COHEED AND CAMBRIA, MASTODON and EVERY TIME I DIE
THE ARMORY in MINNEAPOLIS, MN
JUNE 15, 2019
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick
There was a sense of excitement in The Armory this past Saturday night as Coheed and Cambria and Mastodon brought their "The Unheavenly Skye" tour to MN. The tour has been playing mostly outdoor amphitheaters so this was a rare date for all involved to enjoy some air conditioning while rocking out.
Andy Williams from EVERY TIME I DIE started the show ripping the opening chords of "Roman Holiday" to get the night started. The rest of band came out and kicked the show in to overdrive as only they know how. "Glitches" and "Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space" threw the pit into a frenzy. While it wasn't until the grooving party vibe of "We'rewolf" jumped in for the Coheed crowd to join in on the fun.
ETID is one of only a few bands where it doesn't matter what they play. They will always win the crowd over and convert some new fans every night in every city. Tonight was a testament to the band's showmanship. Keith Buckley was throwing all of his vocal power behind every song and Andy, Jordan, Steve and Daniel dominate the stage for their 45 min set.
"Floater" showed up early in the set but it doesn't matter where it is as long as they play it. I've never seen a crowd stay still for that mammoth monster. "INRIhab" is starting to become one of those irresistible pit turners as well. As always, Jordan Buckley climbs on monitors and bass amps as well as jumping off whatever he can find to keep the crowd going. "The Coin Has a Say" and "The New Black" rip by before an always emotional "Map Change" ends the set. This time with the band leaving Keith and Jordan on stage to play out the final vulnerable moments of the song.
In true ETID fashion, Keith sent Jordan crowd surfing to close out the show with the crowd carrying Jordan all the way back to the soundboard. With the length of The Armory, that's quite the impressive feat! ETID shined bright in a powerful co-headlining pairing that was to follow.
MASTODON brought the ambitious Crack the Skye album to life playing the album in full front to back to kick off their set. The fan loved record seemed to be a big undertaking on paper but was perfectly executed in every single way.
It's hard to beat the opening two numbers that kick off Crack the Skye - "Oblivion" and "Divinations". Those two performed live were pure bliss. We were only getting started. Brann, Bill, Troy and Brent sound better than ever. They clearly are enjoying playing this album front to back. Crack the Skye is perfect as it allows everyone in Mastodon to shine as evident on the title track and also the album closer "The Last Baron".
The visuals created for this tour were absolutely perfect - not overpowering the music but enhancing the experience. The album itself flew by so quickly, one didn't even realize they only had enough time to power thru 4 more songs before their set time expired.
With a catalog as vast as Mastodon has - picking 4 songs from all the other albums is a task no one would want to be responsible for. However, no one can be disappointed with what followed. "High Road" was a nice pick from a newer album. "Bladecatcher" went into "Black Tongue" and then they closing it out with a massive rendition of "Blood and Thunder"!
Each member of the band expressed gratitude to everyone in attendance for coming out and going along for the ride with them at different points in the show. This was easily the best I've seen Mastodon in a long time. The band was having fun, sounded excellent and victorious with their biggest stage show yet!
How would COHEED AND CAMBRIA compare to what we've already seen tonight? The band came out full throttle right out the gate with "The Dark Sentencer" and my new favorite Coheed track from this show "Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry The Defiant".
The absolutely joy coming from the band in those first two songs was infectious. Add in Claudio taking off his guitar and commanding the every section of the stage on "Unheavenly Creatures" easily made this the best Coheed show I have seen ever. Hands down.
It's hard to say when the crowd was the loudest during the sing alongs that happened for the mid set placing of "A Favor House Atlantic" or if the show closer "Welcome Home" won, it wasn't by much. Even the new song "The Gutter" went over really well.
Coheed's set was made up of a total of 8 songs from their new album The Unheavenly Creatures and rightfully so. It's a very strong album for the band, why not show the fans all the firepower this album has behind it. The visuals Coheed came up with were extremely complimentary to each song in the set.
This show was everything any passionate fan of any of the 3 bands could've hoped for. 3 bands playing at the top of their game with one not outshining the other. Giving the fans a show that they will talk about for years to come. An arena level spectacle that will be hard to beat this year.
See more of Brett's COHEED AND CAMBRIA photos here!
See more of Brett's MASTODON photos here!
See more of Brett's EVERY TIME I DIE photos here!
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