System of a Down, what to expect in Milan: the possible lineup

System of a Down are officially back on track. Serj Tankian and his associates held theirs on April 25th first show of 2026waiting to start the tour that will bring the band back to Italy nine years after their last visit to our country, which dates back to the Firenze Rocks in 2017. The group in fact performed at Sick New World of Las Vegasoffering a concrete overview of what Italian fans can expect from the Milanese concert scheduled on 6 July at the Snai La Maura racecourseas part of the I-Days.

How System of a Down’s return to the stage went

After a break of a few months following the concerts last September, System of a Down restarted their engines with an intense and meaningful set, built as a long emotional trajectory rather than a simple sequence of songs. As reported by the US edition of “Rolling Stone”, the SOAD concert took place at Sick New World has turned into a symbolic moment also for its temporal locationclose to the day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide, an anniversary deeply linked to the history of the band, which has chosen to let the music speak above all.

The live show, divided into twenty-five songs, gave ample space to the band’s symbolic 2001 album, “Toxicity“, with nine songs performed as a narrative block that looks to the twenty-fifth anniversary of the album. The energy never dropped, going from tight openings to more suspended moments, up to an ending which, as the reports say, seemed a sort of collective liberation. Closing with “Sugar” felt like a closing circle, while throughout the concert songs like “BYOB,” “Hypnotize” and “Chop Suey!” they transformed the audience into a united choir. System of a Down’s move to the Las Vegas festival doesn’t seem to have just been a return to the stage, but a declaration of presencewith a band that remains capable of holding together political tension, sonic impact and emotional participation without having to continually explain it in words.

What to expect from SOAD in Milan: the possible lineup

Looking at the ladder in Las Vegas and at the concerts last September, it is clear that i System of a Down move on a very precise balance between certainties and variations. There are songs which represent a sort of untouchable backbone of the live show, and which are unlikely to be missed also in Milan, like “Chop Suey!”, “Toxicity”, “BYOB” and the aforementioned “Sugar”, which continues to function as a closer.

Alongside these, songs also remain central like “Aerials” and “Hypnotize”, which mark the most choral and recognizable moments of the concert, while pieces like “Prison Song” or “Needles” maintain that more nervous and direct component that defines the group’s identity.

The Sick New World set also showed some attention to the less obvious repertoirewith episodes like “ATWA”, “Suggestions” or “PLUCK”, which could also return in the European tour, together with more atmospheric moments such as “Lonely Day” and “Lost in Hollywood”. The presence of more recent songs such as “Genocidal Humanoidz”, the song released in November 2020 together with “Protect the Land”, which keep the link with the band’s present open, cannot be ruled out.

Compared to the concerts of 2025, where surprises also appeared such as the cover of “Snowblind” by Black Sabbath, dusted off in Chicago last September 1st after over twenty years to make tribute to Ozzy Osbournewho passed away last July 22nd at the age of 76, and more marked rotations between the songs, the direction seems to be that of a compact show, built to function as a continuous flow, with few breaks and a strong internal coherence. Milan should therefore see a lineup very close to that of Las Vegas, with some variations but without upheavals. They are therefore worth considering there is little hope of hearing new music liveeven if fans have been fans for years continue to wonder whether System of a Down will ever release a new album. In the last decade, upon the resumption of recording activities by the “Chop suey!” band everything has been said – and written -. The same band, which has not given fans an album of unreleased songs for twenty years now, i.e. since the publication of the diptych composed of “Mezmerize” and “Hypnotize” in 2005, has returned to the topic several times. Tankian and his companions, however, seem not to have overcome the artistic differences that blocked them from creating something new. To date, in fact, between conflicting declarations and prudent openings, a new album remains an uncertain hypothesisbut live continues to be the place where System of a Down manages to shape everything the band has been and continues to be.

The return to Italy

The wait for System of a Down’s return to Italy has built over the yearsbetween postponements, cancellations and expectations that have never really subsided. After the forced stop in 2020, when the scheduled date was cancelled, the announcement of the concert on 6 July 2026 immediately reactivated the public’s interest, transforming into a rush for tickets which brought with it enthusiasm but also discussions about prices and organization. The appointment at the Snai La Maura Hippodrome, within the I-Days, represents not only an eagerly awaited return, but also a moment of verification of the bond between the band and the Italian public, who in the meantime has never stopped wondering about the group’s recording future. In this sense, the Milan concert will not just be a date on the calendar, but a significant passage of a journey thatdespite no new releases, continues to evolve on stagewhere every time that balance between memory and present that still holds everything together is renewed.

The lineup for the concert at New World on April 25, 2026:

Suite-Pee
Chic ‘N’ Stu
Prison Song
Aerials
Soldier Side – Intro
BYOB
Genocidal Humanoidz
Know
Radio/Video
Hypnotize
ATWA
Needles
Bounce
Suggestions
PLUCK
Psycho
Chop Suey!
Lonely Day
Lost in Hollywood
Streamline
Limb
Holy Mountains
IEAIAIO
Toxicity
Sugar