Hours before its show in Syracuse sold out Monday, Coheed and Cambria played an acoustic performance at The Sound Garden record store in front of a small crowd.

The main course, on the other hand, drew a line that snaked down the block from the Westcott Theater in anticipation.

The Nyack, N.Y.-based progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria performed Monday night for an eclectic crowd as part of a five-stop tour across Upstate New York.

The concert drew a mixed crowd of teenagers and middle-aged fans, some wearing tattoos of the band’s logo and smoking cigarettes as cans of Bud Light floated through the crowd from the small bar in the back.

While some fans admitted to being first-timers at the show, the majority of the crowd lined up outside the theater was devoted fans of Coheed and Cambria, attracted not only to the band’s music but to its essence. The band’s relationship with its fans is as unique as the bond between its members, encouraging a devoted and outspoken following that came to the forefront during the performance.

The concert took on a collaborative feel as the fans’ singing and chanting mixed seamlessly with that of lead singer Claudio Sanchez.

The show began low key. The room filled with murmurs of conversation about the band’s upcoming album and bandmates’ newborn children, some fans even flashing pictures of their own toddlers back home.

The pit in front of the stage continued to fill until Coheed and Cambria appeared. Fans stood shoulder to shoulder, some boosting themselves onto the barricades on both sides of the stage for a better view.

Following an opener by sibling band Three, Coheed and Cambria took the stage at 9 p.m.

Daniel Sokol, 21, from Binghamton, N.Y., said he has been a fan of Coheed and Cambria since 2001.

“I’m going to try and get some of Claudio’s hair once the concert starts,” he said.

Most of those present also said they have been fans for years.

Joshua Case, 20, of Syracuse, said he has been a fan for three or four years. He said his favorite song is “Welcome Home.”

“Most of their songs have a good meaning to them,” he said, “I would say that once you get the meaning of the songs, it’s very deep.”

For Coheed and Cambria drummer Josh Eppard, the idea of maintaining these bonds with fans especially hits home.

Though Coheed and Cambria, first known as Shabutie, began as “just a group of four friends” and enjoys a close bond today, the band was marred for years by drug addiction.

Eppard’s former addiction to heroin overlapped with his time with the band, affecting his ability to participate and culminating in a last-minute phone call informing the band of his departure.

Eppard left the day the band was scheduled to go on tour. His leave caused years of disconnect with the rest of the band’s members, who he said were angry with him for jeopardizing the future of the band.

Initially building up resentment toward his estranged band members, Eppard struggled to become clean for years — years during which he experienced frequent dreams of using heroin.

Eppard’s favorite album, he said, was “No World For Tomorrow”, which centered around his addiction and its effect on Coheed and Cambria. The album was the “catalyst” for getting clean.

“Claudio was saying things to me that he wasn’t interested in saying to my face. That whole record was about me and the lyrics really penetrated,” Eppard said.

For most of the concert, Sanchez only had to play a single riff to cue roars of recognition from the crowd, drawing screams of approval for a lineup that included “No World For Tomorrow,” “Everything Evil” and the title track from the band’s new album, “The Afterman.”

When the band concluded its performance and left the stage, fans continued to crane their necks and press toward the stage, hoping for an encore.

The band obliged. An extended five-song encore later, Sanchez could be heard, saying: “Let’s do it again from the top.”

Published on September 25, 2012 at 1:50 am

Contact Natsumi: najisaka@syr.edu