SYSTEM OF A DOWN guitarist Daron Malakian joined the SOAD tribute band PEEPHOLE: TRIBUTE TO SYSTEM OF A DOWN on stage last night (Saturday, August 30) at Cubby Bear in Chicago, Illinois to perform the SOAD song “Cigaro”.

Earlier today, Daron shared video of his appearance and he included the following message: “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.”

He continued: “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!!!!!!”

SYSTEM OF A DOWN kicked off a limited-edition stadium run — three cities, two stops each, one top-line rock act preceding each show — Wednesday night (August 2t) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The band will now play at Chicago’s Soldier Field on August 31 and September 1, with AVENGED SEVENFOLD as the support act. The mini-tour will make a final stop at Rogers Stadium in Toronto on September 3 and September 5 with DEFTONES.

This past spring, SYSTEM OF A DOWN completed a nine-show “Wake Up!” South American stadium tour. The trek kicked off on April 24 in Bogota, Colombia at the Estadio Nemésio Camacho El Campin, followed by a show in Cercado De Lima, Peru at the Estadio Nacional. The tour moved on to Chile, Argentina and Brazil, wrapping up with a run of five shows in Curitiba, Rio De Janeiro and São Paulo. The concerts were SOAD‘s first trip to South America since 2015.

In a recent interview with the “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, hosted by FOZZY frontman and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho, Daron talked about SYSTEM OF A DOWN‘s enduring popularity, saying: “What’s crazy to me is people still give a shit. We just came from South America, and we sold out every football stadium that was there. I don’t know if you’ve seen any of the footage from that, but it was fucking nuts. It was nuts. I’d been doing this a while and I never experienced anything like that before. And we’re about to do East Coast shows, and the band’s playing stadiums and we haven’t released a record in 20-plus years.

“When I did [legendary producer] Rick‘s [Rubin] podcast, we talked about how we’re playing in front of the 60,000 people, and he was, like, ‘I’ve never seen anything like it, where a band that doesn’t regularly put out records is still [able to play in front of so many people].'”

Elaborating on why SYSTEM OF A DOWN is able to play such big shows more than 30 years into the band’s career, Daron said: “I think part of it is we left off on a peak. We’ve had, ‘Are they gonna ever play? Are they not gonna play?’ And it’s all this kind of thing that happens. And then when we do play, people feel like, ‘Oh, this might be the last time they’re gonna play.’ And none of that has been done on purpose. That’s just the natural way things have gone. I also think it’s the songs. The songs have lived with people, and it’s become some of the fabric of their lives in some cases. So many years have gone by. ‘Cause when we’re playing in front of these audiences, I don’t see 50-year-olds in there. I see 18-year-olds. I see 25-year-olds — kids that probably were born maybe even after we released ‘Mezmerize’ and ‘Hypnotize’. But they’re there, and they’re passionate, and they’re into it, and it’s new to them. And once again, man, I’m very, very blessed.”

SYSTEM OF A DOWN has only managed to record two songs in the last 20 years, “Protect The Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz”. Released in November 2020, the tracks were motivated by the conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, with all proceeds supporting humanitarian efforts in SYSTEM OF A DOWN‘s ancestral homeland of Armenia. Along with other donations from fans on their social pages, they raised over $600,000.

In June, DARON MALAKIAN AND SCARS ON BROADWAY released a new song and music video, “Killing Spree”. The track is taken from the third full-length SCARS ON BROADWAY album, “Addicted To The Violence”, which arrived on July 18.