Coheed and Cambria Rocks MD! By Sean Heintzelman

If the nostalgia of a new Dave & Busters in downtown Silver Spring wasn’t enough, then the local concert venue usually has you covered.  On May 6^th the Fillmore hosted Coheed and Cambria’s “Good Apollo: I’m Burning Star IV Neverender” tour, dedicated to their 2005 album of the same name.  It’s amazing when a rock band has lasted so long in this day and age, let alone sells out a venue within hours.

The concert opened with a 45-minute set from Deer Hunter, as fans began to pour in to the venue. After 15 minutes of fans’ burning anticipation for the headliner to perform.  Claudio emerged on stage through a thick blue smog as the tape recording of Keeping the Blade came to a close.  With his trusty acoustic guitar in hand, he started off the show with Always & Never, his hair looking as good as it did in 2005 when the song debuted.

As Claudio strung the last chord to the opening song, the rest of the band appeared on stage. Claudio exchanged the acoustic guitar for his double-neck behemoth and the speakers started to blare.  With only the first few seconds of Welcome Home played, the sold-out audience finally had their chance to let loose.   Crowd surfing and head banging were in full effect for the first time that night, peaking during the song’s signature guitar solo.

The band proceeded to play through other songs from the album, much to the delight of the older members of the crowd.  After about 10 songs, Claudio tried his hand at a joke: “Isn’t it funny how you never care about a fireplace until you’re older?”  About 15 fans gave Claudio a sympathy laugh, but most of us looked at each other wondering if that was the punch line.  Claudio realized his joke wasn’t that great too and got back to singing, closing the show with the four parts of The Willing Well.

With an outpouring of “One more song!” chants, Claudio and his bandmates reappeared for an encore, consisting of Island from their newest album and In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 from their 2003 album.  It’s no surprise that this band can still sell out shows 15 years after their first album release. The energy of these old guys invigorates an audience so easily, so this surely isn’t their final cut.

Slideshow

Filmore, Silver Spring Setlist

Click Here for Setlist

Official Band Site

http://www.coheedandcambria.com/

Music Video