Customer Reviews

Coheed and Cambria: Neverender

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me start off by mentioning that this is my first taste of Coheed and Cambria. I've heard a lot of buzz about the band and these "Neverender" shows. This dvd confirms all accounts that this band just flat out rocks!!! The camera work is the best I have seen, and I have been collecting concerts on vhs and dvd for about 20 years. The musicians in this band are captured performing four conceptual albums in their entirety. These four guys play this incredible music technically brilliant and with emotion and confidence. The crowd knows every word and they both feed off each other to create a musical performance that never gets stale.
Even though there is a central theme going on in each of these four performances, each album seems different in its context and "angst". When finishing the first dvd I have to say that "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth" just blew me away. The performance was top-notch and the music was unbelievable. On the second disc it just keeps getting better. They add another percussionist for the 3'rd album, as well as 2 female background vocalists. The last song on the album finishes with guitar mania between Sanchez and Stever that is jaw-dropping. What a finish!!! On the last performance they are back to the 4-piece(There is a pretty decent keyboard player throughout each performance as well) with the 2 background vocalists. This performance is another display of just how musically tight and confident these guys are. Another brilliant performance to compliment another great piece of work.
And as if this dvd set could not get any better, my man WARREN HAYNES comes out to do 2 songs on the encore. If Haynes will step out with these guys than that seals the deal for me. Coheed and Cambria are not a fading light in the rock world, but a burning star that shed its light through my eyes and ears through this amazing, amazing performance.

All in all, I can't say enough about this dvd set. If you are a fan of rock music, this is definitely for you. The 2 guitar players are about the best I have seen in a long , long time. The bass player plays the strings off of his Fender bass. The drummer is a machine who never stops and never seems winded. IN MY COLLECTION OF CONCERTS, THIS ONE HAS RISEN TO THE TOP OF THE PILE. IT IS JUST AN INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE IN BOTH VISUAL AND SOUND!!

What other band do you know has a concert where they perform all their songs from all their albums? Although in only a few major cities, Neverender was, in my opinion, THE concert of 2008, and a great opportunity to watch your favorite Coheed songs live, especially those that they rarely perform. It was also a good opportunity for the new drummer, Chris Pennie, to learn some of the older stuff. The DVD is two discs, with two nights each on them.

NIGHT 1: The Second Stage Turbine Blade, their first album. Although Claudio cannot get as high as he once could (maybe if you lay off those cigarettes...) he still can do the classics well. The hidden track, "IRO-Bot," is performed as well.

NIGHT 2: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. Some of the best songs are on there, and they also do a great job here as well, with a killer performance on "Al the Killer." And for their encore they do "2113," but the DVD cuts off the IRO-bot reprise at the end, due to an editing error. The CD includes it, however.

NIGHT 3: Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Volume 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. What a mouthful. This time, Coheed performs with a second percussionist, and the dreaded but pretty female backup singers. I really don't like them, but the performance is still quite amazing, with one of their longest performances of "The Final Cut" ever, including a drum solo. And for their encore, they do a medley of "Everything Evil," a cover of the Maiden classic "The Trooper," and "Devil in Jersey City." There also is a little jam after The Suffering.

NIGHT 4: GAIBSIVV2: No World for Tomorrow:. Another solid performance of their newest work, but it kind of ticks me off because they kind of go overboard on the backup singers, with them sometimes singing whole verses. Laziness, Claudio, laziness. At the end, they have a special guest, Warren Haynes from Gov't Mule and The Allman Brothers Band. They cover the Bob Dylan song, "I Shall Be Released," as well as another performance of "Welcome Home."

If you love Coheed, this a must.

I picked up this two-DVD set and have been really enjoying it. It's perfect for a new fan of C&C because it includes live versions of just about their entire body of work for a very cheap price. The video quality is fantastic and the performances are great. Highly recommended!

Coheed's first four albums played in order as they were recorded plus extra behind the scenes footage. It is amazing to me that they were able to do this flawlessly. While this isn't the best live performance I've ever scene of the band it is the most accurate to the records. If you are a Coheed fan you will love this DVD. If you aren't a Coheed fan...why are you reading this?

Love these guys, love this concert series. My brother and I watched it from start to finish in one sitting. Freaky coincidence: During the song 21:13, as Claudio sang, "When the clock reads 2113", I looked at my brother's clock and it said 09:13 pm (aka 21:13). No lie.

Anyway, the audio on these DVDs is great, especially for a live performance. This is a must have for all Co & Cam fans. Get it!

My first experience with Coheed and Cambria came more or less by accident when my wife and I were given her brother's old computer. It had the second CD (In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3)in an mp3 folder. Opening that folder was one of the single most eye-opening musical experiences in my life thus far.

