To say that I've been looking forward to this concert would be an understatement. It was only about a month or so ago that I picked up my first Coheed & Cambria album, which I did on the recommendation of a friend of mine. It was Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, and it is absolutely fantastic. It was far from what I expected, and was just a flat out excellent album. Then this show was announced, and I knew I had to go. Since I was going, I figured I should check out Avenged Sevenfold as well. I picked up City of Evil. I was completely unprepared for what greeted me from my speakers — this album is amazing and has not yet left my CD player. I guess I should get to the show.
I got to the Mid-Hudson Civic Center about 6:15; the doors opened at 6:00. I got inside pretty quickly and made my way over to the merch table, where I acquired a kickass Avenged Sevenfold tour shirt. I then went inside and waited for the show to begin. Now, this place has developed a nasty habit of starting shows earlier than scheduled, and this night was no different, kicking off at 6:45, rather than the announced 7:00 PM.
The lights went down, and when they came back up, Head Automatica was onstage. I must admit that they have not won a new fan in me. It's not that they didn't perform well, but I was just not into their emo-psychedelia, or whatever you want to call it, style. Their look seemed to want to emulate the Beatles, yet it was mediocre at best. The music was just bland, trying to capture a bygone era with modern sensibilities, and ending up just a dull concoction. The crowd didn't really seem to be buying into them either — there was a decidedly mixed reaction, a combination of some weak cheers and boos. My best guess is that this was just the wrong crowd for them. Technically, they performed their music well; they were a solid unit up there, but I just could not get into them. I think the biggest thing that bugged me was when they plugged their upcoming album (it is being released on 6/6/06) and they said that if you were "real metal", you'd pick it up. Excuse me? Real metal? First, you'd have to actually play metal.
The stage was dismantled and then reset for the next act, and the one I was most looking forward to. By now, the sold out hall was really beginning to fill up with the late arrivals, and those wishing to miss the warmup. I made my way up closer to the stage, standing in a cluster on the left side of the hall, and waited.
Article comments
1 - Jessica
I was there and i agree ith you 100 percent about eevrything...Great review
2 - iowa2nj
How long did this whole concert last?
3 - Wheeler
I've seen Coheed 3 times live now and twice they played Welcome Home but they closed with The Final Cut to which they jammed and at the end the guillotine came down (hence the title of the song). Are you sure it was Welcome Home that they closed with?
4 - Chris Beaumont
I could be wrong. I cannot even come near to claiming too much knowledge of Coheed, but I thought it was Welcome Home, although The FInal Cut would seem to make more sense.
Iowa: It lasted about 4 hrs, including time between bands.
5 - jake
I saw them in Louisville Ky at the Louisville Gardens, Coheed had the guilloie there too i dotn know when it went down tho, but Coheed playerd before Avenged Sevenfold, it was an awsome concert
6 - Skater Punk
I think you guys are the best and my friend doesn't know any thing about punk music because she listens to rap and rap STINKS! But I saw you guys at the point fest at St. Louis, Missouri and I have 2 of your T-shirts and all your CD's. So Rock On!
7 - Brandon
Wheeler, I'm thinking of getting tickets to a Coheed and Cambria at plush in jacksonville, fl an was wondering...how long does a typical C&C concert last?