Good Apollo Neverender
Coheed and Cambria does this thing every once in a while called a Neverender tour, in which they play one of their albums front to back. They recently had a Neverender for arguably their most famous album, Good Apollo.
Let me warn you: This one’s a doozy. I went to A LOT of shows on this tour. Like to the point of I can’t even listen to this album anymore without shaking my head at myself because I saw them play this album live EIGHT TIMES?! Seriously?!
Okay, well there’s a good reason for that. Well, a good reason if you’re me at least.
I went to 7 shows on Coheed’s Color Before the Sun Tour. It was a super lifechanging experience for me, mostly good, but also in a lot of ways not-so-good. The why’s of it are not important. Just know that I harbored a lot of resentment toward some certain people I met on that tour, which left me with some feelings toward Coheed as well. Now I know this is not okay. I love Coheed, and I can’t let a few assholes take away the music from me. So how do I handle it? I one-up myself and go to 8 shows this tour, and this time I’m doing it FOR ME.
Weirdly enough, The Dear Hunter was the only opener on this tour. Throwback to a year ago when there were three openers. I tried to binge all of The Dear Hunter’s music before starting this tour, because I might as well be sorta familiar with them. We’ll see how that goes.
Oakland—4/14/17
Of course, my Coheed crew is in the Northeast. Is this my first show without any of them? Weird. I don’t like it. But I had one of my besties, Julia, with me, as well as the guys from local band Septacy.
It’s a Bay Area show. I’m doing it with my Bay Area friends. Can’t complain.
Justin Vanegas of Septacy as he enters a mosh pit: “My people need me!”
I also met up with some COTFs at Rudy’s Can’t Fail Cafe next door to the Fox Theater.
Veronica and Devin are from Vegas. I’ve met them a few times before, but this was the first time we ever really hung out. They’re doing a good chunk of the tour too, and all the same West Coast dates I am, so we should probably be friends.
The Dear Hunter
After binging their music, I really was a fan. They have a lot of songs I’m super into. But they didn’t have an awful lot of energy live. And the crowd kinda sucked. The band was definitely good, and they’re super talented, but I was a little less than thrilled with the performance as a whole unfortunately.
My group hung back and danced on our own before trying to make our way into the pit.
They played my favorite of their songs, “The Revival,” so I was super pumped about that.
Coheed
I managed to lose Julia before the band even started playing. We were squished, and I was not hesitating to find a pit. She didn’t mosh with me, but she stayed super close the whole time. I honestly had no idea until toward the end of the set when she grabs me.
“Welcome Home” is how Coheed normally ends a show. However, it’s one of the first songs on Good Apollo. So they more or less swapped it with their traditional opening song, “In Keeping Secrets,” in the set. It was weird. Like some kind of alternate dimension or something.
I’ve seen this band live too many times.
It was also super weird being in a Coheed mosh pit without any of my Northeast Coheed crew. They’re the entire reason I love Coheed pits so much, and here I am trying to do this without them.
This tour is for me. I’m doing this for me. Reclaiming the music as my own. I don’t need them. I got this.
There was a guy in the pit that vaguely reminded me of my NYC friend PJ. Dammit, I do miss all of them.
Some people in the pit were shoving full force rather than trying to keep each other (read: me and my 100lb. self) upright, which honestly pisses me off, but it’s whatever. I had a good time regardless.
“That poor girl got elbowed in the stomach.”
Me: “Did I? I mostly just noticed I bit the inside of my lip.”
The pit itself was very unstable. It kept moving and it wouldn’t stay open. A lot of times I felt like I had to reopen it myself and keep the hype up. That’s annoying. We should all be going nuts the entire show. It’s Good Apollo, you guys!
I was sick, too, so imagine a tiny little Lindsay trying to keep a pit open and hyped while continually losing her breath. Good times.
I crowdsurfed to “The Suffering.” It wasn’t a very good surf to be honest. I was falling in every direction, not stable at all, and then it took way too long to get back to the pit. The Fox Theater is set up kind of weird. There are stairs and different levels, so I had to maneuver all of that to get back to where I started. Not exactly worth it. One surf is enough for tonight.
However, I was able to get the band’s photographer (my friend) Ern’s attention once I made it to the other side of the barricade. Read: I was basically launched into the arms of a security guy on the other side of the barricade. Meh. (People always say they’re gonna throw me and sometimes they’re serious about it, it seems.)
There was a guy in the pit who seemed excited just at how happy I was to be there. Turns out he’d seen me in the Coheed groups on Facebook and already knew who I was. I might be a teeny bit infamous in this fandom.
“I sent you a friend request. I recognize your hair.”
Okay well yeah, having obnoxious red hair definitely helps.
After dancing together to “Wake Up,” the guy who recognized my hair told me:
“Thank you. I’ve never gotten to experience that with someone who loves it as much as I do before.”
I guess Julia found me during “The Final Cut” because I screamed “If I had my way, I’d crush your face in the door!” with her. It’s possibly the best line in the entire album, let’s be real.
There was a long jam session at the end of “The Final Cut.” Claudio and Travis left the stage for a while so Zach and Josh could just jam out alone. Josh’s faces are always perfect.
After they finished running through the album, they encored with “Island,” “Delirium Trigger,” and of course, “In Keeping Secrets.” No Coheed show would be complete without manning our own jackhammers.
I got everyone in the pit to do the weird hand thing in the middle of the circle while it’s building up toward the end of “In Keeping Secrets.” Felt good to bring a Northeast tradition to Oakland, but it did take them a little bit too long to get it. But it was really great when they finally did.
The band had super cool imagery in the background the whole time they played. I loved it. There were lots of triangles which I kinda didn’t understand, but it was awesome and interactive.
Julia: “This chick was buried in the pit all night.”
Julia met a cute guy while I was busy moshing, so we left to go to a bar with him and his friends after the show ended rather than stay and try to hunt down Ern. Oh well, I’ve got 7 shows left this tour. (SEVEN, Lindsay, SEVEN?! What is wrong with you.)
After the bar, he took us to his place, where he proceeded to play us some more Coheed songs on guitar in his “murder basement.” One of his friends was visiting from St. Pete, and of course I was going home to Tampa for that show as well, so I tried to convince him to go too. Naturally, I was unsuccessful. Me convince a dude to hang out with me? Yeah, that’s a joke.
Some more good news: Jason Bolich of Septacy was able to convince quite a few people at the show to go see their album release show the following night. Their music is pretty reminiscent of both Coheed and The Dear Hunter, so this was a good place to do some schmoozing. I skipped the LA Coheed show in favor of supporting my Septacy boys. Again, seven more shows. I can skip LA with no issue at all.
Santa Ana—4/17/17
So Friday was the Oakland Coheed show, Saturday was Septacy, and Sunday I high-tailed it down to LA to catch Upgrade HipHop on Coheed’s off day between their LA and Santa Ana shows. Upgrade is a good friend of the band, and Ern and drummer Josh Eppard of course made an appearance at the show to support him.
Then Monday was the Santa Ana show.
