The doors opened a little earlier than 7, the time on the bill. By 7:11, mewithoutYou was on the stage already, starting off the show with a nice surprise. As they took the stage, dressed in their winter coats and hats, the anticipation grew and the crowd started cheering. They opened with "Paper-Hanger" and a lot of energy. Singer Aaron Weiss swayed rhythmically and awkwardly to his singing, which seems more like very emotional poetry. After the first song was done, the words 'Out of his mind' were the first to pop into my head watching Aaron. They played "Torches Together" next, with Aaron ripping off the jacket and hat in the middle of the song, screaming "Torches together!" With each song, the crowd grew in responsiveness, accepting mewithoutYou as a great live act. They added to the show by playing various instruments such as a pot ("Tie Me Up! Untie Me!"), an accordion ("Son of a Widow") and maracas ("Four Word Letter, Pt. Two"). Drummer Rickie Mazzotta played "My Exit, Unfair" with his head inside his button-down shirt the whole time. Their music was very trippy, emotional and ambient. If you enjoy mewithoutYou on CD, they're just as good, if not better, live.
Having only heard Dredg a few times before seeing them, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect from them. During setup, I saw 2 instruments placed on a table on stage which piqued my interest: A trumpet and some other weird stringed instrument. Within the first minute of their set, opening with "Ode to the Sun," I was sure that this was the best show I'd seen in a while. Jumping right into "Same Ol' Road," I was equally pleased with Dredg. The singer has an awesome live voice that you can't find anywhere else; it just flows through you. The drummer was playing with such strength and the drum volume was so loud that every time the bass drum pumped you felt it hit your face. The energy on stage never let down. The introduction to "Jamais Vu" caught my ear right away. The stringed instrument (anyone know what this is?) came in for the intro to the set closer, "Bug Eyes." I'd recommend seeing Dredg live if given the chance.
The last time I'd seen the Blood Brothers, they were amazing. I was convinced that they put on an amazing life show. By the end of this set, however, they convinced me to never count on a band like the Blood Brothers to put on a great set. Instead, I was deaf and my ears rang so hard I couldn't hear myself think. The entire time I watched the madness on stage, the only thing I was thinking was "if I know the songs and can barely make them out, then how does my friend who has never heard them feel right now?" It kind of sounded like they played most of the songs on Crimes, and one or two more off Burn, Piano Island, Burn. They closed the set putting random noises on a loop and having members of other bands come on stage and make random noises with drums and things. This all added up to the most piercing noise I've ever heard; and fifteen minutes of it. After I could hear myself speak and think again, the crowd let out a barrage of 'You suck!' and 'fuck you!'s.
After the Bros.'s set, the stage opened with fog and bright lights covering everything to the point where you couldn't see anything. Light projected onto the stage with thunder coming from the speakers. Then came "Keeping the Blade" and the recognizable Coheed logo projected onto the stage. Out came Claudio with his double-necked Gibson playing "Always and Never" with nearly everyone in the venue singing along enthusiastically. After the mellow, dramatic introduction came the single, "Welcome Home." For such an intricate band as Coheed and Cambria, I expected much better sound quality than was produced. All the volumes were just too loud and the bass overpowered a lot of the vocals and guitar. Claudio's voice sounded like it was probably good, but you couldn't hear any of the high notes very well through the sound system. Coheed played an hour-long set, including mostly songs from Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. They also played "Favor House Atlantic," "Blood Red Summer" and "In Keeping Secrets of Silence Earth: 3" from the album of which that last song is titled. They ended the set and came out to play a two-song encore, closing the set for good with a 15-minute song from Good Apollo that dragged on in leads for most of the time. The sound quality was a dissapointment, but Coheed still puts on a good live show.
Set lists:
mewithoutYou:
- Paper-Hanger
- Torches Together
- January 1979
- Tie Me Up! Untie Me!
- My Exit, Unfair
- Son of a Widow
- Four Word Letter (Pt. Two)
- Ode to the Sun
- Same Ol' Road
- ?
- Jamais Vu
- Bug Eyes
- Keeping the Blade
- Always and Never
- Welcome Home
- Favor House Atlantic
- Blood Red Summer
- In Keeping Secrets of Silence Earth: 3