photo credit: weworemasks

Catching wind of this tour was pretty exciting in and of itself. I mean, a whole “evening” with a band catered in a new wave of progressive and experimental rock music at the peak of your adolescence, playing the entirety of an album you’ve loved for years and have listened to 200 times is more than many fans can ask for. Coheed and Cambria brought their A game and their behemoth of a debut record to Warehouse Live this past Tuesday, where new and old fans alike would bond over a mutually revered album.

Hit the jump for the recap.

-grizzly

photo credit: weworemasks

Coheed and Cambria cut all of the frills from the concert going experience. With a door time of 7 p.m. and a show time of 8 p.m., the lollygagging would be kept to a minimum. There were to be no opening acts besides the band themselves, as they played a 30 minute acoustic set, as sort of an amuse-bouche to the evening’s menu. Warehouse Live was packed to the brim with fans, many of whom embraced the acoustic renditions of songs like “Mother Superior” and “Here We Are Juggernaut,” along with more songs from their latter catalog. Kicking off the set with Good Apollo’s opener “Always and Never” was a crowd pleaser, but dare not tread the impact of “Wake Up” on Houston’s crowd, who were hanging on to literally every word Claudio Sanchez was singing.

photo credit: weworemasks

Now, we’re only human. We couldn’t help but glancing at the awkward demographics: The young bucks who frequent Hot Topics, the misguided bro who really loves the Rock Band and Guitar Hero series, the prog-influenced 30-something, the jaded ex-scene kids (ahem) and the sci-fi geeks who are quite in tune with the story arcs of the Coheed and Cambria saga were amongst them all. Who here actually gave a shit about the album being celebrated tonight? While it seemed like very few, we made a huge misconception and were sorely mistaken at the crowd’s reaction to the 2002 record.

photo credit: weworemasks

The place erupted in the opening words of “Time Consumer.” Suddenly, time travel was possible and I was side stage playing air drums and singing Second Stage songs with one of my best buds, much like it was back when I was a teenager. With every song, it seemed like the reaction was stronger than the last. The place went apeshit during “Delirium Trigger” and a guy spilled his beer after catching the unfortunate end of my air crash symbol on “33.” The band played with poise and the current performances of the song were perhaps technically better than they ever were way back when they were opening for Thrice and Hot Water Music at the now-closed Mary Janes. [An ed note on the crowd: Why was there an incessant need to crowd surf? Photography pit report Sunbear says that not a minute went by without one of you silly folks landing near, around or on him. Not a single person surfed at Glassjaw. Act your age, folks!]

photo credit: weworemasks

The good times were continuing to roll, but the crowd got a little worn out after “Junesong Provision” and “Neverender,” so the placement of “God Send Conspirator” couldn’t have come at a better time. An unexpected moment (a memory lapse, really) was when the band played the secret track, “I-Robot.” While I was live tweeting, I compared it to the “Imperial March” in Star Wars, and I still stand by that statement. Being that Second Stage Turbine Blade is technically Coheed and Cambria’s shortest record, the set flew by and it was over as soon as it started.

photo credit: weworemasks

That’s not to say the band was done. After chants of ‘USA! USA! USA!,’ the band made their way back on stage for their planned encore performance. [Ed note: The only other time I’ve heard a USA! chant was before The Gaslight Anthem’s encore, so kudos to Coheed fans] The band kicked things off with “Far,” from 2010’s Year of the Black Rainbow. While there was undeniable hope for songs like “The Crowing” and pretty much anything else off of In Keeping Secrets, the closest the crowd would get was “Ten Speed of Gods Blood and Burial,” and of course, “Welcome Home.” For the encore’s encore, Claudio prefaced with: “Some people like this song, but it’s terrible,” before launching into an acoustic rendition of the esteemed b-side, “Elf Tower New Mexico.”

On a more personal note, I really hope more of these types of shows find their way to Houston. Sure, it’s sort of sad that I’m getting to the age that entails these bouts of nostalgic concerts, but the Murtaugh Law will not be enforced and I will continue to go, just as long as they’re all as good as Coheed and Cambria’s Second Stage Turbine Blade experience, and the line between 15 year old me and 24 year old me continues to be blurred.

photo credit: weworemasks

[SETLIST]

Acoustic:

Always and Never
Mother Superior
Pearl of the Stars
Iron Fist*
Milk Foot (Davenport Cabinet cover)*
Who Watches the Watchmen? (The Prizefighter Inferno cover)*
Here We Are Juggernaut
Wake Up
–
Second Stage Turbine Blade in its entirety
–
Encore:

Far
Ten Speed of God’s Blood and Burial
No World for Tomorrow
Welcome Home
The Black Rainbow
Elf Tower New Mexico (Acoustic)