i wasnt sure if they were progressive, but after seeing them live ive decided that to me they definitely are.
27th september at islington academy [my birthday, as it goes]
they were quite good, not the best ive seen, but definitely worthy of mention. i would compare them to tool, you may be surprised to hear, or may not be. They had lengthy instrumentals, and in such a small venue [only 800 people], you could really feel the intimacy of the music. Their new drummer chris pennie was very impressive, he had a mezmerizing drum solo towards the end, that any prog fan would apprecaite.Their music waas exciting no matter what type of music you like, and a sound that encompassed alot of varying styles.
On the detracting hand, i can see why coheed are associated with the modern emo scene, when you look at the diversity of the fans. There was me, wearing a 'yes' t shirt, a few wearing progish bands like 'muse' and 'iron maiden', and then the lowest common denominator of people wearing 'good charlotte' and 'taking back sunday' t shirts.
they played alot of good apollo... and a few from various parts of their back catalogue and i was disappointed to hear only 1 song from no world for tomorrow [due for release soon]. But none the less I had fun, and i think that they are definitely progressive but still alternative and metal.
and as a side note, claudio sanchez has the coolest hair in the history of music