After securing my ticket, and upon the advice of one of my friends, I listened to their debut record religiously for a week - it was an amazing feeling discovering this gem of a first record; the raw production, Claudio's still maturing vocals (which seemed to be more daring), and energetic sing along chorus peppered with intricate guitar riffs made me obsess over The Second Stage turbine Blade. Needless to say, I understand why everyone is eager to agree that this record holds some of their best work to date. With the preparation complete (in familiarising myself with all of their catalogue), I was more than anxious the whole day, dreaming up how Coheed would reproduce some of my favorite track in a live setting, and made lists in my head of what songs I was hoping to hear later that night.
The doors opened at 8pm and when me and a couple of friends finally made it though the door, we made a bee line to the bar. The merch stands' lack of selection (no mediums in some t-shirts at the start of the concert..?) was a bit disappointing but as soon as the openers cleared stage, all that left my mind.
Through a wall of smoke emerged the band, with Claudio being the easiest to spot with his mammoth hair do cutting through the obscuring smog. And with little hesitation they roared through the opening song 'No World for Tomorrow' - grabbing everyone's attention until the end of their set. Claudio's vocals were spot on the entire night, and you could feel the passion and energy he was pouring into each and every vocal lick he yelped out in his altitude climbing alto voice. His and lead guitarist Travis Sterner's guitar work was superb the whole night, as evidence of their improv jam of their finale 'The Final Cut'. They both used memorable tecchniques like a talk box (Travis) and screaming into their guitars' humbuckers to create a supersonic burst of noise (Claudio).
The set list was a tasteful mix of music from all of my favorite records of theirs (In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 is probably my least favorite of their albums, and (I don't know if I should say fortunately?)had the least number of songs featured in the concert).
The set list was very similar to this (tried to get it in order but I can't remember it exactly)
- No World for Tomorrow
- Gravemakers & Gunslingers
- A Favor House Atlantic
- The Hound (of Blood and Rank)
- Feathers
- The Running Free
- Everything Evil
- The Trooper (Iron Maiden cover!!!)
- The Devil In Jersey City
- The Suffering
- Delirium Trigger
*Encore
- Welcome Home
- In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth
- The Final Cut (extended jam)
Highlights for me were The Suffering, which was so fun to sing along to, as was The Running Free. The rapid transitions of Everything Evil into the Trooper followed by the Devil In Jersey City might have been my favorite part of the concert. It went old school, to way old school back to more of their old material and it was such an awesome surprise. The Final Cut jam was incredible as well, with the two guitarists really displaying their chops, along with a cool and collected Chris Pennie who showed off his prowess at polyrhythmic beats and lightning fast rolls all over his set.
Last night, March 31st 2008 was definitely one of the best musical experiences I've ever had, and a night I won't soon forget. They are definitely masters of their craft and play so well and impassioned that they truly are an inspiration to me and (should be to) modern music.
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