I had to move my car like ten minutes before going in the Observatory for VIP (yes, I’m VIP this show. Stoked!) which was super stressful. Already not a huge fan of the venue.
VIP for Coheed means a meet and greet with the band where they’ll sign something AND take a picture with you. I’ve done it a few times before, but hey, you can never take too many pictures. There’s also early entry into the venue (I mean… duh) and an acoustic song.
I was the most awkward. Ernie saw me and gave me a hug before we went in for the meet and greet, but I barely said anything to the band at all. I shook Josh’s hand, and he’s always super friendly, but I really didn’t say anything to the rest of them. I wasn’t prepared for the whole getting something signed thing, so I had them sign my VIP pass that I literally was just handed. Ya know.
Then of course, I didn’t know how to pose for my picture either. But I think it turned out pretty good!
Claudio asked Veronica if her name was Ruben. It is now!
Since I had early entry and was yet again without my usual pit crew, this was a barricade night with Veronica and Devin. I like having at least one show at the barricade. It’s an entirely different experience.
The acoustic song was “Devil in Jersey City.” This is the earliest song I remember hearing from Coheed, so it’s one of my favorites. Loved getting to see it acoustic. The whole band was onstage playing it, and Claudio messed up the lyrics. It was funny and cute, and he called himself out on it. I think he also censored himself though? He left out the “fuck me” bit and I didn’t understand why. We’re all singing it.
The Dear Hunter
The Dear Hunter’s sound at this show was not great. I could hardly hear frontman Casey Crescenzo. That’s the worst. I always feel bad for the band. I get to see them another 5 times after this, so it’s fine for me, but you want to see every performance go perfectly for the band’s sake.
I was tired (it’s been a long week of shows already) so I was mostly just swaying to their music. They’re super talented even if I don’t super love them.
They didn’t play “The Revival” this time, so the setlist definitely changed. Why yes, this is the only song I know the name of and will be paying attention for. I wondered if maybe they just had to cut their set short a little bit because it seemed like they got off to a bit of a late start.
Coheed
Ernie came out as NoShirtyDirty to introduce the band. The best.
It’s still so weird to me seeing them open a show with “Welcome Home.”
Claudio’s guitar was out of tune for “Wake Up.” Apparently. I couldn’t tell. I’m musically challenged, I just go to a lot of shows. Anyway. He stopped the song and gave it to the guitar tech—John, I believe?
Claudio: “I know people want to hear this song. […] We had a guitar tech who was a dick prick so we had to part ways with him. So we have Dave Gibney and a new guy, John.”
Dave Gibney was from the old team. He’s OG Coheed crew, so it was pretty cool seeing him reunited with the band again.
I had Devin and Veronica on one side, and I befriended the girl on the other side of me as well, Jessica. She was super sweet and we hit it off right away.
However, she did not stay next to me for most of the show.
Our arms more or less “gave birth” to some random girl not too long after the show started. She appeared out of nowhere and she was super drunk and SUPER annoying. Lemme just give you a taste:
“Claudio! These guys!”
With her phone out and showing everyone in the pit (WHILE the band is onstage playing, mind you): “My friend has anxiety! Everyone say hi!”
THE FUCK?!
She was on her phone like all night too. Not recording the band. Oh no. She was recording herself. And she kept falling all over Jessica and just being super weird.
Yeahhhh the barricade is rough sometimes.
So aside from this girl, we’re already squished enough. And THEN another couple decides to squish in the front too! Both of them! REALLY?! REALLY?!
One dude was digging his hand into my ribs all night. That’s fun.
My poor ribs took a serious beating. The barricade came up to my boobs, so I had to stand on my tip toes. People kept putting their feet under mine (because that’s totally a good idea?) so I would just step down because that’s clearly my space. I may be skinny, but I’m still like right there. Dude.
The entire experience at the barricade was brutal. I wanted so much to enjoy the show (and I did—Claudio was awesome to watch that close up, as was Josh, as always) but I kept thinking about how much more enjoyable the pit is because I’m not constantly thinking about my everything breaking.
Ernie even told me after the show he saw me getting crushed quite a few times. He asked me if my neck was okay.
A crowdsurfer fell directly on my head. Security was not doing a good job of catching them. Like at all. I went lightheaded and asked for water. An entire bottle, gone in about a minute.
Me to Devin before “In Keeping Secrets“: “It was nice knowing you guys. We’re about to die.”
It seemed like all the crowdsurfers decided to go up at the same time during that song. Of course they did. If security was catching them fast enough, it wouldn’t have been an issue. But of course, they were not.
Ernie grabbed my arm toward the end of the show and asked if I was okay. Like seriously, it was brutal.
There were weird levels in this venue, kinda like the Fox Theater, but this time worse. Crowdsurfers were apparently just jumping from one level to another, which was why it was so intense. No one was ready for them. They were literally just launching themselves at us.
BUT. I still went as nuts as I could the entire show despite being totally crushed.
And when I could pay attention to what was going on in front of me, it was awesome. I finally got to really watch those three screens in the background. It was playing lots of short clips and images. There were lots of triangles, a girl with her face moving off, maggots, and a monk looking dude with his head on fire for example. It was really cool.
Apparently Claudio was relying on Devin for some of the lyrics throughout the night. (Read: every show he was at.) Nice.
One nice thing security did do was hand me a guitar pick after the show ended. I posted a picture of it and East Coast Devin told me it was Claudio’s. Sweet!
I wanted to buy all of the merch, but sadly bought nothing, because money. There’s still a lot more tour to do. -sigh-
I found Upgrade at the end of the night. He was all:
“You hanging out after the show? Well I don’t know where we’re going.”
And then walks away. I was confused. Oh well.
He said he could see me in the front row from where he was watching.
I was supposed to go straight to my friend Amanda’s in San Diego that night (the San Diego show was the following day, because who needs a break), but she had a house full of COTFs who were mostly all asleep already, and she was on the way to that point. So instead I went to Jessica’s, who also lives in San Diego. She was seriously the best. We’d just met and she took me in for the night. I love that girl.
San Diego—4/18/17
The San Diego show (and Amanda’s house to be more exact) was sorta a big meet-up for a bunch of COTFs from a Facebook group called Sanchposting. I’m not in that group (or any Coheed Facebook groups anymore for that matter… I think they’re toxic, to be honest.) so I wasn’t exactly part of the meet-up. I was kinda just there.
I wan’t the only non-Sanchposter, though. Jeremy, who lives in Mexico and I met at Amanda’s last summer while I was following the Matches’ Decomposer tour, was also there. I kinda hung with him, because we weren’t close with anyone else there.
Of course I didn’t stay with them prior to the show though, just met up with them at the venue. It’s another Observatory. There’s one in Santa Ana and another in San Diego I guess.
I was confused by how this venue was set up. There was a marquee in front, but it was over a restaurant/bar, and not a music venue. Well where am I supposed to go? Eventually I found the door on the side of the building. That’s weird.
I found Jessica again (I drove myself and left before she did) as well as Veronica and Devin. Then all of a sudden, Amanda’s behind me hugging me, as well as another San Diego COTF Andi, and it’s a reunion and I love it.
