Concert review: Coheed and Cambria and Linkin Park, Madison Square Garden, February 21, 2008 (570 hits)
Category: Sound & MusicRating: 0.46 on 40 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Axolotl (View user info) at 2008-02-25 10:07:20 EST
Concert review: Coheed and Cambria and Linkin Park, Madison Square Garden, February 21, 2008
First things first: NJ Transit can suck my sagging testicles, and so can the driver of the 168 bus that I have reason to believe whizzed right past me while I was standing at the bus stop without even stopping. Because of someone who didn't do his job, I waited an hour in the cold for the next bus, and hit the brutal traffic on the Lincoln Tunnel. I filled my iPod with angry music just for an occasion like this. "Head Like a Hole" by Nine Inch Nails really fit my mood while being pissed at the public transit system. (Bow down before the one you serve/You're gonna get what you deserve)"Straight Outta Compton" came on random shuffle as well...teen angst + wiggin = a fun time for all!
I'm pretty used to riding the buses into NYC, and while my usual bus takes me rolling through the heavily-hispanic urban Union City and West New York, my late bus went straight down the clogged-as-Rush-Limbaugh's-arteries Turnpike and straight into the tunnel. So because of my lateness into the great city known as New York I could either choose to eat dinner, or see Chiodos, the opening band. I chose food.
I walked the 5 or so city blocks from Port Authority to Madison Square Garden in the vicinity of 8th and 35th, and found a small Greek diner down one of the streets. Can't remember the name, but the food was pretty good, if you're ever in the area.
After eating, I tried to figure out how the hell to get into Madison Square Garden, eventually taking a circuitous route up and into the main lobby. After deciding there's no way in hell I'm spending $35 of my own money on a t-shirt, I went up the marginally-functional escalators toward my seat on the top floor.
With perfect timing, Coheed and Cambria hit the first chords of "No World For Tomorrow" just as I was walking in the door. As I made my way all around the top edge of Madison Square Garden, I could look down at the band and the setup of the stage. Claudio Sanchez was center stage, with Travis Stever, lead guitarist, just off to his right. The drums and bass were set up in the back, along with two platinum blond willowy backup singers, and a sound techie was hidden below a wall of computer displays. From my first impressions, I was happy to Sanchez had as excellent control of his freakishly high voice as he did in the studio.
I had a seat just behind the stage, but didn't suffer all that much for it. I began to notice there were a lot of younger kids here, many of them alone. Decked out in their all-black Linkin Park faux-goth apparel, they weren't too interested in Coheed and Cambria, but looking a little bewildered at the smell of beer and blunts that was floating around.
Coheed and Cambria continued with "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth," and Stever showed off some of his guitar chops. The crowd honestly wasn't getting that excited. Some scattered moshing was breaking out on the floor, but for the most part the crowd wasn't hugely excited. I was a lot more pumped to see Coheed than Linkin Park, but it didn't bother me all that much.
C+C continued with "A Favor House Atlantic," their first big hit, and this got a lot better reception. They gave a tight performance, and the crowd warmed up a bit more to the band. I was a little disappointed that Sanchez couldn't hit a lot of the higher notes, and that he was sputtering the lyrics a little. He allowed the crowd to sing the chorus, and they continued with "Feathers," which was Sanchez' best vocal performance of the evening, making up for the shaky vocals on the previous song. I was glad to see the crowd was cheering a lot more; I had hoped that people weren't only coming to see Linkin Park.
C+C did a nice version of "The Running Free," during which Sanchez played a tapping solo behind his head, and as it ended, and before the band's last song, the two guitarists did a weird sort of jam, trying to build tension for the final song in their set.
As soon as Sanchez played the heavy, warbly riff of "Welcome Home," the crowd on the floor went nuts. For those of you not familiar, it's one of C+C's heavier, more metal-influenced songs, notable for ending in about two minutes of traded twin guitar solos. The mosh pit on the ground got heavy, and I was very impressed with the quality of the solos. C+C left the stage to a lot more cheers than they entered on; I hope they made a few fans, they're a great band, and in my opinion, blow Linkin Park out of the water.
