Coheed and Cambria front man Claudio Sanchez signed copies of his graphic novel, Amory Wars, which coincides and intertwines with the bands music, for local fans at A Comic Shop before performing at the House of Blues.
"[Amory Wars] is like a sci-fi soap opera, it's ridiculous," said Angus Gorberg, head of marketing and public relations for A Comic Shop. "There is all sorts of twists and turns. It's really, really good for an indie comic. I would definitely recommend it."
Sanchez sat a throned figure before the ample line of subjects jittering with enthusiasm, singing along to the Coheed tracks playing in the store as they waited in droves to have guitars, comics and CDs signed August 8.
"Claudio, oh, dear Claudio, oh," sang Joseph Troudt, 18, in his best mimic of Sachez's distinctive tone and timbre, changing the lyrics around to the song "Everything Evil." "I will be at the show tonight. Thank you for writing this comic for me."
Troudt traveled all the way from Atlanta just to see Sanchez in person and attend the concert.
"That was pretty interesting," Sanchez said. "That hadn't happened yet, it was cool, very cool."
Troudt marveled at what he calls, "my greatest hero, my greatest rock hero," as Sanchez signed his comics and guitar that he said he will treasure for the whole of his life.
"On this last stretch on tour, we've been kind of coinciding the signings with the shows," Sanchez said. "Sherri Trahan who works with Evil Ink Comics [the comic's publisher] coordinated this event and [A Comic Shop] came highly recommend for the area. It's cool, it's nice to see them [the fans] enthusiastic about the band and the comics and things like that. It's rewarding."
The anticipant yet patient crowd showed similar signs of glee.
"I'm trying to hold in my bowels right now," Seminole Community College student Drew McKinney, 19, said. "I canceled all my plans a month in advance just to be here and drove from vacationing in Cocoa just to be here."
Gorberg said Sanchez is "an awesome dude."
"He's really chill," Gorberg said. "His voice is really deep, which is funny [commenting on the high pitch Sanchez sings with] and he's nice, real down to Earth. We talked on the 40 minute car ride for Buena Vista to here, and he's just a typical dude, definitely not one you would think would be wailing on a doubleneck SG."
Later that night at the House of Blues, a vast dragonfly with astrological mapping etched in the wing's veins adorned the backdrop.
Instrumental metal band Russian Circle and The Secret Machine, featured in Across the Universe as the trippy acid band with Bono, opened for Coheed.
Shouts of "Coheed" resonated in an audible wave through the crowd. High beam lights and smoke machines cast the band into shadows as Sanchez's mane of mammoth curls consumed his face as he sang his poetically epic lyrics and wailed on his guitar, parting his tresses to play the guitar behind his head or strum with his teeth.
On one of the speakers sat an action figure of Sanchez rocking out in mimic of the life-sized version.
"I think I just peed my pants," shouted Stephanie Whalen, 18, from Troy, New York, visiting on a family vacation. Whalen said her love of Coheed is inexplicable, owning all of their CDs and boasting the memorization of all their songs by heart. "They're unique, different from everything that's out there."
When instructed to clap, the crowd clapped. Sanchez played fill-in-the-blank and the crowd in turn supplied the lyrics in unison.
"I love them," Maggie Bailey, 19, from Valencia Community College, said. "I think they're amazing. I really love their lyrics. You can stretch their entire album into a story."
The House of Blues' accommodations on the ground floor is similar to lining up for a third grade photo. Line up, stick your head between the shoulders of those in front, back straight and stand still in order to prevent incurring the wrath of an uber fan from behind.
The closer to the stage a fan dared to go, the less likely boundaries of personal space were maintained, as some unfortunate fans were propelled into body surfing whether they liked it or not. Many sandals were lost in the making of such chaos.
"Say, you guys are having a good time," Sanchez said answered by colossal cheers. "That's what I thought. We weren't sure if you were listening, is all."
The band's set list showcased all of their albums with song such as, "Gravemakers and Gunslingers," "Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial)," "Favor House Atlantic" and "Everything Evil."
The set ended with "The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut," and a 10 minute extended jam session, which lead to the introduction of a theremin, an instrument invented in 1919 that produces an eerie sound through manipulating pitch and volume by waving hands around antennas without touching it.
The crowd, enthralled and sated, watched as the set was over and the patchwork quilt curtains closed.
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