While the outside of the venue might have confused me, it was set up much better inside than the previous two venues. There was a big floor space, with round air vents scattered across the floor, so I could just stand over them awkwardly and let air blow in my face. Wonderful.
The Dear Hunter
I stayed in the front with Amanda during The Dear Hunter. She described them as a “good bar band” and I tend to agree. They’re super talented, but I was discovering that they don’t really have a hype-up-a-whole-crowd kinda energy. They’re more head bobbing music. Which is not bad at all, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not why I go to shows.
Amanda told me Coheed played “Fall of House Atlantic” for VIP this time, but I wasn’t in there to see it. Guess they’re changing things up already, huh? Might have something to do with Claudio forgetting the words.
Coheed
When Coheed came on, I moved to the first pit I could find. It was on Zach’s side kinda toward the middle. One of the Sanchposters, Bilbo, followed me. Or maybe he didn’t and we just both found the same mosh pit. Either way. He’s from Philly, so I knew he could throw down. Philly Coheed shows are great. Super intense, but great.
The pit more or less stayed open, but it was empty for longer than it should have been. I mostly was just in there dancing because I feel like there at least needs to be dancing in the pit at all times.
Every once in a while it would go crazy and I would pull myself out and watch the moshing like a proud mama.
I was still sick, because of course I was, so I was coughing too much to go hard the whole night. But it was still a ton of fun. At one point, a dude came back to the pit with like five water bottles and gave me a whole one to myself because I was dying.
I asked some dudes to throw me during “The Willing Well II” which is probably my favorite song on the album. They hesitated BAD. I laughed. It’s not like I was asking small dudes to throw me or anything.
Anyway, eventually I’m in the air. It was a really good surf. I was super proud of myself for staying upright the entire time, and I was up there punching the air during the “Whoa oh oh” part. It was amazing.
It was really hot in that venue, and I was basically surrounded by sweaty shirtless dudes. Thank god for those air vents though. I got good use of them.
Apparently more pits opened up elsewhere toward the end of the show, and I regret not trying to find another one, because mine was depressingly tame. I couldn’t even get them hyped for the part of “In Keeping Secrets” where it explodes at the end. Sad. Oh well, I tried.
“I wanna see you guys get hyped!”
I think this was when I found out that Claudio was actually looking to Devin for the lyrics regularly. Of course, he’s still messing them up, or even not singing at all, and it was great. I love how human a musician is when they just don’t know the words.
When the show ended, it was back to Amanda’s, where I hardcore passed out on the couch. Exhaustion setting in.
St. Pete—4/30/17
And here starts my less than 48 hour trip to my home state of Florida.
I flew into Orlando where Felicia picked me up. We got breakfast (hallelujah for grits and sweet tea. I’m back in the south, friends) and then went back to her house. Then she tells me we have to run an errand in about an hour that’s 20 min away. It’s top secret.
Me: “Are we picking up Marty?”
Felicia: “Marty’s not top secret.”
Me: “So it’s a person!”
We get to the airport and I’m annoying the crap out of her trying to guess who we’re picking up. I guess part of my problem was that I did not expect this surprise to be for ME. It wasn’t technically for me, but I considered it to be.
All of a sudden I look up and see MY WIFE. Anna flew down from New York super last minute. She had just quit her job and decided she needed an adventure, and that meant surprising me in Florida. She was the absolute last person I expected to see, but it was really the best surprise ever and I was so excited. I literally screamed and jumped out of the car and hugged her twice in a row because I didn’t know what else to do with myself.
Then we’re off to St. Pete!
We got there kinda late in the afternoon, because despite it only being a two hour drive, Felicia stopped to pee like three times. Plus we did pick up another COTF Marty on the way.
We saw my friend Nina Bo Bina, who I actually know through the Matches, not Coheed, outside the venue. She was in a super happy, lovey mood, just walking around hugging everyone. She’s so sweet. I love her. She was with another COTF friend, Brad, who told me he was jealous of all my Green Day adventures. He also told us how the “find you a girl who looks at you how she looks at Coheed” meme girl is his girlfriend Virginia, and that she does NOT look at him the way she looks at Coheed. I mean, it’s understandable.
[Left to right: Nina, Virginia, Marty]
Felicia, Anna, and I headed to 5 Guys, where we were able to surprise Nicki. Anna sat with her back to the door when she walked in and Felicia and I ran to hug her. When she got to our table and finally saw Anna’s face, she just looked so shocked. It was SO GOOD.
Turns out Anna didn’t even have a ticket to the show yet, because she literally bought the plane ticket days before. She bought an extra off of Brad. Last minute planning for the win!
None of us had VIP this time, so we all just hung out outside the venue. I saw Ern on the balcony and tried to yell “No Shirty Dirty!” at him, but he couldn’t hear me.
Nicki’s boyfriend and girlfriend (yeah, three people in one relationship) Brian and Amanda were there as well. Amanda goofed by wearing a dress and sandals and going in the mosh pit. She also goofed by drinking way too much before the show started. But we’ll get to all that.
I also caught a glimpse of Claudio on the balcony before the show started, and I took a terribly awkward close up snapchat of him, because why not.
Peter, a COTF from Philly who Felicia knew but I had never met before, also flew down to the St. Pete show with his girlfriend Ralfina. My first experience meeting him was Ralfina commenting on how great my veins are while we were waiting to enter the venue. She’s a nurse, but it was still a little bit weird.
Jannus Live is basically surrounded by apartments on all sides. Like these people can walk out on their balconies and see everything. Our group discussed how cheap or expensive we thought they would be for that reason. It’s all the free concerts you could ever want, but also no peace. Is that worth more or less money than your average apartment? I have no idea.
The Dear Hunter
Anna: “Who is this?”
Me: “The Dear Hunter!”
Anna: “Aren’t they opening for Coheed?”
Me: “Yeah! Right now! That’s them! You can’t tell that’s live?”
I had to remove the punchline for reasons, but I’m still laughing so hard. This is why I married her.
They played “The Revival” again, so I was happy, but other than that, they’re too chill live for me and I just wanted to dance more. It appears I’m losing more and more interest with every show, which is super unfortunate.
HOWEVER.
Nicki: “They sound better than Glassjaw.”
Me: “Times ten, times ten, times ten.”
Terrible, terrible joke, but I’m proud of it.
We hung back where the Silver Snakes and I the Mighty merch tables were a year ago during their set. There was nothing there now. We met two guys who accidentally looked up Deerhunter instead of The Dear Hunter. Those are very different bands, dudes. Whoops.
Coheed
We waited until “Welcome Home” started, then ran through the crowd into the pit. I had to convince Peter to go, but he led the way and I followed. The two guys who looked up the wrong band joined us too. They were awesome.
So here’s the thing about outdoor venues in Florida: It was SO HOT there. I couldn’t deal. Even my palms were sweating and that is not normal. It was pretty much impossible to be comfortable. It supposedly rained at some point, but I was so friggin sweaty that I couldn’t even feel it. Gross.