For the most part, they played a lot of their new stuff, but definitely got a lot of fan favorites. I would have liked to hear "The Suffering" or "Devil In Jersey City," but it was a great show nonetheless. While Madison Square Garden is a little of an impersonal venue to hear music, Coheed and Cambria's set was tight, and they gave the crowd their money's worth.
Now that the secondary act was through, a lot more seats were filling up. There were a lot of young kids here, decked out in spikes and chains, trying to seem hard, but more than a little intimidated by a boisterous drunken group of twenty-somethings in our section. A massive goth chick in all black w/ eyeliner sat down by me and spent the next hour getting up and down to go to the bathroom, get water, get food, etc. Despite a lot of kids at the show, my section was blazing. I couldn't see who was lighting up (or could the annoyed security) but there was a strong smell gathering at the top of the garden.
It took a while for Linkin Park to get on stage after Coheed. Maybe 40 minutes; to pass the time, they had an interesting feature on a large plasma screen that I had never seen before. There was a number on the screen, and by texting that number, your message might appear on the screen in front of thousands of people. This led to 40 minutes of "Jim luvs Mary" "Laura will u marry me?" "LINKIN PARK ROCKKS!!1" and dozens of other grammatically-challenged texts. With the marriage-proposal ones...how do you time that? Do you see the opportunity, say what the hell, and just go for it? What if she misses it? What do you do then?
The lights went out and Linkin Park rose out of panels on the floor of the stage, and immediately launched into "Somewhere I Belong." The crowd roared, and a violent mosh pit immediately broke out. Chester Bennington looked different than what I used to know him as. Gone was the bespectacled sensitive emo-esque blondie, Bennington had closely cropped hair and looked a lot more thicker, with a bit of a resemblance to Orlando Bloom. The entire band was all in black, and the lighting reflected black and red, with the spotlight mostly on singer Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda. Just as a side comment - the guitarist had o.d. massive hair. The crowd was singing along so loud they were almost equaling Bennington's voice; I couldn't remember the words, nor immediately recognize the song.
By the time they kicked seamlessly into "Lying From You" I was pretty impressed with their live performance. While their music wasn't as deep, or even as original, as Coheed's, Linkin Park was a lot more theatrical, and put on a better show. Bennington ran to the sides and back of the stage, not ignoring us cheap tools.
For the most part they played their more popular earlier stuff, but the show slowed down a bit for the piano ballad "Valentine's Day," dedicated to Bennington's mom. It felt very out of place with the rest of the show and a bit of a low point, but it wasn't intolerable. After the dragging song, they went into "Breaking the Habit," which drew a lot bigger fan reaction. For the next song, "Crawling," Bennington jumped off stage and flanked by two large bodyguards, interacted with the crowd. While shown in closeup on the plasma screen, Bennington hugged and high-fived the wild audience, inviting them to sing along with him. He made his way across the whole front of the stage, tousling hair and accepting handshakes and roars of approval.
Their huge hit "Numb" was next, another crowd favorite, and after several harder songs in a row, the show took a breather for their current single, "Shadow of the Day." While it was a perfectly good performance, I was a little disappointed to hear the crowd going crazy for a simple 3-note guitar solo from their guitarist; they had given Coheed's blistering bluesy solos lukewarm applause.
LP finished up with "In the End," one of the first songs I heard by them, back at the ripe age of ten years.
My dad (a little above Shlongy's age) is always interested in new music, so he bought the new Linkin Park CD and I burned him a disc of Coheed and Cambria from my iTunes.
From the opinions of a man who grew up listening to the Who, the Kinks, and the Stones: He thought the Linkin Park CD was a lot better than he thought it was going to be, and he liked it a lot. However, he thought it was extremely poppy, and remarked that some of the songs sounded as if they could be on American Idol.
