Coheed and Cambria: An Amazing Gift
by
Monica Redwine
My husband got me the most amazing gift earlier this year: tickets to go see Coheed and Cambria, along with the Meet and Greet package. I was SOOOO excited! He didn’t even tell me he was planning to buy them—he messaged me while I was at work and asked me to take off February 13th and 14th. Me being the anxiety filled person that I am, I assumed something was wrong and started questioning him about it immediately. That’s when he sent me a picture of the ticket receipt and said, “Someone is finally going to meet Claudio Sanchez.” I was so happy that I had to walk outside of my office and cry. I have listened to Coheed and Cambria for about 13 years now but just like all the other bands that I love, I had been unable to see them due to financial or circumstantial reasons; you can imagine I was extremely pleased to finally be able to go and see them. Sadly when he purchased the tickets there was only one meet and greet left so he got it for me, but he still was able to get the early entry package for himself.
When we arrive at Minglewood Hall it became apparent that we were only the second people there. After a while other people started lining up, and a photographer came out and asked if we would be interested in being in the next Coheed and Cambria vide for the song “True Ugly”—who says no to that!? So a bunch of us ended up going over and saying, “Show me your true ugly” into the camera for him. If you watch the video you can see my husband around 0:53 (he’s in a white shirt and looks quite menacing). https://youtu.be/5RdGz8U5-ps
While waiting to meet the band I ended up shedding a few tears. This was like a dream come true for me after all! But when the moment finally came I was not nearly as nervous as I thought I would be and that was mostly due to seeing how the band interacted with the fans. They were very talkative, asking where were we from and how far we had traveled to get there. Of course I had a difficult time even looking at them because it was just so unreal, but Claudio Sanchez in person… just made me smile from ear to ear to see him sitting there in front of me. Of course I love Josh, Travis and Zach as well, but ever since I heard Claudio Sanchez sing his acoustic version of “Faithfully” https://youtu.be/bCudZYXvqWk (original by Journey) I have been so in love with the emotion he puts into his performances, his amazing voice, and the incredible love he has for his beautiful wife. I was honored to have met them, and I was able to get them to autograph my ticket and had a picture made with the band.
After meeting them we got to into the venue early to get merch and to see a private acoustic set. Of course I had Chris get in the merch line for me because I had to secure my spot at the front of the stage (which I shared with Karen and her husband, Eligah, and another young lady whose name I cannot remember for the life of me, but she was equally amazing and she and her husband had been to dozens of Coheed shows!)—we were front and center, directly in the line of vision for the vocalist of the opener, The Foxing, and for Coheed and Cambria.
I would just like to give a shout out to The Foxing because when they played their set, they really brought it! The guitarist was VERY intense and even got down in the crowd, gave his guitar over and allowed them to chaotically strum away to one of the songs. They were pretty great!
Then came Coheed and Cambria. I am going to be perfectly honest: I was not expecting the crowd to be as intense as they were, and it was AMAZING! People were moshing, there was crowd surfing—I hadn’t seen that much movement in a crowd since seeing Hatebreed some years back! And when I tell you that Coheed sounds absolutely outstanding live, I sincerely mean that. Claudio’s voice and that everyone’s musical talents are not computer-generated and auto-tuned; they are genuinely each very talented individuals. Regardless of being kicked in the head and having a person dropped on me (LOL) I had an extremely marvelous night.
Vaxis- Act 1: The Unheavenly Creatures is the ninth album by Coheed and Cambria; it was released on October 5, 2018. It is a continuation of The Amory Wars concept (it is a comic book series).
Track listing:
- Prologue
- The Dark Sentencer
- Unheavenly Creatures
- Toys
- Black Sunday
- Queen of the Dark
- True Ugly
- Love Protocol
- The Pavilion (A Long Way Back)
- Night-Time Walkers
- The Gutter
- All on Fire
- It Walks Among Us
- Old Flames
- Lucky Stars
What can I saw except that the album is great? My personal favorite is “Old Flames”—lyrically I just absolutely love this son, though I have to admit that I love ALL of their music and my favorites change constantly (I have a habit of becoming addicted to different songs and playing them at least a billion times in a row). “Unheavenly Creatures”, “Toys”, and “True Ugly” are also high up on my list, as well as “The Dark Sentencer”. I really think any fan of Coheed and Cambria already does love this album, but if you haven’t heard it yet, you should CERTAINLY check it out!
They will soon be embarking upon a tour with Mastodon and you can catch them on the following dates:
- 5/28 Louisville, KY- Iroquois Ampitheater
- 5/29 Columbus, OH- Express Live! Outdoor Ampitheater
- 5/31 Atlanta, GA- Coca-Cola Roxy
- 6/1 Simpsonville, SC- CCNB Ampitheater at Heritage Park Simpsonville
- 6/2 Baltimore, MD- MECU Pavilion
- 6/4 Asbury Park, NJ- Stone Pony Summer Stage
- 6/6 Boston, MA- Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion
- 6/7 Brooklyn, NY- Ford Ampitheater at Coney Island Boardwalk
- 6/8 Camden, NJ- BB & T Pavilion
- 6/10 Pittsburg, PA- Stage AE- outdoors
- 6/11 Detroit, MI- Michigan Lotter Ampitheater at Freedom Hill
- 6/13 Council Bluffs, IA- Harrah’s Council Bluffs- Stir Cove
- 6/14 Chicago, IL- Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
- 6/15 Minneapolis, MN- The Armory
- 6/18 Kansas City, MO- Starlight Theatre
- 6/19 Denver, CO- Fillmore Auditorium
- 6/20 Salt Lake City, UT- The Great Saltair
- 6/22 Seattle, WA- Marymoor
- 6/23 Portland, OR- Theater of the Clouds at Moda Center
- 6/25 San Francisco, CA- The Masonic
- 6/26 San Diego, CA- Petco Park- Park at the Park
- 6/28 Las Vegas, NV- The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas
- 6/29 Los Angeles, CA- Greek Theatre
- 6/30 Phoenix, AZ- Comerica Theatre
- 7/2 Austin, TX- Austin 360 Ampitheater
- 7/3 Irving, TX- The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
I would just like to say thank you again to my husband, Chris, for making my dream of meeting Claudio Sanchez finally come true. It was without a doubt one of the best experiences I have had, and I appreciate this amazing gift you have given me very much!
