Photos: Dave Watson

One of the premiere bands in modern hard rock, Coheed and Cambria has been called a lot of things.

“21st century successors to Rush and Led Zeppelin.”
“The toughest band in most emo kids’ music collection.”
“That metal act with a singer who sounds like a chick.”

Yes, NYC-based Coheed and Cambria are many things to many people but one thing they are not is weak. No matter which shade of the “black rainbow’ spectrum you find yourself in we can all agree that these guys aren’t phoning it in. Taking the stage to 1500 screaming chants of “Coheed! Coheed!”, these sci-fi rockers kicked off the night with what had to have been a 7 or 8 minute version of their epic song “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3.” The crowd shouted along to the lines “Man your battle stations!” as the fist-pumping crowd prepared themselves for battle.

As you may or may not know, Coheed and Cambria’s entire discography equates to a five-part fictional sci-fi saga, and each of the concept albums focus on chapters in the overall story. It’s Star Wars meets Pink Floyd’s, The Wall. Their latest album, Year of the Black Rainbow, released earlier this year, is a prequel to the band’s on-going space lore, also know as The Amory Wars.

Claudio Sanchez, the Tasmanian devil guitar-shredding ball of hair and high-key vocals is the main writer and creator of the whole Amory Wars saga and driving force of the band. His passion and focus started from a jealousy over the bands during his father’s era of music (Zeppelin, Queen, Thin Lizzy). Coheed is an attempt at righting the wrongs of an otherwise “weakness” in modern rock.

While lead singer/guitarist Claudio Sanchez is certainly the star of the C&C experience, the rest of the band members manage to shine in their own way. Bassist Mic Todd’s nasty pluckin’ and slappin’ laid the driving groundwork for such intergalactic war songs as the opener “In Keeping Secrets…” and “Welcome Home”. Drummer Chris Pennie’s booming thunder would make even Zeppelin drumming-legend, John Bonham proud. For a catalog so full of “battle cries” and “war chants” you need someone not afraid to lay down a bass drum/snare combo every now and then. The band has a knack for building up the energy with well-crafted intricate guitar work before crashing it all down in true arena-rock style. Guitar-wise, it should come as no shock that Guitar World Magazine ranked the band’s third album, Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness at # 69 on their list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time. These guys no how to play. Lead singer Claudio Sanchez and guitarist Travis Stever split duties between lead and rhythm but both employ a nasty mixture of tight “Van-Halen-esque” shredding, palm muted breaks, prickly pull-offs and epic solos. They don’t gloss over the guitar with heavy distortion either, as so many other hard rock bands do these days.

The band played several crowd favorites like “Three Evils” and “Delirium Trigger” with perfect precision. The crowd knew every word and at times Claudio would even let them sing the chorus with unbridled enthusiasm. C&C sprinkled in new tunes like the “personal” song “When Skeletons Live” and the band’s latest single “Here We Are Juggernaut” which is currently playing all over vevo.com.

Mixing elements of metal, new-wave, classic rock and pop, Coheed and Cambria has managed to create a unique spot for themselves. They maintain the metal street cred due to their guitar-heavy ballads but are open-minded enough to mix pop-inspired melodies throughout many of their songs. Almost half of their tunes incorporate some form of “Oh! Oh! Oh!” sing-along or Bono-like crooning, which you either love or hate. Some would argue that they aren’t diverse enough to share the Zeppelin or Queen comparisons, and that may be true, but being fair, how many bands are?

Coheed and Cambria is a band with serious music chops and definite potential. The real question is can they push the creative envelope outside the realms of space alien storytelling? I for one think they have it in them but the true test will be what happens when the sci-fi saga ends and Claudio and friends have to write songs about real life? If they want to play the venues that their arena-rock truly belongs in, they are going to have to shake things up in the near future. In the meantime however, they will keep on rocking with intimate and dynamic shows like this. Their music might not connect with everyone but clearly when it does, you find yourself being absorbed into the extensive sci-fi rock mythos known simply as, Coheed and Cambria.

Setlist
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood And Burial)
Here We Are Juggernaut
The Crowing
The Suffering
Pearl of the Stars
Three Evils (Embodied In Love And Shadow)
Everything Evil
When Skeletons Live
The Willing Well I: Fuel for the Feeding End
Delirium Trigger
No World For Tomorrow
———-
Wake Up
Welcome Home