It was an exciting Sunday night at HISTORY in Toronto as progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria performed to a packed audience supporting their Neverender: No World For The Waking Mind tour. The band are on tour playing their fourth album, No World for Tomorrow in its entirety, so fans young and old quickly packed the venue in anticipation of the band playing songs they haven’t performed in a long time.
Post-metal band Deafheaven was the opener of the show. They warmed up the audience with their eclectic mix of black metal, shoe gaze and screamo in their music. Lead vocalist George Clarke acknowledged Coheed and Cambria for inviting them to be openers for their tour, as it is their first time supporting a band in 6-7 years. During their set, George effortlessly performed his screams with authority while his band members performed with energy. Some of the crowd slowly moved their heads left and right as they admired the powerful performance of Deafheaven’s set.
Lineup:
George Clarke – Lead vocalist
Kerry McCoy – Guitar
Daniel Tracy – Drummer
Shiv Mehra – Guitar, backing vocals
Chris Johnson – Bass, backing vocals
Setlist:
1. Dream House
2. Sunbather
3. Canary Yellow
4. Mombasa
The lights dimmed black to signal the arrival of Coheed and Cambria. After a brief musical intro, Claudio Sanchez arrived to the middle of the stage to an excited audience to perform the short first track, “The Reaping” as the rest of the members came on stage. As soon as the song ended, the first guitar riffs of the title track, “No World for Tomorrow” began and the audience was ready to start rocking. Unfortunately, as they started to play “Feathers,” security had to stop the show for an injured person in the crowd. “Do over!” Guitarist Travis Stever exclaimed while Claudio joked to the crowd they should skip the song and play the next one. “Next song, next song!” Claudio cheered as the crowd loudly refused them to do that. The band eventually replayed “Feathers” and the show went on.
Claudio is known for his distinctive vocals that are unlike anyone else. Since Coheed and Cambria’s albums tell a story, he would switch his vocal style to fit the characters singing in each song. It is such a unique skill that not a lot of singers can do. The show wasn’t all perfect, as Claudio did messed up some of the lyrics. But it has been 16 years since the album came out, so who can blame him?
After playing the last track, the band briefly got offstage to prepare for the encore. They returned to play some of their newer music, with Claudio playing the synthesizer on “A Disappearing Act” which got the crowd dancing. Travis acknowledged the audience for coming to the show and singing along to their new music before they ended the night with “The Liars Club” and “Ladders of Supremacy” from their recent album, Vaxis — Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind. This was my first time seeing Coheed & Cambria, and I have become a fan. They are one of the best rock bands you will see, so I encourage people to see them live on their following tour dates!
Lineup:
Claudio Sanchez – Lead vocalist, guitar
Travis Stever – Guitar, backing vocals
Josh Eppard – Drummer
Zach Cooper – Bass, backing vocals
Setlist:
1. The Reaping
2. No World for Tomorrow
3. The Hound (Of Blood and Bank)
4. Feathers
5. The Running Free
6. Mother Superior
7. Gravemakers & Gunslingers
8. Justice in Murder
9. The End Complete I: Fall of House Atlantic
10. The End Complete II: Radio Bye Bye
11. The End Complete III: The End Complete / The Trooper
12. The End Complete IV: The Road and the Damned
13. The End Complete V: On the Brink
Encore:
14. The Embers of Fire
15. Beautiful Losers
16. Shoulders
17. Rise, Naianasha (Cut the Cord)
18. A Disappearing Act
19. The Liars Club
20. Ladders of Supremacy
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Andrew Wu is a music photographer based in Toronto, Canada. His work focuses on capturing and documenting special moments of performers during concerts and various events. His photos have been featured such as music publications in Spill Magazine, Imprint Entertainment, and Patchchord News. In 2020, he completed his BFA in photography at OCAD University.
Andrew is a massive fan of music, as he enjoys a variety of genres such as pop, alternative, rock, hardcore, and metal.
