by photojournalist Ryan Paul Marchese
Saturday night the MidFlorida Amphitheatre in Tampa was rocked by the co-headlining tour of Taking Back Sunday and Coheed and Cambria. They were supported by opening act, Foxing, hailing from St. Louis, Missouri. The energy each of the bands brought to the stage was phenomenal. I had a blast getting to cover the show and it took on a trip in the Wayback Machine. If this had been the early 2000s, I would have been losing my freakin’ mind at this pairing. TBS and Coheed were two of the biggest bands at the time for anyone that frequented Warped Tour or Bamboozle. Tell All Your Friends and In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 were two of the most played albums in my car’s cd player throughout high school. Many a night was spent with friends driving over to the beach belting out the lyrics to “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut From The Team” or “Favor House Atlantic.” Needless to say this show had been on my radar since it was announced.
Adding to the nostalgia of the night, Foxing took the stage while the iconic opening theme from the Halo series played over the speakers. I have to give major credit to Foxing, they put on one hell of a show despite the sun still being out and the humidity being through the metaphorical roof. The weather was one of the first things these guys commented on when stepping up to the mic, and the crowd answered back “Welcome to Florida!” Despite melting up there, that didn’t stop them from giving the crowd everything they had. Their set was only six songs long, and I really wish they had more time, but it was a great set. This Indie Rock band really blew me away when they played “Hell 99.” How Eric didn’t pass out while screaming that intro out is beyond me. They closed out their set with “Rory,” which had Eric playing keyboard for the intro and featured their other vocalist Conor playing trumpet throughout the song. Definitely a fun band to check out and perfect fit for this tour.
This was a particularly special tour for Taking Back Sunday because of the lineup change that was announced this summer. Guitarist and vocalist John Nolan has temporarily stepped away from the band to spend time with family and former guitarist and vocalist from 2003-2007, Fred Mascherino, has returned to the band. Fred was with the band for hit albums Where You Want to Be and Louder Now. Since this tour comes in between albums, they ran the gambit with their setlist for the night. Tracks like “What’s it Feel Like to Be a Ghost?,” “Liar,” “This Photograph is Proof,” and “Error: Operator” had fans singing along like it was the 2000s at Warped. They played some of their newer tracks as well like “The One” and “S’Old.” Lead singer Adam Lazzarro and Fred were both going wild on stage between their dance moves, jumps, and mic swinging. Their set closed out with their go to hit from Louder Now and epic sing along, “Make Damn Sure.”
The show had been great up until this point, but I was ready for Coheed. The last time I saw them was while they were promoting the release of The Color Before the Sun, that was now 10 years ago. Wild, that much time has gone by. Since, they’ve gone back to their concept albums and released Vaxis Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures and Vaxis Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind. This tour marks the release of Vaxis Act III: The Father of Make Believe. For its release, they had some tricks up their sleeve. Their act opened up with a single from the new record, “Goodbye, Sunshine” and a crazy light display. They proceeded with fan favorites “Shoulders” and “Blood Red Summer” followed by a short intermission. When the band came back to play the first single off of Vaxis Act III, “Blind Side Sonny,” their was a huge new presence on stage, a blow-up of Blind Side Sonny himself. They went on to give an amazing performance littered with fan favorites from their entire discography like “Number City,” “The Suffering,” and “The Liars Club” despite this being a tour promoting the new album. However, they did make sure to get a good amount of new material in, accompanied by some spins, head banging, and even sprinting back to the upper stage and dancing across it. Another couple of special moments from the set included a cover of “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers and the singing of “Happy Birthday to You” for their Artist Manager, Blaze James, and bassist Zach Cooper. Claudio, Travis, Zach and Josh were all bringing 110% as always. This is one of those bands that never disappoints live between their energy, antics, and ambiance. Looking forward to what comes next with these guys and rocking my socks off for another 10 years.
