Legendary prog-rock mainstays Coheed and Cambria are currently on tour celebrating their iconic fourth LP, Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume II: No World For Tomorrow. Hitting The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City on May 3, the band are giving it the full album treatment. They are then following it with a second set of songs from their latest LP, Vaxis – Act II: A Window Of The Waking Mind.
Concerts at The Rooftop at Pier 17 start a little earlier than most. This benefits Coheed and Cambria with magical lighting to start the show. The sun sets behind the skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan just before the band begin, lighting up the sky with color. It feels like an extension of the production coming from the stage. Vocalist Claudio Sanchez then makes his way on stage solo. Picking up an acoustic guitar waiting by his microphone and gently started playing the opening notes of “The Reaping.” The rest of the band fill in, as the crowd sing, “The world will now know of change to come, or no world.” Crashing into the opening riff of “No World For Tomorrow,” they send all in attendance into a frenzy.
Coheed and Cambria’s first four LPs tell the story of a fictional conflict known as The Amory Wars, a science fiction saga created by Claudio. No World For Tomorrow is the end of the four-part story and a perfect album to be played in full live. The album is a mini rock opera in and of itself, after all. It also features one of the catchiest moments in their entire catalog in “The Running Free.” When played, you can feel the crowd had been waiting for the chance to belt it out since the show began.
No World For Tomorrow is a fascinating point in The Amory Wars to see performed in its entirety. The epic finale of the story concludes with Claudio, the main character, sacrificing himself for Heaven’s Fence. This part of the story has not yet been published in written form. That leaves the audience to fill in the gaps with their own imagination. The thick, sweeping guitar from “The End Complete V – On The Brink,” followed by orchestral strings, is a perfect end. But then hearing Vaxis – Act II afterwards is another special treat since the story is a direct extension of the events at the end of The Amory Wars. These shows are an exercise in brilliant storytelling few bands can pull off these days.
The stories that fill the albums are not just snippets from some imaginary concept living inside Claudio’s head. Fleshed-out stories published in graphic novel form that give fans the chance to dive deep into the lore. They can then close their eyes at a show and live through the characters in The Amory Wars they are so familiar with as the story is brought to life in front of them.
So much of the show at Pier 17 was special, but one three-song stretch stands out. The catchy sing-along of “The Running Free” gives way to the softness and subtle beauty of “Mother Superior.” Then the opening riff of “Gravemakers & Gunslingers” shakes the crowd to their core. The people across the river in Brooklyn surely heard the audience scream out, “Oh baby, be my lover. Go on and pull that trigger!”
After the main set, Coheed and Cambria returned to the stage to perform a seven-song set from their latest LP. This album, in particular, shines in the back end of the band’s catalog, with songs that returned to the epic yet insanely creative musicianship fans expect from the group. “Shoulders” was the peak, the song bouncing in and out of intricate hard rock riffs and soaring melodic vocal passages. It was particularly explosive outdoors, with wind rushing off the river and New York City’s skyline behind the band. Everything came to an epic conclusion when “Ladders of Supremacy” closed out the night.
Read more: TV Show [P]review: City On Fire
The band tour frequently and tend to sprinkle in full album performances, including their Neverender residencies; four-night runs in select cities where they play one album in full per night. Tonight’s show served as a vibrant flashback to those earlier days in the band’s career. In combining No World For Tomorrow with A Window Of The Waking Mind, they showed how they continue to write creatively engaging music whilst never straying from their signature prog-rock sound.
Coheed have a busy year of live shows ahead of them. The No World For Tomorrow tour continues through May, with a UK leg in June, and another US run in September with a bunch of festival appearances sprinkled in. Head over to the band’s website for the full itinerary. Check out the photo gallery from The Rooftop at Pier 17 below.