My favorite game! Find the Lindsay! Hint: Obnoxious red hair helps.
It was so good to be back in a pit again with Felicia and Nicki and Anna. I love those ladies so much. There were a few times throughout the night that the four of us hugged and sang together. Those are the moments I live for.
After “Wake Up” and before “The Suffering,” a guy starts telling all of us in the mosh pit that there’s about to be a proposal. If you know “The Suffering,” you know the lyrics at the end of the song are “Listen well, will you marry me?” repeated. Well this is gonna be cute.
We all open the pit and hold hands to make sure no one can break through. The guy’s in the middle just dancing on his own. I assumed he was the one doing the proposing, but he was just a distraction. As soon as “The Suffering” started, all of a sudden another guy breaks through our arms, grabs his girlfriend, opens a box, and she’s INSTANTLY crying. It was the cutest thing EVER. It definitely made my night.
The best part for me was that I don’t know them personally. They’ll always be a perfect happy couple in my head and nothing can ruin that for me because I have no idea who they are. That gives me a little hope in love.
The dancing guy thanked me later for trying to open the damn pit.
Felicia about “Mother May I“: “This is my song!”
She’s so cute. I love her.
I attempted to crowdsurf during “The Willing Well II” again, but the guy I asked to throw me just kinda held me in the air by my thighs instead.
Felicia: “The crowd was too drunk for that.”
I’m just kinda floating in the air, asking to be passed along to no avail. Super Duper Cooper was watching and it looked like laughing at me, and I’m just like “I don’t know what’s going on.”
Speaking of drunk. Remember Nicki’s girlfriend, Amanda? I mentioned her outfit choice and the fact that she was entirely too drunk for her own good, yes? Well her boob was hanging out all night, and her feet were completely destroyed by the time the show ended, because she was actively participating. She was too drunk to either notice or care about her boob or feet. She was having the TIME OF HER LIFE in that mosh pit, and as drunk as she was, it was beautiful.
Here’s Nicki and Felicia being cute and singing “The Willing Well III.”
Anna about “Island“: “I feel this song.”
Part of the reason she quit her job and spontaneously flew to Florida was because she was not feeling New York. Ultimately she stayed and gave it another chance, but at the time of this show, she was ready to get off the island and swim back to shore.
I said I was too tired for “In Keeping Secrets” and Felicia asked if I wanted to sit it out and just do it in Atlanta.
Me: “Nahhh… It’s ‘In Keeping Secrets.’ We gotta do it.”
I said it was really hot in there, yeah? Well here’s all my sweat. Gross.
And our “We Just Survived Coheed in Florida” faces:
Ash (my sister) picked me up after the show and Felicia was like REALLY scared to let me walk off alone even though I was not drunk in the least. Throwback to Jannus last year when Brandon had to rescue my drunk ass wandering the streets of St. Pete alone. Whoops? I don’t think Felicia will ever let me live that down.
I was basically going home to see my family for a whole 24 hours before Nicki picked me up on the way to Felicia’s the next morning (or more like 2am) so we could roadtrip to Atlanta together. Wooo!
Atlanta—5/2/17
I was at my parents’ house for roughly 26 hours. Nicki arrived around 2am the morning of the Atlanta show (which was being hyped A LOT, because apparently the Atlanta shows are always killer) and we drove to Felicia’s. The four of us left from there around 5am, stopping at a Waffle House in Gainesville along the way. I knew it was Gainesville based on the location of Waffle House and Target across the street. Oh Florida. I’ve traveled you so much.
We got to our hotel around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. We pretty much missed the Atlanta meet-up, but our group chilled in the hotel until Zane and Max arrived. I planned on going to the Atlanta show more or less solely because this was the only show I would see these two at. I missed them.
They brought the pizza and we brought the wine.
Anna was still a surprise, so we hid her behind the curtain on the balcony while I went to the lobby to fetch the boys. We go upstairs, everyone’s hugging, and I open the curtains. Anna’s making faces at them and they flip. It was great. Family reunion. Ugh I love these people so much.
And then I proceeded to drink about two-thirds a bottle of a wine. Lindsay’s a little drunk. Oh good.
Who did I even steal these glasses from? Zane or Felicia are my two guesses, but I honestly have no idea.
Eventually we headed to the line to see people. There were so many new faces, people I only knew from the internet, and I was so excited to meet them in person! All the ladies were so much cuter than I imagined and I loved them all already. (I’m sure the wine helped, but ya know.)
I was basically just hugging everyone in sight. Including Anna.
Bronte and Brandon decided day of the show to go, so they surprised us too. So many surprises!
If I look drunk in any of these pictures, it’s because I am.
One of the better VIP pictures I’ve seen: Kaitlyn (who’s actually from Atlanta) and her boyfriend, Jerry.
The Dear Hunter
Also thanks to wine, I fell asleep during the Dear Hunter. I like them, but I was drunk and they were not holding my attention. I woke up fairly sober, so I guess that was a good thing.
I guess before I fell asleep, I drunkenly introduced myself to (an actual Atlanta COTF) Ian’s girlfriend, Chloe.
“Your boyfriend is my grandchild!”
“I know, he’s told me about you.”
Coheed
The pit started off completely insane, but calmed down a bit. It was still crazy the entire night, but I was able to handle myself in it. This was definitely the best pit I’d been in all tour. Thank you, Atlanta.
I didn’t try to surf at this show, and I’m not sure why. Felicia did try to pick me up at one point, though, but that was a fail.
The family’s all together, so we all hugged during “Wake Up.” Honestly probably my favorite part of any show is when we hug. It seems so out of place, but makes perfect sense at the same time.
The pit was so insane that Ian actually broke his wrist during “The Willing Well I.” I’m not even joking. There was a legit serious injury in that pit, but I’m pretty sure he continued having fun regardless. It was just THAT GOOD of a show.
I also remembered to tell Niki (in NYC) about the maggots on the screen during that song. She’s got a phobia of ’em, and I wanted to warn her not to look when the time came in a few days.
Claudio played the end of “The Final Cut” up on the balcony. I love that. He gets in close with his fans who are pretty much as far away as they can be. That’s awesome.
By far my favorite part of the show was the build-up toward the end of “In Keeping Secrets.” All the ladies in the pit (me, Allison—who had come down from Canada to do her own tour of the states—Nicki, Felicia, Anna, Bronte, and Alex) were looking at each other with huge smiles on our faces, and we opened the pit together on our own. We knew shit was about to go down. Just doing it together as ladies… It was such a beautiful and magical moment.
Of course, the pit had a mind of its own and closed in before it should have, but the fact that WE opened it was amazing. It was a highlight of the entire tour for me.
Max wore a dragon onesie through the whole show. He said it was too hot, but also worth it. Hell, I was hot in my t-shirt. I don’t understand how the guys who wear onesies to shows do it.
This was BY FAR the best show of the tour thus far, according not only to every person in attendance, but also the band. They were so happy that they took a picture with the crowd after the show. I’ve been to a lot of shows this tour, and this was the only city they did that in.
