Daron Malakian surprised a System Of A Down cover band in Chicago, Illinois over the weekend by hopping on-stage and performing Mesmerize’s “Cigaro” with the tribute act.
The shock appearance took place at the Cubby Bear bar on Saturday (August 30th) night. Malakian was in Chicago to perform System’s two-night stand at Soldier Field. He explained on Instagram that he had been in-town a day early, and ended up near Wrigley Field to take a few photos of the famous baseball stadium.
As they were walking around, they heard System’s music coming out of the nearby Cubby Bear, which the crew had initially thought was karaoke. There, they discovered local rockers Peephole playing SOAD’s “Needles,” and Malakian got up close to sing at the front of the crowd.
“I walked right to the front of the stage and surprised the band and the audience,” he said. “This was all so spontaneous. The look on everyone’s faces was priceless.
“To be honest, I was just as surprised as anyone else 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.”
He continued: “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!”
As you’ll see in the footage up above and down below, a blown-away Peephole work their way through “Needles” before bringing Malakian on-stage to hit “Cigaro” as a guest vocalist.
“We are still shocked by this amazing moment,” Peephole wrote in a joint statement on Instagram the next day. “A dream come true for us! We love SOAD with all of our hearts and cannot believe how fortunate we are. What an amazing human and musician!”
SOAD went on to perform two nights at Soldier Field on Sunday (August 31st) and Monday (September 1st), with guests Avenged Sevenfold, Polyphia and Wisp. System are next set to perform in Toronto on Wednesday (September 3rd), and they’ll be joined by Deftones.