He liked Coheed and Cambria a lot more, and especially because of Sanchez' vocals, found them similar to Rush. Because it was only the dorky sort of kids who liked the dorky Rush back in his time, he had some prejudices, but found C+C to be a lot better (and apparently, cooler) than Rush ever was, and a lot more accessible and pleasant to listen to
All in all, it was a great show. If things turned out different, Linkin Park might be opening for Coheed, but the bands complemented each other fairly well. Coheed is a quirkier sort of band than Linkin Park, and LP doesn't have the creativity of Coheed, but both seem to fit together well as a double header concert.
User Reviews
Submitted by someone (user info) at 2008-02-27 13:20:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by DeathJester (user info) at 2008-02-26 02:55:57 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Jesus christ...
Good bands that complimented each other? NIN and Tool double headline in Bologna, Italy.
Arctic Monkeys suck Britney Spears' insane dick.
=======
Hahah, coming from some loser that likes Nine Inch Nails? Please, the only band worse then that is....Tool, which you also like! Here's an idea, leave your opinions somewhere in the midwest where no one matters and you can have a great life loving bands people don't give two shits about! Thanks, have a great life sniffing meth and living in a trailer!
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2008-02-26 10:08:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by PepsiCoke (user info) at 2008-02-26 04:20:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2008-02-25 22:08:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by PepsiCoke (user info) at 2008-02-25 15:07:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
The next night I get to see the Allman Brothers during their Beacon run. The Beacon is another amazing venue.
---
ummm...no you're not.
unless you were able to clone duane allman or perhaps..OMFG!...is it going to be a Zombie Slide Guitar Extravaganza?
holy shit i want tickets!
-------------------------------
The current Allman Bros. lineup is different than the original but not necessarily worse. Derek Trucks is no Duane Allman, but Duane Allman was no Derek Trucks. Warren Haynes and Derek are more technically gifted that Duane and Dickey Betts ever were. Honestly, I do prefer Duane (and who doesn't) but the current lineup is doing some unbelievable things. I've seen Warren Haynes and Derek with their respective bands, but this will be my first time seeing them together live. The Beacon DVD from 2003 is great, though.
-----
So basically what you are telling me is that there is to be NO Zombie Slide Guitar Extravaganza?
I'm out.
Submitted by PepsiCoke (user info) at 2008-02-26 04:20:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2008-02-25 22:08:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by PepsiCoke (user info) at 2008-02-25 15:07:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
The next night I get to see the Allman Brothers during their Beacon run. The Beacon is another amazing venue.
---
ummm...no you're not.
unless you were able to clone duane allman or perhaps..OMFG!...is it going to be a Zombie Slide Guitar Extravaganza?
holy shit i want tickets!
-------------------------------
The current Allman Bros. lineup is different than the original but not necessarily worse. Derek Trucks is no Duane Allman, but Duane Allman was no Derek Trucks. Warren Haynes and Derek are more technically gifted that Duane and Dickey Betts ever were. Honestly, I do prefer Duane (and who doesn't) but the current lineup is doing some unbelievable things. I've seen Warren Haynes and Derek with their respective bands, but this will be my first time seeing them together live. The Beacon DVD from 2003 is great, though.
Submitted by DeathJester (user info) at 2008-02-26 02:55:57 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Jesus christ...
Good bands that complimented each other? NIN and Tool double headline in Bologna, Italy.
Arctic Monkeys suck Britney Spears' insane dick.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2008-02-26 02:18:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
No Comment
Submitted by forthewin (user info) at 2008-02-26 01:42:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
(I didn't read this +2)
And hey, fuck you guys, the Arctic Monkeys rock faces.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2008-02-25 23:42:49 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
The Arctic Monkeys are class, you cunts.
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2008-02-25 22:08:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by PepsiCoke (user info) at 2008-02-25 15:07:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
The next night I get to see the Allman Brothers during their Beacon run. The Beacon is another amazing venue.
