Coheed and Cambria w/ Knapsack, Thank You Scientist
Showbox SoDo, Seattle, WA
10.23.15
It’s Friday night, and after a short road trip to the Emerald City and a day discovering some of the wonderful eccentricities that only a large Pacific Northwest city would have, I find myself in SoDo. But this is not by chance – I had planned on being here, at the Showbox, tonight. So it is by routine rather that I am here, despite the fact that I have never been to the Showbox or despite the fact that I live nearly 200 miles away. I am here to experience the brilliance of Coheed and Cambria, and this is routine.
This is not only routine for me, but for the hundreds of bodies that occupy this building. It is a routine: how millions of people tune into the social media channels of the band daily, and all know that singer/guitarist Claudio Sanchez’s son’s name is Atlas, or that drummer Josh Eppard is a huge Mets fan. It’s a routine, like a man in upstate New York putting Neverender on his turntable while cooking dinner, while a kid in Austin downloads Color Before the Sun, as Blood Red Summer shuffles through a young woman’s iPod during her work commute in Amsterdam, all while a group of friends sing along with You Got Spirit, Kid on their way to this show. It’s all routine; we are all a part of it and we all participate whether you are standing two feet from me in this venue or halfway across the world reading your newest copy of Amory Wars. This is Coheed and Cambria.
Tonight I am surrounded by people who, in their own little worlds, would not generally commune with each other, but have come together for one major reason – C&C. One of the greatest things about seeing Coheed live is the diversity of people. To my left – a teen with purple hair and a raccoon tail; to my right – the fifty-something dad wearing a Coheed shirt standing with his son; behind me – the twenty-somethings in the bar just coming from their new corporate jobs; and me, proudly adorned with a Star Wars shirt. We are all different, we come from different lives and backgrounds, but in this moment we are all family. We come together not just for the music, not just for the story or how it makes us feel, but because this is where we belong.
Hit the lights, push to the front, throw fists into the air… “Coheed! Coheed! Coheed!” The band takes the stage. Claudio silently acknowledges the crowd while a slow buildup commences, the sounds echoing around the room in suspense and then, like a wave, they break into “Island,” their newest single from Color Before the Sun. The momentum never falters, mixing new songs with classic favorites like “No World for Tomorrow,” “Favor House Atlantic,” and “Sentry the Defiant.” The audience out-sang Claudio during the classic “Devil in Jersey City” and the new hit, “You Got Spirit, Kid.”
Claudio pauses midway through the set to commend the city of Seattle for their support and hospitality, and then proceeds to wish his wife a happy anniversary, and talks about their visit earlier in the day to the grave of the great Jimi Hendrix. It’s at this point that one realizes he is not talking to a crowd at a rock show – he is talking to a long time friend that he hasn’t seen in forever. It’s that connection that sustains the energy, the longing, and the satisfaction of this concert.
The band steps off of the stage after their set, while everyone waits with anticipation for what has become a Coheed staple and sort of namesake… the encore! What separates a Coheed and Cambria encore apart from other bands is simply this: Claudio’s white, double neck Gibson and “Welcome Home.” As if the energy couldn’t climb any higher, their roadie brings out the double neck guitar for Claudio and everybody is soaring…
In this moment, we are all one.
Review by Jereme Westom
Photos by Logan Westom
Coheed and Cambria
Knapsack
