Saturday 04/02/06 Coheed and Cambria, Thrice, Circa Survive @ Brixton Academy, London

Circa Survive open tonight to an already packed Brixton Academy, rattling their way through an energetic, albeit short set. Musically the band can be somewhat bland at times, although front man Anthony Green endangers both himself and fellow band mates with his sporadic, violent flailing, which has the audience captivated.   

Tonight’s gig is billed as ‘Coheed Vs Thrice’, but alas, no ‘It’s a Knockout’ style inflatable challenges or arm wrestles settle this battle - on the recent tour, the bands have been taking it in turns to fill the headline slot and tonight it’s the turn of emo veterans Thrice to go first. As a huge backdrop displaying the cover from the latest album, 'Vheissu', descends, accompanied by a sharp blast of bass and drums, Brixton academy becomes a sea of raised fists.

The band go straight into a tumultuous rendition of ‘The Earth Will Shake’ from the new album, that prompts a ‘screamalong’ throughout the audience. In fact many of tonight’s offerings are taken from Vheissu, but that’s not to say that Thrice do not display their full musical versatility – Teppei’s awe-inspiring guitar tapping, machine gun blasts of the drums and ear piercingly high synthesisers create a sound big enough to fill an aircraft hanger, let alone this auditorium. As well as treating the crowd to a brand new unreleased song, the guys do bang out a couple of old tunes such as ‘To Avenge an Awake the Dead’ and ‘Deadbolt’ which serve as reminders of the bands slightly heavier roots, with Teppei and Dustin’s synchronised guitar riffs sending the kids mental.

New York prog rocker’s Coheed and Cambria come out to a back drop that places them straight into the science fiction world created by Claudio Sanchez, upon which band’s series of concept albums are based. And after the string intro to ‘Good Apollo …’ fades out, lightning bolts illuminate the room as the band fly into the brilliant ‘Welcome Home’. Sanchez and guitarist Travis Stever share heroically long guitar solos, effortlessly wielding their instruments through colossal 6 minutes compositions.

Half an hour into the set, C&C drop the electrics, and bring out the acoustics for a couple of songs – but unlike acoustic sessions at many rock/metal gigs, there’s no mass exodus to the bar or toilet. Like their albums, C&C’s stage show tells a story. Every note of every song, combined with the breathtaking images behind the band, and the spoken sound bites in between songs are not-to-be-missed and essential to the overall experience.

The mess of hair that is Sanchez proves to be quite the showman - a classic rock stance and solos played with his mouth and behind the head, he oozes a stage presence that has all eyes fixed on him. But its C&C’s 15 minute prog rock encore that really leaves the audience stunned. Merging out of ‘IV: The Final Cut’, the extended jam is reminiscent of Pink Floyd and the like, Stever playing steel lap guitar, and playing with a talkbox to achieve a cacophony of incredible sounds. ‘(The jam’s) not planned, it’s different every night’ Stever tells us after the show, "we just wing it".

Having listened to the albums, you’d be forgiven for wondering quite how well the experimental nature of C&C’s music translates into a live stage show - this phenomenal improvisation quashes any doubts in no uncertain terms.  

Photos by: DJ Webb