Coheed and Cambria @ the FIllmore, Silver Spring 9/23/2014

I went to see Coheed and Cambria at the Fillmore ($35!) for their Neverender (aka play the full album)  of "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3." I guess it is the 11 year anniversary of its release. I met up with Scott, Stacey, Timmy, Oksana, and Nate. This as a sold out show a few months before the show, so you know it as gonna be crazy. The last time they came around as on my birthday, and it was an excellent show!

Cousin It Claudio Sanchez

I got there around 8:35pm, after the unfortunately named Thank You Scientist. I would have liked to hear them, but traffic, food, friends, and underwhelming interest got in the way of that. It was packed and people were still coming in (Coheed to go on at 9PM, TYS was on at 8), so I was predictably in the back. The Neverender concept is basically playing their albums front to back, which they did over several nights not too long ago (DVD/CD set available now!). It is pretty remarkable that they'd played almost every song they have live. For the 2000 capacity crowd, there were a mix of people, tho most of them looking like regular or indie white people. There were a few metalheads, a few older people, and def a couple hippies as well. Whatever the case, everyone looked like they were having fun!

In Keeping Selling the Silent Merch secrets

I looked briefly at the merch, and there were shirts, Hoodies, comics, and some other items. I didn't see anything really interesting, until after the show- someone was carrying a keywork tote bag. Oh well. I will say that frontman Claudio Sanchez's elaborate (and kind of convoluted) Armory Wars storyline throughout the albums is hard to follow. The comics made it a little easier, but the art was just so spotty and painful at times it really turned me off of them.

The Lighting but no Glass

The light went down around 8:59, and then the familiar "Ring in Return" played over the PA, the Keywork lit up, and the crowd started to roar. The sold out crowd, enclosed in that small space, was extra loud, as they cheered, sang/shouted along to pretty much every song this evening. They played the entire IKSSE3 album (it seemed odd to me that some fans seemed surprised, as the whole event as being promoted as Neverender: IKSSE3), no surprises, just a loud and appreciative crowd. They had a more stripped down show, only the light up keywork and a ton of lights. Sometimes the strobe lights would annoy me but thankfully they would pass quickly for the most part. They also had some very bright bulbs that sometimes showed some sort of pattern on them- for "Number City" (AKA the Sesame Street Song) it had...the numbers.

A Favour House Blurry

Everything sounded pretty great, and the crowd was totally into it. There were a scant few crowd surfers later in the set, and I saw some new anti moshing/crowd surfing signs (different from the 'absolutely no moshing' ones they had in the past- these were more associated with legal release for moshing). People didn't seem too rowdy in terms of movement, just hella loud. I think some of that was a little annoying (I came here to hear Claudio sing), but at the same time it was remarkable hearing/seeing so many people moved by these songs.

The Camper Velorum XIII: whatever

Claudio had his poofy cousin It hair in rare form, obscuring his entire head for most of the time he had it down. He tied it back at some point and you could see he's sporting a beard now. I think he's supposed to be pretty shy, so the hair acts as a shield to the prying eyes (but then why be on stage? whatever). The new bassist and drummer were both in some sort of polo shirt, perhaps the first time I've ever seen a rock band wearing polo shirts on stage Wtf. The durmmer's mouth was open like an Orangutan for 88% of the set, which was comical.

The Double Guitar of God's Blood n Burial

Setlist wise, we got mostly old stuff, and only one new song ("Number City", which was done with TYS's horn section  (yes read that again, it happened)). TYS's additions were kind of drowned out for 90% of the song, but when you could hear them it was nice. The numbers also lit up for "Number City" and the crowd was counting along. I imagine the next tour we'll see more new songs. I think Coheed is one of those rare bands for me that I really would love almost anything that they played. Reaction wise, I think songs from "Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness" (whew) got the biggest ovation, especially "A Favor House Atlantic," one of my favourite Coheed songs. The only sloppy part was the somewhat less fluid "Welcome Home" start/stops, which I think I'm used to when they play it live these days. He still pulled out the double guitar and shredded a bit, playing behind his back and with his teeth (a la Yngwie Malmsteen tho way less egotistical).

I think everyone in the band sounded pretty great, I don't have complaints about them, just being stuck behind tall white people. I don't know why I didn't look at the merch more... Overall it was a great show, despite being a bit cramped. If you like Coheed, you'll love seeing them live. If you like prog, you'll probably dig them. If not, you may be a  harder sell.

Next Show: Within Temptation/Amaranthe!


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Photos

Yahoo! Video for Dallas

Merch
Coheed
Coheed II
Cambria

Setlists

Coheed and Cambria (9- 10:54)

• The Ring in Return 
• In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 
• Cuts Marked in the March of Men 
• Three Evils (Embodied in Love and Shadow) 
• The Crowing 
• Blood Red Summer 
• The Camper Velourium I: Faint of Hearts 
• The Camper Velourium II: Backend of Forever 
• The Camper Velourium III: Al the Killer 
• A Favor House Atlantic 
• The Light & the Glass 
• 
  
• 21:13 
• 
  
• Neverender 
• Goodnight, Fair Lady 
• Number City  (with Thank You Scientist)
• 
  
• The Lying Lies & Dirty Secrets of Miss Erica Court 
• Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial) 
• Welcome Home