Coheed and Cambria plays sold-out show at Bluebird Nightclub

Coheed and Cambria played a sold-out show Tuesday at the Bluebird  Nightclub.

“Obviously, it’s a big marquee act, and to do that the first week of summer was unusual,” Bluebird owner Dave Kubiak said.

At the start of the band’s set, frontman Claudio Sanchez emerged from a colorstorm of spotlighted party foggers and excited the crowd.

“I thought the response was fantastic,” Kubiak said. “I was talking to the band right after the show and they said they loved the energy level of the audience. There were no issues with security at all. It was surprising.”

Coheed played to the Bluebird crowd with selections from its five concept studio albums, closing with fan favorites “A Favor House Atlantic” and “Welcome Home.”

“At first I did not like them, but that was back when I did not know what good music was,” said Sean O’Connor, who drove from Fort Wayne to see the show.

“It’s pretty awesome,” O’Connor said. “My friend burned me some CDs of everything but their most recent album and that was that.”

“Coheed” and “Cambria” are characters from the “Armory Wars” fantasy comic book series written by frontman Sanchez and narrated through the band’s five concept albums. In 2011, the band announced the completed writing of a sixth concept album, a second prequel within the “Armory Wars” realm.

This marriage of the band’s progressive rock sound to its creative, otherworld storytelling is what defines the band’s diverse fan base.

Though Coheed stuck to its formula of illustrating the original story song during the set, the band also covered Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.” Performed at half speed with slow-burn distortion, the popular, well-known song  gained a new level of intensity from Sanchez’s vocals and Josh Eppard’s heavy drumming.

Coheed’s popularity has waned since its peak in the mid-2000s, as recent
circumstances have left the band fighting from behind to reclaim relevance. A variety of lineup changes and incidents have shaken the band’s mojo.

Last summer, longtime bassist Michael Todd left the band after charges of armed robbery. Zach Cooper, the bassist who replaced Todd, was appointed to the position two weeks ago after leaving his former band “AM to AM.” Current drummer Eppard replaced Chris Pennie, who left the band due to creative differences, at the same position in November. But fans are still loyal to the band.

“I don’t care about lineup changes that much so long as Claudio and Travis are there,” O’Connor said with a smile.

Between this constantly shifting lineup and a complicated “second prequel,” Coheed’s future is uncertain. Tuesday’s sold-out performance reaffirmed that even in smaller venues the band has a devout following. Fans filled the Bluebird, peering around its brick columns to catch a glimpse of the band and sing along to Coheed’s woesome outro in its famed “Welcome Home” finale.