it.”
The singer highlighted that his colleagues preferred not to adopt this solution. So, the group tours as Serj wishes.
“At the time, they were like, ‘No, man, it’s okay, if any opportunities come up, we’ll let you know, but we won’t push.’”
However, it wasn’t always like this. Tankian said the previous situation was one of internal pressure. The vocalist explains:
“Before that, they kept saying, ‘Come on, we have to do this tour, let’s go.’ There was a lot of pressure to tour, to play and stuff. And I just didn’t want that pressure anymore. So they promised they wouldn’t do that. And that kind of changed things a little bit, at least at that time.”
Interestingly, in Serj Tankian’s opinion, the current scarcity of shows has even increased the band’s value. In an interview with Loudwire Nights (via Igor Miranda website), he commented:
“Look, there are bands that tour all year round, release an album every year or two years, and their impact on music, many of them, hasn’t been as strong as System of a Down’s. You don’t have to do a million things to have an impact on people’s lives or on music itself. Just do one thing right.”
System of a Down shows in 2025
- April 24, 2025: Bogotá, Colombia (El Campín Stadium);
- April 27, 2025: Lima, Peru (Peruvian National Stadium);
- April 30, 2025: Santiago, Chile (Chile National Stadium Park);
- May 3, 2025: Buenos Aires, Argentina (Vélez Sarsfield Stadium);
- May 6, 2025: Curitiba, Brazil (Major Antônio Couto Pereira Stadium);
- May 8, 2025: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Nilton Santos Engenhão Stadium);
- May 10, 2025: São Paulo, Brazil (Allianz Parque);
- August 27 and 28, 2025: East Rutherford, United States (MetLife Stadium; with Korn);
- August 31 and September 1, 2025: Chicago, United States (Soldier Field; with Avenged Sevenfold);
- September 3 and 5, 2025: Toronto, Canada (Rogers Stadium; with Deftones).
Why System of a Down shouldn’t change members, according to Serj Tankian
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