There was just such good energy at that show. I don’t even know what it was, but it was perfect in every way, and we all agreed. Literally everyone. It didn’t matter where people were standing: pit, rail, balcony… We all knew there was something special about this show. Atlanta does kill it. Whoever said so was right.
After the show, we took group pictures outside.
“Get in the alcove!”
“What the fuck is an alcove?”
We both started and ended the day at Waffle House, but this time with the whole gang. It was so good to have so many of my family together at this show. I missed them all so much.
New York 1—5/5/17
This was originally the only New York show on the tour, because normally bands only go to a certain city once per tour. Well, this time was different. The first New York show sold out fairly quickly (it is a hometown show, after all), so they added in one more after the original final show in Chicago. Yeah, I’m gonna do both. Why not.
The day after the Atlanta show, I flew into Newark where this weirdo picked me up.
That would be Biz. After beers and barbecue (the little beer glass is mine, don’t worry), we spent a chill night at his place going through his records, watching tv, and playing with his dog.
That’s Scout. I love her. You ever miss your friends’ dogs?
The next morning, he dropped me off at the train on the way to work so I could head into Manhattan. That night, Emo Nite LA was taking over Webster Hall and you know I was there. Coheed was that Friday, Cinco de Mayo!
My friends are weirdos, so Niki and Jason (my parents of the friend group) decided we were all wearing Star Wars outfits to the show. I didn’t have VIP, but I was down to dress up, so I went as C3P0, while they were Han Solo and Chewbacca. Cute.
Unfortunately we didn’t get any pictures together. Boo.
They were playing at Terminal 5, and we had a meet-up planned at a bar not too far away, Jake’s Saloon. (Yes, I am calling you out, Jake’s.)
The day itself was rainy and miserable. I got splashed by TWO cars on the way to the train, and it took the full hour and a half ride over from Brooklyn to dry off. It was bad.
Of course I was running a little behind schedule getting to the bar, so these guys sent me this while I was on the train.
I love them so much. Oh my god, my friends are the best.
Eventually I get there, where I’m bombarded by hugs and love from my family filling the entire bar. Fenn told me how much he had missed me. Ugh I love him. It’s so good to be back.
Cram kept picking me up.
But then, everyone was. Fenn and Christi definitely picked me up as well.
Jake’s turned out to be shit. There were somewhere between 30 and 50 of us there throughout the day, and they refused to split the check. It came out to over $700. Uhhhh there’s no way we can coordinate ALL OF THESE PEOPLE to pay over $700. I wasn’t even asked if I WANTED to be on this tab. The fuck is this?!
Naturally, we were $114 short after I ran around the bar stressed out of my mind trying to make sure everyone paid their share plus tax and tip. Everyone claimed they had and couldn’t be bothered to throw in an extra $5 to help cover it. I gave like a 50% tip even though I didn’t even get alcohol because I was trying to save money. (I just had food. Cue Niki telling everyone there how much she’s seen me eat. Spoiler: A LOT.) So here I am, stressed and complaining about this bill that is just looming over us.
Cram was giving me his extra early entry ticket (not VIP, just early entry) and he was calling me from the venue saying I had to get there now. I didn’t want to dine and dash, but he said it was time and that he was coming back to the bar to scoop me up (literally).
Biz and Allison acted as “Financiers of the Fence” and each threw in an extra $60. They should not have had to do that. I was pissed about it. I’m pretty sure I texted Biz as I was leaving the bar not to put in too much more than he had to, but…
Fenn: “Of course Biz did that. He’s Biz.”
Ugh. (This might be slowly turning into “why Biz is actually the best” but ya know, if the shoe fits.)
Alex [Cram] literally carried me from the bar to the venue. As we walked past the line, I hear [East Coast] Devin shouting “Lindsay!” but I’m being physically carried off, so lol.
My outfit was a bit of a struggle. I had quite a few wardrobe malfunctions throughout the day/night, but at least I wore safe underwear rather than some lacy number from Victoria’s Secret or something.
The early entry song was again “Fall of House Atlantic,” followed by a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “There is a War.” Apparently Claudio’s son Atlas was dancing on the balcony. That child is too cute.
The Dear Hunter
I went back in the pit for the rest of the show. Cram was supposed to come dance with me to the Dear Hunter, but he was there with his son, Tristan, who managed to find an extra VIP pass, so they were on the barricade and stayed put. Oh well.
Allison really loves the Dear Hunter. I told her my whole thing about how I really like their music, but I don’t like them so much live. I’ve just accepted that at this point.
Coheed
I finally had my Northeast crew in the pit and it was nuts. I think the pit might’ve been even a little rougher than in Atlanta, but I love the people I’m surrounded by here so much that it makes it better.
Kaitlyn and Jerry tried to crowdsurf me during “Welcome Home,” but I got dropped just a few rows ahead. Luckily I landed on my feet.
“I’m a cat!”
Kailyn crowdsurfed like three times. Her Claudio-hair is pretty recognizable.
I was mostly just getting thrown around all night. It was wild.
PJ joined us in the pit after “Once Upon Your Dead Body” because the front was just too crazy. Sounds like me in Santa Ana. He said it was nice in the pit. I tend to agree.
Niki and Jason and Fenn left the front to join us in the pit by the time “The Willing Wells” started. All of them in the pit just makes me smile so much. I really really love these people. Just looking in all of their faces and singing together… It’s the best. It’s why I’m here.
I wish I could remember what song it was, but during one not-slow song, Biz saw me in the pit and grabbed me so we could dance together for like a minute. (Waltz-moshing, basically.) The pit was so insane, though, that we were literally torn apart, so we ended up just looking at each other from across the sea of moshing people laughing about it. Cute pit moment.
The whole band was sick, so it was a lot of karaoke. I honestly didn’t even notice it until Claudio pointed it out, though. He also told us that if we want to be in the music business, we should go into management rather than be musicians.
I stayed near Kaitlyn and Jerry on the outskirts of the pit for a decent amount of time because it was slightly calmer where they were.
But of course, I was right there in the pit with my fam for “In Keeping Secrets.” We all put our hands together in the air during the buildup toward the end. I don’t mean like the up and down thing like you saw if you watched the video of the pit in Atlanta. That’s a different thing that I was attempting to get like all of the cities to do. In New York, it’s more of this weird lovey thing we do. One of those “go team!” kinda things, ya know?
I’m so bad at describing shit, THIS IS GREAT.
Anyway.
No matter how intense a show gets, the crew makes it the best. Always.
Niki got popped in the jaw pretty bad, so she was ready to just peace the fuck out after the show ended. I said bye, but she and Jason and already changed out of their Star Wars outfits, so no pictures for us. Boo.
We went back to Jake’s Saloon at the end of the night, where I refused to buy anything after the shitshow we endured there earlier. Fenn was eating there, though, and I had to say bye to him.
Biz: -burps- “Gross, Lindsay.”
Me: “Hey, I’d take credit for it if it was mine.”
Biz: “And you’d do better. I’ve heard you belch.”
Okay, but accurate.
