Welcome back, Coheed and Cambria; Download Festival is always happy to have you
Regarded by many as a progressive rock outfit, the New York band accepted their invitation to return to Download Festival following their performances in 2006 and 2008. With another two years having passed, they revisit Donington to promote their recently released album, ‘Year of the Black Rainbow’.
Many at the festival may have attended their performance just to witness the eighth wonder of the world that is indeed frontman Claudio Sanchez’s gravity-defying hair, but such shallowness should hopefully have been overridden upon discovering how musically capable the group are. The American frontman made little effort to communicate with the audience, but this has always been the Coheed and Cambria way; they have always been more concerned with the presentation of their music than of their personalities. Like the vast majority of their live shows, the performance of their music is incredibly accurate and executed with competence. Many guitarists may attempt the trick of playing their instrument behind their head, but not many can perform with such skill whilst doing so like Sanchez can.
The new material (including songs such as ‘The Broken’, ‘Here We Are Juggernaut’ and ‘World of Lines’) was met with a mediocre response, despite a technical standard of performance that once again exceeded expectations. However, their finale of ‘Welcome Home’ was the perfect ending to a great set, receiving an excellent reception from those watching. Popular single ‘The Suffering’ may have been one expected song absent on this occasion, but given the time restrictions of festival slots, a band can never please everyone. Coheed and Cambria presented an evenly balanced set, ensuring that there was something for all fans, new and old.