THE ARMORY in MINNEAPOLIS, MN
Aug 5, 2022
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick
COHEED AND CAMBRIA brought their “A Window of the Waking Mind Tour” to The Armory to a packed house. The merch table had about everything you would need if you are a Coheed fan. Shirts, comics, figures and a whole lot more. I went over and looked at it twice and don’t think I completely soaked in what they all had for sale, it was impressive to say the least. But that wouldn’t be the only impressive thing tonight.
COHEED AND CAMBRIA came out with what Travis told us a few weeks ago was their biggest production to date and included some amazing visuals for most of the songs and a giant inflatable skull. I got lost in watching the visuals going on behind the band instead of watching the band. I won’t give anything away with the visuals as you have to see it. Hey Netflix, Hulu, Apple or Amazon or whoever, come pick this up and let Coheed run with it.
The band themselves were in incredible form – each one of them smiling during and in between songs. I’m pretty sure this was the loudest I’ve heard the crowd sing along during their set, which I thought that last time too but this blew that out of the water. It was awesome to see Claudio Sanchez dancing while playing guitar running around the stage and his iconic headbanging. Josh Eppard is an engaging energetic drummer to watch. Travis Stever and Michael Todd each holding down their ends of the stage with proficiency that most guitarists can only dream of. Between the fantastic 4 musicians and the visuals going on, you definitely missed something going on. You would have to go to multiple shows to see it all!
Kicking off with a super intense “The Dark Sentencer” and “The Gutter” from Vaxis I before diving head first into Vaxis II with “The Embers of Fire” and big sing a longs with “Beautiful Losers” and “Shoulders”. Both Brett and I noticed that the crowd was very intense with these new songs being completely in the moment and singing along with every song which is something most bands can’t say their new stuff goes over just as well as their older material. This was super evident during “The Liar’s Club” which lead in to the superb last act of the show going in to even more crowd singalongs with “Everything Evil”, “Blood Red Summer”, “A Favor House Atlantic” and closing the main set with “Window of the Waking Mind.”
You can’t have a Coheed show without the epic closer “Welcome Home” which if that doesn’t get every last bit of energy out of you, you better check your pulse. If this tour rolls thru your town, go! If this tour gets a second leg, go! COHEED AND CAMBRIA have outdone themselves this time and I have a feeling this is only the beginning.
Opener MOTHICA is an exciting new artist that mixes pop, rock, alternative and metal to create an enchanting formula. The live set gets a boost with a live guitarist and drummer that now I wish was documented on the record more. MOTHICA’s new album “Nocturnal” is fantastic and while we get a few songs from the album, I wish there was more in the set. Coming out swinging with the infectious “Casuality” and moving in to “Lullaby” from the new album. You get a pretty good sense of what her album is like from these two performances.
MOTHICA got serious before “forever fifteen” telling her story of what got her to the point of attempting to end her life at 15. MOTHICA threw in some laughs in between songs for the rest of the set closing with her introvert anthem “Sensitive” and ending with “buzzkill.” The people who got to the show early found themselves a great new artist as MOTHICA is a fantastic opener for the tour. Keep an eye on her.
ALKALINE TRIO were up next. With no new album to promote, they came out and played crowd favorites for an hour. It was great to hear songs like "Time to Waste" again live. I got a little nostalgic for Warped Tour without having to be in the heat. A headliner in their own right, this was a perfect pairing for the night.
SEE MORE OF BRETT's PICTURES FROM COHEED AND CAMBRIA, ALKALINE TRIO and MOTHICA here!
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