If you had been walking down an uncharacteristically quiet Telegraph Avenue in Oakland this past Sunday night, you would have had little idea that there was a concert about to go down at the Fox Theater. A few people trickled in and milled outside, but otherwise it appeared to be an unremarkable evening. That's because apparently just about everyone was already inside, cramming the floor and patiently waiting for the show to start.
Coheed and Cambria

If you had been walking down an uncharacteristically quiet Telegraph Avenue in Oakland this past Sunday night, you would have had little idea that there was a concert about to go down at the Fox Theater. A few people trickled in and milled outside, but otherwise it appeared to be an unremarkable evening.  That’s because apparently just about everyone was already inside, cramming the floor and patiently waiting for the show to start.

The crowd was already pumped and quite receptive to Thank You Scientist’s relatively early 7:30 pm set which featured jazzy horns and a front man that took his shoes off an put them back on all while performing.  Even with the prospect of the headliners on the horizon, I think that the audience would have gladly waited another 15 minutes for Coheed and Cambria if it meant a they could get a few more songs from TYS.

Coheed’s performance would be a special one this night, playing their 2003 certified-Platinum release In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 in its entirety from start to finish.  The Ring in Return began the set with a telephone sitting on a stool and lit by a single spot, providing the perfect intro music as the band took the stage and segued into the album’s title track.

Playing a single album in its entirety is an interesting approach for a band; on the one hand you’re potentially limiting your audience to only those that like the album but on the other hand, the people who do attend are there because they love it.  To say that the Fox went bonkers would be a supreme understatement … people were singing along word-for-word and front-to-back, on cue with all of the ‘whoas’ and ‘oohs’ … sometimes drowning out Claudio himself as the rambunctious are in front of the stage bordered on a mosh.  The opening notes to every song were met with a roar of approval even though everyone knew what was going to get played and in what order.

Light on talk, heavy on rock, Coheed and Cambria didn’t pause until nearly 45 minutes into their set when they brought out a cake for bassist Zach Cooper’s thirty-first birthday and had the crowd serenade him with Happy Birthday.  A quick thanks to the crowd and they were back at it with a rendition of The Light & The Glass that had lighters held high.

With In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 largely done, Coheed took a quick break, leaving the crowd to mull over the possibilities for the encore(s).   In the end, the encores proved numerous and clocked in at nearly 40 minutes, capping off a truly epic evening of music for everyone involved.

Supporting act: Thank You Scientist

Setlist:

  • The Ring in Return
  • In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
  • Cuts Marked in the March of Men
  • Three Evils (Embodied in Love and Shadow)
  • The Crowing
  • Blood Red Summer
  • The Camper Velourium I: Faint of Hearts
  • The Camper Velourium II: Backend of Forever
  • The Camper Velourium III: Al the Killer
  • A Favor House Atlantic
  • The Light & the Glass

–Encores–

  • 21:13
  • Neverender
  • Goodnight, Fair Lady
  • Number City
  • The Lying Lies & Dirty Secrets of Miss Erica Court
  • Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood and Burial)
  • Welcome Home

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