---
ummm...no you're not.
unless you were able to clone duane allman or perhaps..OMFG!...is it going to be a Zombie Slide Guitar Extravaganza?
holy shit i want tickets!
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2008-02-25 21:43:35 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
DMD: Even Coheed you think? I know you like prog-rock kind of music, Coheed's a damn talented outfit.
Submitted by Death_Metal_Dude (user info) at 2008-02-25 19:16:06 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
both terrible bands
Submitted by Quint (user info) at 2008-02-25 15:51:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
You know why Linkin Park took 40 minutes to get on stage? There were all in the dressing room gang-banging Method's Mom.
Submitted by Sinistral (user info) at 2008-02-25 15:14:23 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Hybrid Theory was the first rock record I ever owned. Since then their music has gone downhill.
Coheed & Cambria, though, earns the -1.
Best live show IMO is Against Me! even after the new album. Hopefully I'll get to see Flogging Molly in March, which should definitely challenge for that title.
Submitted by PepsiCoke (user info) at 2008-02-25 15:07:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I saw Derek Trucks the other night. If you want to see a real guitarist then go to one of his shows. The Soul Stew Revival concerts feature his wife, Susan Tedeschi, who sings and is an extremely gifted guitarist in her own right.
I can't stand either of those two bands you saw. Linkin Park is particularly useless. I don't really like arena shows, anyway. In May I'm seeing Black Keys and Buffalo Killers at Terminal 5 in Manhattan. That's a fucking great venue. The next night I get to see the Allman Brothers during their Beacon run. The Beacon is another amazing venue.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2008-02-25 12:38:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2008-02-25 11:22:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Pretty good review- Hell, I haven't seen a concert in MSG in like 25 years and FYI: the upper deck is full of people smoking weed even during Rangers games - but I deducted a point for your failure to GET A DATE FOR THIS SHOW.
--------
My dad used to see the Dead, the Who, and a bunch of others at MSG back in the day. Yeah, people were blazing up toward the top.
My girlfriend was elsewhere that night...I was dateless =[
Submitted by Rhymenocerous (user info) at 2008-02-25 12:03:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2008-02-25 11:46:16 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
NO ONE is as bad as Nickleback.
Unless we count bands from the 70's-80's like Journey, Kansas, and Skynyrd.
======
The thing with those older bands is that, well in my opinion, I know they're terrible and that's why they're so awesome. Except for Skynyrd. Redneck, racist fucks.
Submitted by czwij (user info) at 2008-02-25 11:49:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
id like to experience buckethead.
dont know why, can't say i really like his toonage....yet, could change as i listen for curiousities sake.
(im in pentatonic jail right now and am desperate for something out there...)
but having a t shirt with "buckethead" written on it would be neat.
oh,and i change the radio station when stinkin dark plays.
don't know the other two.
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2008-02-25 11:46:16 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
NO ONE is as bad as Nickleback.
Unless we count bands from the 70's-80's like Journey, Kansas, and Skynyrd.
Submitted by Rhymenocerous (user info) at 2008-02-25 11:41:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Not my style of music but it sounds like you had a good time.
Sorry, Linkin Park fucking sucks a tremendous amount of penis. They're almost as bad as Nickleback.
But hey, to each his own.
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2008-02-25 11:38:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
good review.
so...did you take the massive goth chick home or what?
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2008-02-25 11:22:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Pretty good review- Hell, I haven't seen a concert in MSG in like 25 years and FYI: the upper deck is full of people smoking weed even during Rangers games - but I deducted a point for your failure to GET A DATE FOR THIS SHOW.
Submitted by BranDo (user info) at 2008-02-25 11:18:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Talking about music is like dancing on architecture.
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-02-25 11:10:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
or maybe they just thought that band names are like gay little sports-team names and decided to take the piss out of it...
=========
I read about them a while ago and I'm sure that's why they gave themselves their name. I hear they're getting popular over in the States again because some advert uses one of their songs.