Chicago—5/19/17
Chicago was originally the last show of the tour, so a VERY LARGE group of us decided this would be our meet-up show. COTFs take over the Windy City!
When I landed at the airport the day before the show, Kailyn wasn’t too far behind me, so I waited about an hour for her flight to land so I could hug her.
Nick, who I met at the Lookouting earlier this year, also happened to be in Chicago, so he picked me up from the airport and took me to breakfast before dropping me off at the hotel where it seemed like most of us were staying.
LOOK AT ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE.
One extremely random tidbit of useless information that will in fact come back later: Nicki and this guy Joe found a poster for a missing man in Chicago. It kinda just became a joke between them, and they held onto the poster. This poor missing man.
Claudio was doing an Amory Wars signing at a comic book store before the show, so Anna, Danielle, and I went to hit it up. [East Coast] Devin and his girlfriend Alyssa were already there, as well as Fenn and Jess. The three of us got there a bit later, but still before Claudio made an appearance.
I bought a brand new copy of the Second Stage Turbine Blade Ultimate Edition and had Claudio sign it.
I didn’t talk to him much because I’m just a whole lot of awkward.
Danielle and Anna talked to him for a bit though.
The comic book store was playing all Coheed and we were happy about it. But they definitely played “In Keeping Secrets” more than once. It’s a long song, but there were other songs in between, so I did not imagine it. I laughed, because I remembered playing it four times in a row at Biz’s 28th birthday party, where Felicia was NOT HAPPY about hearing the same song for close to an hour. Good times.
Ern was filming the signing, and at one point got right up in my face and scared the crap out of me because I was not paying attention. Luckily that shot has not seen the light of day as far as I’m aware.
Anna went to college in Chicago, so this is her town. She brought me and Danielle to a library bar before the “official” COTF meet-up near the venue after the signing. It was super cool.
Here’s Anna manspreading:
And me being majestic af:
Biz made me look like I belonged on some rich dude’s mantel. Anna said she wanted it, so she’s basically the rich dude. Unfortunately Biz was not at the Chicago show, but that did not stop me from snapchatting him the entire day that we wished he was there/we’re mad he’s not.
I told Anna to look angry and that was the face I got. I love her.
He had to work that day, and went home and crashed for a bit after. Apparently he dreamed he hopped on a plane to surprise us, and it was the saddest thing. We all missed him. It was ALMOST the whole family there.
It was definitely enough people to be endlessly preoccupied with, though. We got to Fat Cat, the bar where the meet-up was happening, and I felt like I was basically just running around hugging everyone the entire time.
Resident musician COTF Sean Redman was set up at the bar playing Coheed covers the whole meet-up. It was awesome.
My Canadian (well… the Canadian that isn’t Allison) Moose was there, so we danced together for a bit. I remember Sean starting “Time Consumer” and Anna racing past us dancing saying “This is my song!”
And then we have Fenn twerking, completely sober, mind you. My new favorite thing.
Brandon brought his teenage son, Evan, to the Chicago show, so I was finally able to meet him. HOLY SHIT HE IS LITERALLY MINI BRANDON. They looked the same, sounded the same, acted the same… I was so mind blown.
One more encounter at the meet-up worth mentioning: Remember when I said I did this tour to reclaim something for me? I lost a lot of the friends I made on that first tour between then and now. Definitely kept more than I lost, but still. Jordan was a recent one I’d lost, and because of the world’s stupidest fight. I didn’t want to fight there mostly for his girlfriend Hannah’s sake. I adore her.
Well Jordan and I made up at the meet-up, and he gave me a Green Day mug and a Chicago Coheed poster, as well as plenty of hugs. It was perfect and I’m glad we’re friends again.
The same cannot be said for quite a few others, though… Adam was one I grew to hate within the past year. He was there, but I avoided him like the plague. Macie was another one I didn’t care enough to bother making eye contact with. (These both are relevant later, promise.)
Anyway, group pictures! Yay!
Fat Cat was not far from the venue at all, but it’s Chicago. It was rainy and FREEZING, and we had to run those few blocks to get from one to the other. It was miserable. I was wearing two pairs of leggings because it was so freezing outside, but I knew that would end up being a terrible idea once the show started and I would DEFINITELY regret it. Ugh.
But I mean, the top leggings were fun. Peter brought about a million pairs to give away (because he just owns like a million pairs of leggings for some weird reason). At first I wore a Christmas-y pair because Anna kept calling it “Heedmas.” We were all excited to be reunited with everyone that it was “Heedmas Eve” and then the day of the show was finally “Heedmas.”
They didn’t fit well, though, so I instead opted for a more colorful pair.
The Aragon Ballroom is GORGEOUS. I was in love with the ceiling. It was such a pretty venue, I could not believe Coheed was playing here. This heavy prog rock band in this magical looking place… It’s gonna be a good night.
The early entry song was again the Leonard Cohen cover. I didn’t watch this time, just stood toward the back of the (beautiful) venue and danced.
The Dear Hunter
Cram and I finally got to dance together to the Dear Hunter at this show.
Coheed
Yet another show where I’m so happy to be surrounded by friends and family. Unicorn Steve had just gotten back from deployment with the Navy, so this was his first time seeing live music in months. I was really happy he was there. It was a great homecoming.
There was a good bit of alcohol between the meet-up and the show, so I remember Anna petting me, and Ashley (from St. Louis) going missing and needing Cram to babysit her in the front of the crowd for most of the night.
Speaking of going missing… General rule of thumb if Brandon is at a show: When in doubt, find the pink liberty spikes. Gotta love having a tall friend in the pit with even taller hair.
There was another Danielle there dressed as a gypsy. (I’ll differentiate them as “Danielle” and “[Gypsy] Danielle.”) She had the right idea. It got so hot in the venue (and my friggin double leggings, whyyyy would I do that to myself?!) that during the show she had to tie my shirt up for me.
She gave a few of us jewels for our foreheads to go with her gypsy outfit. She said we were “blessed by a gypsy.”
There was space set up for a catwalk at this show, but there was no actual catwalk. It was a little weird. Claudio came down and played in the catwalk area, though, which was awesome.
I crowdsurfed twice during the night, and once was straight toward the middle where the invisible catwalk was. I ran by [East Coast] Devin and Alyssa on the barricade and grabbed their hands as I passed.
The show was pretty insane. There were two pits: One rougher in front, and one not quite so rough directly behind it. Toward the end of the night, of course they merged. It seemed like a lot of people were staying toward the outskirts of the pit.
There was definitely some waltz-moshing at this show, which is the freaking best.
Mid-show, Claudio goes:
“Joe, where’s my guitar?”
Months earlier in the Coheed fan group on Facebook, this guy Joe (not the same Joe with the missing man poster) posted a picture of himself with a guitar Claudio had had stolen from him years prior. He wouldn’t tell us how he acquired the guitar, but the internet ripped him to shreds. The band has eyes on the groups, so Claudio knew where to find him and CALLED HIM OUT. It was amazing.
Even more amazing was that Ern tracked Joe down after the show so Claudio could get the guitar back. AND HE DID! It’s a miracle! We knew the guitar was stolen, so all of a sudden we were all glad we put up such a big stink about it when he posted that picture.
