Coheed and Cambria: This Is Our War Tour
It was a clear 10/10 performance for the band Coheed and Cambria on Thursday, June 11th, 2026. The “This Is Our War” Tour crashed through Buffalo Riverworks bringing heat that radiated throughout the city. Opening acts Kaonashi and Arm’s Length contributed to the hard-hitting lineup of musical bliss and immense talent, producing an unforgettable night. A multiple generation crowd started to fill the open floors of Riverworks, which quickly started to congest. Fans gathered close to the barricade, securing their spots, and the venue buzzed with excitement. “Children of the Fence,” a name that had been created and embraced by Coheed’s fans, packed the merch tables and found friends from other shows. Multiple fans sported older Coheed shirts and merch, some even dressing up in Avatar cosplay. It was refreshing to see such a widely aged fan base; this meant that Coheed’s veteran rock status was being carried on throughout generations. The industrial atmosphere of Riverworks was the perfect setting for one of Coheed’s stops on their successful tour. As the beginning of set times neared, it was hard not to notice the excitement of the crowd growing. The last time I saw Coheed live was at Warped Tour in 2004, when their breakthrough album In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth:3 was at its peak. To say I was excited to catch them again after over 10 years was an understatement.
Kaonashi was first to kick off the night. Having not been too familiar with them, I was anxious to see what they brought to the lineup. The venue floor was pretty littered with fans, many repping Kaonashi merch. For an opening act, this was impressive. The band formed in Philadelphia in 2012, with a unique sound based on their post-hardcore and metalcore influences. Frontman Peter Rono demanded fans’ attention immediately with his emotionally charged vocals. Rono kept the energy up through the entire setlist with various mixes of tracks off his keyboard. The band’s fast, energetic sound ignited various circle pits and moshing throughout the crowd. The intense hardcore fashion of the band’s sound locked in fans throughout the set, allowing those familiar with the band to rage and new comers to experience. The personal meaning of their music could be felt throughout the band’s setlist. Touching base on self-reflection, mental heath, and isolation. You could tell that fans related deeply to these lyrics. Even throughout the chaotic nature, polarizing riffs and Rono’s high pitched vocals, the band easily won over everyone in the crowd. Their newest album, I Want To Go Home, just dropped last year. Make sure to check it out!
Arm’s Length was next up to take the stage. As the lights dimmed, the crowd’s energy seemed to settle down, waiting for lead singer Allen Steinberg to kick off the second act of the night. The band’s familiar blend of emo, punk, and alt-rock inspiration makes for a familiar sound for this kind of crowd. Immediately, the room turned into one big emotional release as Steinberg opened with “ The World” and fans sang along with arms in the air to every lyric. The vulnerability of each song showcased the band’s popularity with the crowd throughout the entire set. The blend of high energy songs and slower, intimate choruses was refreshing to hear, along with Steinberg’s ability to make the experience personable. The band formed in Ontario in 2019 has established a strong connection with fans who crave a more emotional musical connection and heartfelt lyics. Their album Never Before Seen, Never Again Found remains one of the more popular albums of the band. With fan favorites such as “Tough Love”, “ Dirge,” and “ Family and Friends”, Arm’s Length quickly won over the attention of the crowd. Raw emotional vocals, stacked guitar sounds, and liberating choruses had fans chanting back word for word. The bands ability to have fun onstage provided another appeal to this band. With members playing their instruments while going back to back, joking around onstage, and smiling throughout the set it, it was easy to see why they gave off a more fun and care-free type of vibe. Make sure to go and check out Arm’s Length and their most recent album, There’s A Whole World Out There!
Coheed and Cambria erupted onto the stage, with frontman Claudio Sanchez emerging from the thick fog-like setting of the stage setup. Huge LED backdrops that illuminated the venue with tones of purple, red, and orange transformed Riverworks into a dream-like setting. If you are not too familiar with Coheed, their swelling Sci-Fi narrative, more popularly known as The Amory Wars, is a huge staple of their music. Their production of that was clearly displayed for this tour. The band formed back in 1995 and have history of producing a unique blend of rock, post-hardcore, and elements of pop. Along with their storytelling and. science-fiction theme, they have earned an extremely loyal fanbase. These key components have made Coheed one of the more recognizable and musically talented bands throughout generations. Claudio’s unmistakable vocals caught the attention of the crowd immediately. The first thing I noticed was that this man’s vocals sounded just as good that night as they did 10 years ago. The sound at Riverworks can be touchy, but Claudio’s clean and precise vocals carried the entirety of the night.
The set balanced the perfect mix of newer material along with older classics. Tracks such as “Searching for Tomorrow” and “Play the Poet” off their The Father of Make Believe (New Entities Edition), hyped up newer fans while songs such as “Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood and Burial)” and the ever popular “A Favor House in Atlantic” off of Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV Volume One: Fear Through The Eyes of Madness gave veteran fans the Coheed they had first fallen in love with. The crowd was highly interactive throughout the entire night, matching the energy of the band, who were constantly running back and forth across the stage. It was hard to hear yourself as fans chanted and sang along to every lyric the band threw at them. Claudio was all smiles as he sang along and stopped to chat with the crowd between songs. The combination of hard-hitting guitar riffs, powerful bass lines, and lethal drum hits had crowd surfers plummeting towards the stage. The floor of the venue looked alive as constant movement from both the crowd and the band kept the energy going throughout the night. With the setlist winding down, Coheed came out for an encore. Ending with “Welcome Home,” Claudio doted on his signature double-neck guitar. I won’t lie and say that seeing that in person wasn’t a core memory for me, as well as other fans.
As the show came to an end, the crowd was clearly still high off the energy. Fans showed off their collected setlist and caught guitar picks along with vast amount of merch from the night. The greatest thing to witness about the whole night was the new memories made for both the newer and older generations of Coheed fans. This will be a show talked about for years to come. The This is Our War tour is set to wrap up in August with various dates left. Don’t miss out if this tour makes a stop in your town!
Setlist:
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth:3
Devil In Jersey City
The Pavilion ( A Long Way Back)
Gravemakers and Gunslingers
Blind Side Sonny
Play the Poe
Shoulders
The Liars Club
Here to Mars
Corner My Confidence
Key Unity Extraction VII- Yuko the Trivial
Searching for Tomorow
The Suffering
A Favor House Atlantic
Encore: Ten Speed ( Of God’s Blood and Burial) and Welcome Home