Submitted by iddqd (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:54:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
"Are The The actually any good then?
Maybe the music, but I can't imagine liking the personalities of people who would give such a pretentious self-referential name to what they're trying to create. "
or maybe they just thought that band names are like gay little sports-team names and decided to take the piss out of it...
and using the phrase 'self referential' is pretentious.
i saw arctic monkeys last year and it was one of the best shows ive seen.
Submitted by MudWhistle (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:51:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I'd like to see Coheed
Linkin Park...not so much but I guess you have to take the good with the bad.
It's like seeing Monster's Inc. On Ice. I enjoy building memories with my daughters but could give two shits about the dancing puppets.
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:50:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2008-02-25 15:46:53 GMT (#)
Ranking: 0
Are The The actually any good then?
=======
They're excellent. They have a great album of Hank Williams cover songs called 'Hanky Panky'.
The name is shit though.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:46:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Are The The actually any good then?
Maybe the music, but I can't imagine liking the personalities of people who would give such a pretentious self-referential name to what they're trying to create.
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:46:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Robots in Disguise are also fucking awesome.
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:45:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Radiohead? Come on, that's so mainstream...
Although Faithless is pretty alright.
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:41:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2008-02-25 15:30:56 GMT (#)
Ranking: 0
Not to mention The The, the Smiths, Westlife, and britpop.
Let me know when British music is good again
============
Considering you paid to see two shit bands, you're not really in a position to comment.
Anyway, as this is all just a matter of taste, here's some kick ass British music currently making the rounds.
Broadcast
Beth Gibbons
Robert Wyatt
The Aliens
King Creosote
Roots Manuva
Radiohead
The Libertines
Selfish Cunt
Mr Scruff
Lone Pigeon
Martina Topley-Bird
Tricky
Faithless
Spiritualized
Lemonjelly
Oh yeah, and fuck you, The The are awesome, even if they have the most retarded name in the world.
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:34:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Sometimes I do forget that you are actually 15 years old.
You should totally offer yourself to ManicMother.
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:31:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
At least the emotional meltdowns give you a split second of schadenfreude.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:30:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:27:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by hour_man (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:19:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:13:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Both of those bands are fairly shit. I wouldn't have paid to see either one. At least you had fun I suppose.
-----
You fuckholes gave us Arctic Monkeys. You have no musical opinions.
--------
Not to mention The The, the Smiths, Westlife, and britpop.
Let me know when British music is good again
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:30:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I listen to XM Music Lab at work a lot. They play a lot of Coheed and Cambria. And Primus, Zappa, Tool, Rush, Grateful Dead, Hendrix.... And a lot of other bands that pushed horizons or at least do/did things a little different. So, you know, Linkin Park, not so much.
"The Grudge" (Tool) is playing right now, in fact.
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:29:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2008-02-25 15:27:00 GMT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by hour_man (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:19:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:13:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Both of those bands are fairly shit. I wouldn't have paid to see either one. At least you had fun I suppose.
-----
You fuckholes gave us Arctic Monkeys. You have no musical opinions.
=========
And you gave us Britney Spears, Puff Daddy and Jennifer Lopez, to name but a few. Thanks, really.
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:27:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by hour_man (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:19:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:13:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Both of those bands are fairly shit. I wouldn't have paid to see either one. At least you had fun I suppose.
-----
You fuckholes gave us Arctic Monkeys. You have no musical opinions.
Submitted by iddqd (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:20:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
linkin park are an extremely well-manufactured pop act. which is something i respect them for - they went out of their way to hit certain markets, and did it pretty much perfectly.
Submitted by hour_man (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:19:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:13:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Both of those bands are fairly shit. I wouldn't have paid to see either one. At least you had fun I suppose.
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:13:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Both of those bands are fairly shit. I wouldn't have paid to see either one. At least you had fun I suppose.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:11:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
turn o' phrase, ain't it?
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-02-25 10:08:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
You're too young to have sagging testicles.
Go see your doctor.