(For the record, Joe did not steal the guitar. He acquired it and probably didn’t realize it was stolen until we called him out on it. He did a good thing by giving it back though.)
Remember Macie? I’ve seen her at a few shows this tour, but we haven’t made eye contact. Until we’re in the pit in Chicago and she grabs me, says “I’m sorry, this family means everything to me,” AND THEN IMMEDIATELY WALKS AWAY. I was beyond confused. What just happened? Then I see Nicki laughing hysterically because I’m not crazy, that happened, and it was weird.
So no, we did not make up. And that is okay.
Goddamn, weird shit happens when you go to too many shows.
And then there was the second proposal in the pit of this tour. I’d never seen a proposal at a show before, and now I’ve seen two.
This time it was a friend, Zach, proposing to his girlfriend during “Wake Up.” We all slow danced as couples around them, me with Anna of course.
It took me until this, my seventh show of eight on this tour, to figure out that apparently Claudio has been leaving out the “Cry on bitch, why aren’t you laughing now?” line in “The Willing Well II.” I guess he was censoring some of the meaner lines? I’m not sure. And if he’d been doing it all tour, I really hadn’t noticed. Weird.
I stood on Bronte’s shoulders during “The Final Cut.” It was AMAZING. Jason kinda just lifted me up, and all of a sudden, I’m standing on top of the crowd. It’s kinda indescribable. I went with one arm in the air because I was too afraid to let go of the other one. Jason said he hasn’t holding my hand, so I’m not sure who was, but I’m thankful for them, whoever they are. Also super thankful for Bronte for allowing me that moment.
Niki and Danielle crowdstood during “In Keeping Secrets” holding up a flag. It was absolutely perfect aside from the crowd refusing to stay back and closing in on them about to kill them. Ya know. I felt like a one woman show trying to keep them back on one side while the boys held them in the air.
So many people kept saying hi to me after the show, and I honestly didn’t know who a lot of them were. One girl, Molly, told me we’re sorority sisters and I got really excited to finally meet her in person because I’m sure we’re the only two who like Coheed. She and her boyfriend said they started the night on the barricade but ended up having to move a few songs in because it was too crazy.
I get that.
I’m always hungry after a show, and there were too many people to keep track of after this one, so I bought a taco off the side of the road outside the venue. Not bad. As I’m walking toward my friends stuffing my face with taco, I pass the last someone I don’t care to speak to.
Remember Adam, who I am no longer friends with?
Him: “HI.” (It was a very rude, totally unfriendly “HI.” It felt more like a “WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IGNORING ME” than a “Hi.”)
Me: “Unless I’m getting an apology, I don’t wanna talk to you.”
PJ: “I like how you handled that with a mouthful of taco.”
I was proud of myself. This tour was successful in giving me back Coheed, and allowing me to finally stop caring about the people who chose to leave my life in not-so-nice ways.
The next morning, I met up with my Little (Mary, who moved to Chicago for school) on the 95th floor of the Hancock Building. I missed this girl.
After an entree and buffet with her, I met up with my COTFs at a deep dish pizza place. I, uh, may have eaten again. Whoops.
Because this is a COTF meet-up, there was a shit ton of butt smacking/grabbing and picking each other up.
Friggin everyone picks me up, including tiny little [Gypsy] Danielle, who likely weighs less than me now.
Later in the day, a big group of us went to the Hancock Building (again, for me) and a bunch of people went upstairs to the ride that tilts you over Chicago, aptly named Tilt. I opted to stay on the ground floor because I’d already been on the 95th floor earlier that day, and I didn’t want to pay to potentially be terrified. I’ll pass.
While I was waiting for the group to come back downstairs, some guys saw my Coheed hoodie and gave me this sticker they made. Sweet!
It was at least a 12 hour drive back to NYC for the last show, and I rode with my COTF mom and dad, Niki and Jason.
Me (at them being cute): “Ew gross!”
Jason: “Shut up. If not for us you wouldn’t be born.”
New York 2—5/22/17
So I rode with Niki and Jason because Niki was worried Jason would sleep too much on the way and she wanted me there to keep her company/awake on the road. But I am the worst and ALSO fell asleep too much. Whoops.
We pit stopped in Cleveland on the drive back for food at Melt. The only other time I’ve ever been in Cleveland was when Green Day was inducted in the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. Of course, this restaurant starts playing a super deep cut, “Misery,” and I COULD NOT. It was too weird.
Naturally we hit traffic as soon as we were within an hour of Long Island (where we would be crashing as Jason’s before the show the next day) and it took us so much longer to make it home than it should have. But we were in New York, and it was time for the final show.
They were playing Terminal 5 again, but we were not about to have a meet-up at the same bar that screwed us over last time. This time we all met at a bar called American Retro, and we had zero problems each opening our own tabs. GOOD.
One COTF in attendance, Janessa, is currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, so Wendy turned this into a “Fuck Cancer” show for her. She went all out, and it was really sweet. We had “Fuck Cancer” bracelets, and at least two guys shaved their heads for her in support.
We’re a family.
This show felt like we were finally ALL together (obviously always missing someone, but this was as close as we were getting), which I was super happy about. We had Felicia and Nicki up from Florida, obviously the entire New York crew (including Anna this time, as she skipped out on New York 1), Hannah and Jordan were there from Texas, Ian from Atlanta, and even Veronica and Devin from the West Coast! People who I’d seen on all parts of the tour were finally under one roof.
But unfortunately, a lot of people were having not-so-great times. Felicia and Nicki got stranded by their ride at a gas station and weren’t sure they would make it to the venue in time. Felicia was so upset she decided she never wanted to do this again. I didn’t believe her for a second. It’s just a bad day, and yes, touring is stressful, but if you love it you love it, and I know deep down she loves it.
And then Niki had pink eye as her version of the Heed Flu. She seemed kinda miserable.
I guess there were some bad omens for my friends, but I personally had a great day.
One thing we discovered at the meet-up: Jason is actually old enough to be Veronica’s dad. Niki’s only a few years older than Veronica, so she was not happy to have that drawn to her attention. I think the rest of us thought it was funny.
Biz came dressed as Negan from the Walking Dead for his VIP picture, so he brought a plastic Lucille (she’s a baseball bat) to the meet-up that I of course stole to smack people’s asses with. Ern snuck it in to the venue for him.
I also had a Platinum VIP ticket for the second time at the last New York show.
After Felicia’s shitshow of a day, she had sold her VIP ticket, but then managed to make it to the venue in time. Ern snuck her in, too. He’s such a good dude. I love him.
I wanted to put all my friends in my picture. Turns out I have too many friends, though, because they didn’t have time to organize that. Boo. I was a little upset because Felicia was standing RIGHT THERE and security still didn’t let her join me in the shot, but Ern did, and that was enough.
He found me later to apologize and explain that that was just the venue’s rules.
I think to a certain extent, the band is just sick of our shit. We’re all…well, shits. Some of my friends got cool pictures for VIP though.
