Sci-fi themed Coheed & Cambria rocks Ogden

Hands held tightly to precious Coheed & Cambria tickets in front of the Ogden Theatre. Adrenaline-pumped fans stood shivering in brisk cold and waited until they were granted passage to warmth and rock music melodies.

Sharp, resonating tones cut through thrums of ebbing beats while synthesized keyboard rippled over the crowd-packed Ogden Theatre. Trance metal instrumental opening band Russian Circles emerged. With periodic drops of guitar and drums into heavy riffs, Russian Circles fitfully started the metal-filled evening.

Thick winter beards, septum piercings, Gaelic tattoos, plaid t-shirts, and club dresses adorned the masses. With little movement between sets, the eclectic crowd stilled when Coheed & Cambria graced the stage.

Piercing vocals belted “Pretelethal” from the new album The Afterman: Descension. The contralto voice of Claudio Sanchez is a surprising feat coming from such a grizzly face.

By the second song a girl fight erupted in a fury of blond and black, knocking everyone in the middle balcony row into a sideways domino tumble of muffled cursing. Spilled beer splashed and ice scattered as if choreographed to a Coheed & Cambria soundtrack.

After a calm of black on stage, the double triangle symbol on the wall behind the drums illuminated neon violet with firefly-like speckles of green for “A Favor House Atlantic.” The band cut sound to let the audience sing back to complete the chorus of the fan favorite. By “No World For Tomorrow,” the head banging fell into unison like a sweep of wind whipping over grass.

Computerized voices paired with synthesized explosions and reverberations set the sci-fi theme. Neon purple lights illuminated white-washed female mannequins and complicated light projections meandered across the ceiling. Video projections of album art created surrealistic representations of the already narrative albums.

Clarity of the lyrics in “Key Entity Extration IV: Evagria The Faithful” was balanced by the precision of Josh Eppard’s percussion skills. The song was carried by the subtle beats picked up by Travis Stever on guitar and Zach Cooper on bass into an ethereal uplift. Colorful circular patterns twirled on the ceiling to highlight rising smoke for the final song.

That night, crowd cheers and pleas seemed to bring back the music, and Coheed stepped out for a grand encore. Starting with slow momentum, Sanchez built up acoustic strumming in “Wake Up.” With tender, but not too sweet undertones, it was a fitting song to sing to the Valentine’s Day crowd.

The final song, “Welcome Home,” brought about the moment everyone was waiting for—Sanchez showing off. Like the raw talented beast he is, Sanchez decided to play his double neck guitar behind his mane of hair while hashing out climatic solos. As if that wasn’t enough, he played with his teeth.

The performance left viewers in a state of muzzy shock. As the neon strobes wore off, and the smoke cleared, dazed fans herded toward the door and out into a brisk cold—leaving a feeling of an eerie other-worldliness.