I was instantly hooked on grasping the story behind the incredibly talented music. I recently came across this DVD set and knew immediately that I had to get it. And it did NOT disappoint! I agree with each reviewer that said this set of 4 nights, spent playing through the entire set list of their CD's actually makes you feel like you're part of the crowd. There was a good mix of playing, jamming, brief talking and LOTS of close-ups. Each night could have stood as its own individual performance, but you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to watch them all; as they each add different elements and sounds (i.e. different instruments, back up vocalists, background imagery, solos, and a guest appearance by Warren Haynes). I caught myself constantly jamming out in the living room (with my wife telling me [lovingly] to turn it down, and that I looked like an idiot...think Paul Rudd in "I Love You, Man") Anyway, as I was not familiar with the SSTB or either of the GAIBS-IV albums, this provided a good opportunity to hear the other songs and see the crowd's reaction. Now I can say I proudly own all of them (including Year of the Black Rainbow).

This took me about a week to watch. I have a full time job, a wife and a 2 year old son. Eventually, I would like to sit down (or rock out, depending) and watch the whole thing beginning to end in its entirety. However, this was definitely worth a week long viewing....over and over and over again. The packaging is cool too. My only gripe is that I feel like I am going to have to end up going and getting a jewel case for it, because the package is just a fold over slipcase with slots for the two DVDs. I've already managed to put one scratch on a disc :(, but thank God it didn't disrupt anything. This DVD set is also the first recorded concert of drummer Chris Pennie, and sadly, the last for Mic Todd (bass). He will be missed.

If you are a fan of music in general, this would be a collection worth having, at least for diversity's sake. It's energetic, evenly spaced out (each night is almost an hour and a half, more or less), and diverse in its delivery. Thank you to my wife's brother for leaving this music on the computer, and THANK YOU Coheed and Cambria for providing such awesome entertainment. Needless to say, future concert releases will be on my watch list.

**For other references to this band and the meaning behind the music, I recommend seeking out the graphic novels "The Amory Wars," written by front man, Claudio Sanchez.

--New Sidenote...Chris Pennie has now left the band (11/3/2011). Another sad day in the career of Coheed and Cambria.

Coheed And Cambria's Neverender DVD was filmed in New York back in 2008 and released in 2009 and contains all of the band's first four albums played live, in their entirety from beginning to end.

The first thing that needs pointing out is that as an actual DVD, this is incredible. I own over one hundred live concert DVDs from a variety of different genres and time periods and even now a few years on from its release, I still think that Neverender has some of the best visuals, camera work and editing any band ever had on a live DVD.

This is added to the band's great stage design, with screens and backdrops, excellent lighting and just a general visible air of effort all around.

For the most part (and especially on Second Stage Turbine Blade concert) the performance of the band is utterly incredible, improving on the studio version with added power and confidence. Claudio's vocals are much better than on their The Last Supper DVD and drummer Chris Pennie does a great job all around, really giving the songs depth and attitude, and he even gets an excellent drum solo at one point.

For the two later albums, the band get out guest female vocalists to cover for the amount of intertwining simultaneous overlaid vocals that appear on the studio albums, which is largely fine although they obviously don't sound exactly like how Claudio sang them on the album. All throughout there is an additional keyboard player on stage to replicate the string sections and other extras in the songs.

The DVD and the performances therein are exceptional. There are very few critisms to be made at all. The final album, No World For Tomorrow loose a little something live, in that the studio counterpart was much heavier than the band play it here and Claudio sometimes struggles with some of the more complex vocal parts. The album also gains something however, as it was the band's most overproduced studio album and tracks like `Mother Superior,' and `On The Brink,' sound incredible in their stripped down live forms, which I feel balances it out.

If you like Coheed And Cambria you'd be mad not to buy Neverender, the quality is astounding and there is a hell of a lot of it to enjoy.

I Love this DVD. Its by far the best offering as far as value goes, Four album length concerts on two discs for less than 20 bucks? its a steal.

But more importantly, You wont find another set of concerts where the band is as passionate and into the music. Not to mention the crowd knows every word of each song. This dvd is for Fans and new comers, I honestly can't think of a better way to be introduced to the music than to watch this dvd. I fully recommend this to anyone who enjoys Great music.

Simply put, this is a great live recording of some of the best and most original music on the market. No contemporary artist can quite match Coheed & Cambria's flawless technical skill, talented vocals, or unique treatment of their subject matter, and this DVD is a great addition to anyone's Coheed and Cambria library.

While some of Claudio Sanchez's vocals get a little rough or are sung differently than in-studio (the second night, In Keeping Secrets, is noticeably rough), the "in the crowd" feel that the DVD provides more than makes up for the shortcomings of live performance. It is also important to remember that very few bands have the fortitude, patience, and skill to remember how to play every song they've ever written, much less all at the same time and then do live performances 4 nights in a row.

With all this in mind, I cannot help but give Neverender five stars. Either you like Coheed and Cambria or you don't really get the appeal, and if you're in the first group, this is definitely for you. Just remember: it's not a studio album, mistakes are to be expected!

I was surprised by the quality of the video and editing. Totally glad I picked it up.