Pemberton Festival: Serj Tankian

July 26th, 2008

Ten minutes before Serj Tankian was to take the stage, the massive crowd started to chant, “Serj! Serj! SERJ!” Then they stopped. Then they started again. Then Serj took the stage with his be-top hatted band (them all in black, Serj in white) and floored us all with his near-perfect falsetto. Then he funked out like nobody’s business. I can’t say with authority what songs he performed, or even if he sang any System Of A Down tunes (real talk: I don’t know anything about SOAD - I’m a hip-hop wench!) - but I do know he was crazy fun to shoot. Oh, and close to the end of the set, he brought one of his best friends Lauren onstage and asked the crowd to sing “Happy Birthday”. Aww.