Last night marked the first time in six years that I had seen Coheed and Cambria. As expected, the show kicked a lot of ass.
My friends and I got to The Palladium around 7:30. The show was either sold out or extremely close to sold out, There was pretty much no room to breathe in the entire venue. About 15 minutes later the first band of the night 3 came on. I had only heard a couple of songs prior to seeing them, but after last night I will probably be checking them out further. They played a trippy, oddball style of prog rock with a wide variety of influences that only got better by the song. The whole band was really talented and the instrumentation was excellent across the board. The last song even had an extended jam session intro with a heavy latin/Middle-Eastern influence that was badass and made for a triumphant closer. The only bad part of their set was they only played for 25 minutes. I wish them and The Dear Hunter had swapped set lengths (more on The Dear Hunter in a second).
The Dear Hunter was up next. I had heard a lot of good things about them going in and I was curious to see what they were like. I got to say they really didn't do anything for me. The fast songs weren't bad and this band definitely has some chops, but the slow songs (which took up most of the second half of the set) were pretty boring and stagnant. On the positive side, they did have a decent stage presence and got a pretty strong crowd reception (They did fit very well on a bill with Coheed). The Dear Hunter had their moments, but they didn't really make much a strong impression on me at all.
Coheed and Cambria hit the stage next. I had been waiting since the eight grade to see them for a second time and it was about damn time I got to see them again. They completely shattered my expectations. Actually that's a gross understatement, they EVISCERATED my expectations. They seemed like a completely different band from when I saw them in 2006 (which was during their peak as a band in terms of studio albums in my opinion). I was shocked by how much energy the whole band had (especially vocalist/guitarist Claudio Sanchez). The last time I saw them them, the whole band stood pretty motionless the whole time and just played. This time around couldn't be more different. Claudio was running around the stage, climbing up on the amps, jumping off shit, and even picking up drum sticks and hitting all of the cymbals during a jam break before the finale of "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3". On top of having much more energy, the band had an absolutely killer setlist. It was loaded with most of their best older material and the new songs they played sounded pretty damn good as well. "Sentry the Defiant" was definitely the standout of the new stuff, it sounds very reminiscent of the material off their first three records which made me really excited for both of their new albums. When it comes to the old stuff, "Gravemakers and Gunslingers" (watching Claudio play that solo live was insane), "Ten Speed (of God's Blood and Burial)", the always immense "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3" (the aforementioned jam was epic), "Welcome Home", and the absolutely perfect set closer "The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut" (the latter two songs of which Claudio played on his trademark double-neck guitar!). My only complaint for the whole night is the presence of "Mother Superior" in the setlist. I absolutely despise Coheed's acoustic songs so this is definitely my bias talking as I was one of the few in the venue that wasn't very pleased with that song being played. The combination of energy, venue size(the first time I saw them was in an arena opposed to a mid-size venue like The Palladium), setlist, and musical precision led to Coheed and Cambira absolutely blowing the doors off the last time I saw them. I really hope it won't be another six years until I get to see them again.
Scores
3 7.5/10
The Dear Hunter 5/10
Coheed and Cambria 9/10
Setlists:
3 included:
React
Only Child
Coheed and Cambria:
No World for Tommorow
Gravemakers and Gunslingers
Everything Evil
Made out of Nothing (All That I Am)
Ten Speed (of God's Blood and Burial)
The Afterman
The Suffering
Mother Superior
Sentry the Defiant
Blood Red Summer
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Encore:
Key Entity Extraction 1: Domino the Destitute
A Favor House Atlantic
Welcome Home
The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut
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