This show was also an encore of the Neverender concert series that they did a few years ago, during which they performed their full albums straight through. This was the Second Stage Turbine Blade session, meaning that they performed their first album in its entirety.
I went tot he show with Brayden and my friend--who is also Brayden's cousin--Andrew. We hit Salt Lake City early so we could avoid rush hour traffic, which meant we were able to cruise the Gateway and grab some dinner at a really good Mexican restaurant...that I still can't pronounce. It was also just great to sit down and chat with my good friends.
I had been reading articles about this concert series, and Claudio (Coheed's vocalist and guitarist) mentioned that they prided themselves in their large merch table at shows, so I couldn't enter the venue without immediately jumping in line to buy myself a t-shirt and other knick knacks.
When the show began, Coheed came out and played a full acoustic set. I knew they were going to play some stuff from Claudio's solo project, Prize Fighter Inferno, but for some reason I didn't realize they'd also be playing some of my favorite songs like Mother Superior, Always and Never, and even Here We Are, Juggernaut. They even played a brand new song entitled Iron Fist. It was awesome.
Claudio was hilarious. He walked out with some thick, white-framed glasses and when someone yelled out a comment about them, he laughed and said, "Well, they were 50% off on clearance at Lenscrafters." Man, he's such a cool guy. Even Travis, the lead guitarist, was way funny and happy, and performed a Bob Dylan song in which he performed lead vocals. And of course, I was blown away by bassist Mic Todd.
After the acoustic set, they walked off stage while the techs rearranged the stage for the electric sets. Then, after about twenty minutes, they came back out on stage and performed the entire album Second Stage Turbine Blade. It was a great performance. When their hit song Devil in Jersey City began, the whole place was jumpin'. My copy of this album was always pretty bad quality, and so I never really listened to it before I had a ticket to the show, after which I decided it was time to get a playable copy so I could get the most out of the concert. It has now become an album that I listen to all the time, regardless of the concert.
As stated in a previous blog, I also began reading the comic books The Amory Wars, that inspired Coheed's albums, which made it that much better to watch them perform living, understanding what each song signified.
After performing the hidden track on the album, entitled IRO-bot, which was amazing, they retreated from the stage once again. After the crowd cheered them back, they returned to play ANOTHER set with songs from all of their albums. They played a lot of my favorites, including Welcome Home, Ten Speed, and No World for Tomorrow.
And if that wasn't enough, after playing that set of songs, they returned to the stage one final time to perform an acoustic rendition of the additional track Elf Tower New Mexico from their second album, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. They said their farewells, and thus concluded the best show I've ever attended in my whole life.
It was such a fun night, and I spent it with some of my best friends, which made it even that much cooler. Not to mention that Brayden is the biggest Coheed and Cambria fan I've ever met, besides myself, so it was perfect to rock out next to him...even though we did get lost from each other in the mosh pit since he's about a foot taller than me.
I was so glad I was able to hit that show, and really hope Coheed comes back soon. It was an unbelievable show in every aspect.
