Taking Back Sunday and Coheed and Cambria have always run in the same circle. Since taking off in the early 2000s, they’ve shared a friendship and the world’s biggest stages, most recently on the World’s Loudest Month circuit in 2017 that included Carolina Rebellion, the local festival 19 miles north of Charlotte. It was there that the idea of touring together for the first time came to be.
“At the North Carolina show, I remember Mark saying, ‘Why haven’t we toured together?’ And they got to talking after the shows to put it together,” Taking Back Sunday vocalist Adam Lazzara told the Charlotte Observer.
A year later, the idea came to fruition and for the sake of rock and roll, we’re glad it did. There’s been a lot of good shows that have come through Charlotte this summer, and still a few highly anticipated ones on the bill. However, when the leaves begin to fall, Taking Back Sunday alongside Coheed and Cambria will certainly rank among the season’s best.
Maybe it had something to do with the local connection, but Taking Back Sunday felt more homely than any other recent show. Both frontman Adam Lazzara and guitarist John Nolan live in Charlotte. Nolan celebrated his birthday at the Evening Muse a few months back, and Lazzara frequents Haberdish in NoDa (then again, don’t we all). They’ve filmed music videos in the area and two years ago, the pair celebrated Tidal Wave’s release at Lunchbox Records with an intimate performance.
Between songs, Lazzara connected with the audience, reminding them that he grew up in the area and drove down I-85 from Raleigh the night before to get to the Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre and how he snuck out of his house as a teenager to visit a few of the iconic venues the city had. Those small details didn’t go unnoticed, as shown by the crowd’s cheers. Coupled with his impressive mic swinging and the band’s overall energy, Taking Back Sunday made for quite a local treat. While the band performed a bit of their newer music off Tidal Wave and Happiness Is, they also appealed to the audience’s inner youth with the hits from Tell All Your Friends and Where You Want To Be. Mosh pits broke out during “Cute Without The ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)” and continued into “MakeDamnSure,” the band’s finale. The band’s on stage energy infected the audience, who were damn sure sweaty before Coheed and Cambria stepped out and opened with “The Dark Sentencer.”
While Taking Back Sunday chatted with the crowd, Coheed and Cambria let the music do the talking, per se. Vocalist Claudio Sanchez moved from one song into the next and didn’t step away from the mic very often. Coheed was just as entertaining, but in a different respect. The band played with precision and a high level of personality. On the sides, guitarist Travis Stever and bassist Zach Cooper wildly bounced around stage (reminiscent of the energy The Dillinger Escape Plan always exuded) and on the drums, Josh Eppard ferociously head banged in unison which each beat of the drums.
The extravagant stage lighting matched the mood of the music and only heightened the level of craftsmanship that was on display. As cliché as it to say, the theatrics brought Coheed’s tunes to life. Fan favorites like “A Favor House Atlantic” and “The Suffering” matched the highs from the set they followed and helped build up to the grand finale.
Coheed bypassed a proper encore and instead took a moment to bring out Claudio’s double-necked guitar from the shadows before the last song. While every Coheed fan knew exactly what was about to happen, there was still that excited, tingling feeling. “Welcome Home,” a heavy metal hit and arguably their most well-known song brought down the house. Claudio showed off every bit of the guitar, moving from stage right to stage left with the instrument held out in front of him, all while hitting every note. It was the type of finish you’d expect from performers like Coheed. They entire set built up to the final moment, before Caudio simply raised his fist and disappeared into the black on stage.
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