A7X's elaborate, chutes-and-ladders set allowed the members to bound about the stage across a series of ramps as they shredded from tune to tune, occasionally going with formations like the rock equivalent of a Flying V.
Lead singer M. Shadows took advantage of this, projecting a near-confrontational energy into the crowd, challenging them to keep up. He stalked the stage, unleashing guttural howls to go along with his bellowed lyrics.
Drummer The Reverend Tholomew Plague's polyrhythms gave the songs the power of rockslides, screeched over with elaborate chord progressions.
Lead guitarist Synyster Gates took a moment alone to serenade the crowd with a series of solos, trying to top himself each time, before the band leapt back onto the stage.
A7X capped the show with a blistering "Bat Country," complete with massive, demon-winged, crimson-eyed skull rising above the stage. Over the top? Maybe. But it's good to know there's still place in rock for outrageous stage props - damn the hipsters - especially when buoyed with fearless, straightforward metal.
For journalistic purposes, Lumino ventured into the mosh pits that were erupting like malignant growths across the Aragon floor. They were pressure cookers of human collision, and people had no disregard for anything but A7X's brutal rhythms, including the fragile glasses of concert reviewers. As one semi-concerned onlooker put it, "That's all part of it, man." Unassailable logic, that, and back into the fray it was.
Coheed and Cambria weren't able to draw the crowd in so completely -- this may have been partly because a majority of people seemed to be there for A7X. The punk-prog rockers sounded fine, but were more punk at the beginning and eschewed many of the unique guitar work and progressions that set them apart. Guitarist/ vocalist Claudio Sanchez's Geddy Lee-like howls sometimes were muddled, but it was slightly surprising to hear them emanating from the stocky, geyser-haired singer.
C&C picked it up for the second half of the set and showed its more unique sound. "A Favor House Atlantic" began the crescendo, with a fast-paced chorus designed for driving fast with the windows down and thinking of possibility. The energy kept increasing through the finisher of "Welcome Home." Sanchez topped it with an epic, 10-minute guitar solo in which he guitar behind his head, with his tongue and with a violin bow. Frampton came alive, said Yes and Rushed over the crowd, which roared appreciatively at the finish.
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