Live Review: Coheed and Cambria, Thrice and Touché Amoré | Bristol O2 Academy | 14/10/22
An apparent return to the mammoth package tours of yore, the co-headline run of Coheed and Cambria and Thrice was every bit colossal as one could expect.
Touché Amoré
As the Los Angeles post-hardcore heroes launch headfirst into ‘Come Heroine’, with the bellows of Jeremy Bolm being the first live sound to ring out over the venue this evening, it’s clear Touché Amoré are unbothered by their early set-time nor the discrepancies between them and their co-headlining peers this evening. Clearly still empowered by the release of their brilliant 2020 effort Lament, the band fire on all five cylinders this evening, with the likes of ‘New Halloween’ and ‘Feign’ still delivering the emotional impact inherent to these tracks with full force.
Granted, their penchant for using their blunt and concussive work as a vessel for unfiltered human emotion does ultimately contrast with Thrice’s introspective alt-rock and Coheed’s sci-fi narration, and as the legion of Coheed and Cambria fanatics stand po-faced on the barrier, the gulf between them and their contemporaries appears to be one they’re unable to bridge this evening, regardless of their greatness. But regardless, as a huddle of fans froth collectively and spit Bolm’s impassioned lines back at him during ‘Reminders’,‘~’ and the authentically tear-jerking ‘Flowers and You’, there’s no denying of the band’s respective brilliance or the global community they have helped foster. Tonight may not be host to the usual therapeutic collectiveness one would always associate with the Touché Amoré, but still, it’s a fantastic albeit under-appreciated set from the de facto ambassadors of the post-hardcore genre.
Score: 7/10
Thrice
In similarity, as one pans the room and see’s nothing but Coheed and Cambria merch from previous tours, one may assume Thrice may be about experience a similar fate; one where their brilliance is passively overlooked. Thankfully this is not the case this evening; the Californian alt-rock pioneers either effortlessly arrest the attention or coerce frantic hysteria from all before them through sheer force. Refusing to rely on their legendary stature or coast through sheer nostalgia value, Thrice are skill and musical vigour made incarnate tonight, with the likes of ‘Scavengers’, ‘Black Honey’ and ‘Anthology’ being played with nothing but quiet yet self-stated skill that’s void of gimmicks this evening.
Of course, whilst a serving of content from their latest record Horizons / East is plentiful – with the likes of ‘Summer Set Fire To The Rain’ and ‘The Color Of The Sky’ demonstrating their decades long evolution as songwriters and performers – it’s the previously unannounced celebration of their 2002 record The Illusion Of Safety that proves to be this evening’s most explosive and impactful moment. Being played in honour of the record’s 20th anniversary – a fact that many here in their late 30’s seem desperate to play blissfully ignorant to – the post-hardcore haymakers that are ‘The Red Death’ and ‘Where Idols Once Stood’ are catalysts for unrestrained frenzy en-mass, with their airings seemingly the catalyst for a few of those aforementioned longterm fans to break out of the so-called ‘mosh retirement’.
Jokes aside, what makes these tracks land with so much concussive impact tonight is how they’re played; there’s no gimmicks, no pompous attempts at showmanship and no insincere speeches on the tracks themselves – just pure musical venom that is articulated with the kind of skill that can only come from decades of activity. With this in mind, and as they close out this brilliant set with the suitable ‘The Earth Will Shake’, tonight has been staggering reaffirmation of not just Thrice’s brilliance, but their still unwavering longevity.
Score: 7/10
Coheed and Cambria
As those who have seen the prog-rock legends before can attest to – like this entire room tonight apparently – Coheed And Cambria take a very much different approach to showmanship. Whereas their peers prior to them take a more subtle and tactful approach to expressing their craft and the tales their music serves as a vessel for, Coheed and Cambria are indulgent, explosive and overblown. However, they are one of the very few acts that can actually pull off such an approach. Opening with a sci-fi narration documenting the latest saga of The Amory Wars – the science fiction storyline that runs parallel to their records – prior to delving into the chest-pumping nature of ‘The Dark Sentencer’, Coheed may indulge in the classic ‘rock and roll’ showmanship live, but it feels sincere, self-aware and maximised for full entertainment.
An energetic performance of ‘A Favour House Atlantic’, a pro-longed rendition of ‘In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3’ and the now timeless ‘Welcome Home’ – a song now fully cemented as a crucial inclusion in the lexicon of prog metal and delivered tonight with Claudio Sanchez wielding a most ridiculous double necked guitar – all are delivered with a fair amount of pomp and swagger not evident in their original recordings, but they’re the catalyst for what amounts to hysteria in this crowd. If anything, such an injection of overblown and visual musicianship only provides a subtle, if not wholly welcome contrast between the live versions of these tracks and the inherent stereotypical sci-fi backgrounds of these tracks.
Granted, such antics have long become expected inclusions of Coheed’s live presence, and those who have seem before will have undoubtedly seen the band undertake such approaches to showmanship on past tours. However it’s the inclusion of tracks from the band’s new record Vaxis II: A Window Of The Waking Mind that ensure this set isn’t one that’s recycled and prepackaged. ‘Beautiful Losers’, ‘The Liars Club’ and the tantalising guitar licks within ‘Shoulders’ sound colossal and fresh this evening, rejuvenating the band’s presence. More so, the relative electro-pop of ‘A Disappearing Act’ even see’s the band shuffle their live dynamic, with Sanchez forgoing his typical front and centre position in order to commander the synths lying at the back of the set. This combined with the new closer of ‘Window Of The Waking Mind’ – a track that’s no doubt going to be the band’s live climax for quite some time, and for good reason – just shows that Coheed and Cambria are a band that are far from coasting along as a simple nostalgia act. Much akin to the act that came prior to them, tonight feels like reclamation of Coheed’s stature as not just as resting figureheads of the prog game, but as continuous pioneers, and despite their differences, this co-headline run is a towering achievement of both band’s futures as well as their previous accomplishments.
Score: 8/10