Anna:
Biz (aka Negan):
(And the B-roll shots I took):
PJ, who took his photo for a pregnant Brenda who was unable to attend the show at the last minute:
And East Coast and West Coast Devin IN ONE PICTURE (mind blown):
But as for our shit… Nicki didn’t have VIP but she really wanted her missing man poster signed. So Felicia brought it in with her. Josh and Claudio signed it without really looking at it at all, but Zach and Travis looked and immediately decided it was offensive and they were not signing it. Nicki was super happy Felicia got 2 out of the 4, but I think the band was a little more than weirded out. Whoops.
I would not be surprised if this is the last time VIP is this lax.
I didn’t care about getting anything signed, and neither did Anna, so we got posters signed for Niki and Jason instead.
Because this show was scheduled later than the rest of the tour, the Dear Hunter was no longer on the line-up. This time there were two openers, Mutoid Man and Thank You Scientist.
Mutoid Man
Honestly, I did not like Mutoid Man. They were too…metal? I guess? Not melodic at all. But still, Biz, Cram, Jordan, and I all went nuts together with our hair (headbanging, but really just swinging our hair around) during their set, and that was a lot of fun.
Thank You Scientist
I think my friends would all be shocked to know that this was my first time ever seeing Thank You Scientist live. They’ve opened for Coheed before, but I wasn’t around then.
I was impressed. I really enjoyed them. Apparently they played a bunch of deep cuts, but I wouldn’t know. I’m not familiar enough with their music to know what’s what. All I knew was that they’re fun, and I loved the wide variety of instruments simultaneously onstage.
Before we all parted ways and half of us went back to find where the pit would be, Biz introduced me to one of his friends from high school who was there. (He told him the story of how we met: I sold him a t-shirt at an I the Mighty show. Cute.) Someone definitely sniffed Biz’s hair while we were standing with his friend, and I think he was afraid he would think we’re all too weird and not have a good time. Spoilers: he had a great time.
Coheed
Just before Coheed came on, a decent bit of my crew was hanging in the middle of the venue waiting to start a pit.
Someone looked up and saw a guy with his feet hanging over the balcony and his shoes were untied. We started a chant to get his attention.
“TIE YOUR SHOES! TIES YOUR SHOES!”
And IT WORKED. He heard us and tied his shoes, and it was the funniest thing. Success!
We were still missing a bunch of people though, so Cram picked me up so I could look for them. The only person I could see was Ian (my grandchild made it to New York!), who of course snapped some pictures of me in the air.
Wendy, who was with us, got this one too WHICH I LOVE.
Once they started playing, it was CRAZY. Obviously. Coheed in New York always is. That’s why we come here for shows.
There was a super crazy circle pit at one point, and Jordan saw me dying and gave me a hair tie. Ya know you’re friends again when he gives you a hair tie mid-show.
Apparently Biz saw his high school friend bouncing around in the pit and having a great time too, so there was nothing to worry about.
When “Wake Up” started, Anna grabbed me to slow dance. (Me: “WIFE!”) But then Biz stepped in, and the three of us danced, until all of a sudden the whole crew is there in a love pit spinning and hugging.
There was so much hugging and loving going on in that pit throughout the entire show. It was the best.
Niki and Jason’s good friend Steph was there, and this was her first ever Coheed show. She crowdsurfed during “The Suffering,” and I could see her falling down the same Coheed rabbit hole I did a year ago. It’s not a bad rabbit hole to fall into though? There are definitely worse.
I noticed they didn’t show the maggots on the screen during “The Willing Well II” this show. I have no idea if they cut more from the screens or just that, but that was all I paid attention for and/or noticed. I wasn’t really watching the screens tonight. I was too involved in the pit.
Two of my babies crowdsurfed. Hannah, who I attempted to get video of, but sorta failed at, and Alyssa, who I succeeded at recording!
It was Alyssa’s first crowdsurf EVER, so she was happy I got video of it. I was really proud of her for the surf. She’s normally on the barricade with Devin the entire show.
“We promised Devin we’d take care of her, but we threw Jason at her!”
Soooo the crowdsurf was good, but the pit was a bit dangerous. She probably sprained her ankle when a flying Jason landed on her. But she was enjoying herself too much to really be upset about it.
Claudio had his stolen guitar and played it during the encore after explaining how he retrieved it. Beautiful. I’m so glad he got it back and also played it on the same tour.
We were hoping because Thank You Scientist opened that they would change up the setlist a bit and play “Number City” onstage together, but it was exactly the same as it had been all tour. “Island,” “Delirium Trigger,” and “In Keeping Secrets.”
Sean ripped Biz’s shirt off AGAIN during “Delirium Trigger.” Remember when this happened at the Port Chester show last Fall? Apparently it was Sean doing the ripping both times.
“Mondays, amiright?”
I just looked at him from across the pit and yelled, “Every time!” laughing my ass off.
Him: “EVERY TIME.”
Jason and Ern both said they would crowdsurf (again), but did they? I don’t know if either of them actually did or not.
Biz spent the last song of the night shirtless, and when it ended, there were two abandoned shirts on the ground to choose from. Of course, he picks the one that’s too big and says “Jim” on it.
Turns out shirts were not the only things that didn’t survive that pit. So many people lost phones and debit cards either moshing or crowdsurfing. This is why I preach utility belts, people. Nothing falls out of them! Luckily, I believe everything was found before we left the venue.
Then we attempted to go find the cars, but the parking lot was all valet and the line was beyond long, so we walked a bit to get pizza first while we waited.
Oh yeah, here are some group pictures (featuring some random dudes that no one knows, because why not):
Biz continued holding onto his ripped shirt while walking through Manahattan. He dropped it at one point, but picked it up and refused to throw it away. He said he wanted to frame it.
“It made it this far!”
Cram got kicked in the head during the show and Anna was concerned he had a concussion, so she wouldn’t let him drive back to New Hampshire right away. Me and Biz were crashing with Anna in Manhattan that night, so Cram drove us to her place and stayed there with us for maybe an hour before deciding he was fine to drive home.
Biz: “If you told me I’d end this tour in bed with two girls…”
Anna: “You’d ask ‘Is it Lindsay and Anna?'”
I don’t feel like I HAVE to spell it out, but in case you didn’t get Anna’s joke, nothing happened in that bed. We just cuddle puddled. It’s a thing.
Biz showing off his ruined t-shirt the next morning:
“This is your shirt on Delirium Trigger.”
Biz: “I know we’re supposed to be there for the music, but I paid more attention to the pit than the music last night.”
I am right there with him. When the pit is full of friends, it’s easy to forget there’s a band onstage you’re ACTUALLY there to see. But were we really there for Coheed at all?
This tour was EXACTLY what I needed it to be. I went from being a little hesitant to indulge in Coheed again, to all of a sudden being home, and knowing that this is mine and no one can take that away from me. The band consistently killed it, as we all knew they would, and the sheer number of adventures made all the stress of it worth it. They’re taking a little time off after this tour, and I’m glad, because I need the break too. I’m not missing the next tour.
