Coheed and Cambria / Arm’s Length / Kaonashi

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June 10, 2026 at the Agora in Cleveland

Philadelphia’s Kaonashi opened the night with a sound that immediately struck me as emo, both musically and vocally. My first thought (during the first 2 seconds) was that they wanted to sound a little like older Taking Back Sunday. Then everything changed and I was very wrong. At times it almost sounded like karaoke, but then they’d suddenly hit these heavy moments and screams that my high school self would’ve absolutely loved. The set was angsty, chaotic, and surprisingly heavy. They had spoken-word sections that reminded me of Hobo Johnson, building tension before exploding into noise and screams. There were multiple moments where my jaw was hanging open because of how unexpectedly heavy and chaotic things got. Between songs they sampled Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music,” which wasn’t something I expected to hear in the middle of a Kaonashi set. Apparently they also played a Lady Gaga cover, though I missed that and only found out afterward from Stacey (my girlfriend who went with me). For as emo as they sounded at times, they got really heavy. A little push pit broke out during some of those moments, and honestly, I was surprised by just how aggressive parts of the set became.

Next up was Arm’s Length from Canada. They came out with clean, poppy vocals and a mid-tempo sound that felt angsty but more fleshed out. The first thing I noticed was a Dr. Z amp on stage, so I knew they were serious. Lots of Fender-style tones, single coils, and P90s.The band had a fun energy. The drummer looked like Nathan Explosion, while the rest of the band looked like kids. Musically they landed somewhere in the post-hardcore world and reminded me of my Silverstein era. There were a few timing changes here and there, but overall things stayed nice and simple. At one point the vocalist told the crowd to dance, and honestly, 2012 Warped Tour would absolutely nut for these guys. Their gear setup was interesting. Two of the guitarists were playing through tiny 10-inch combo amps, one Mesa Boogie and one Marshall. Those amps handled a lot of the highs, while the vocalist’s Dr. Z filled out the mids. The bassist played a black Fender bass, handled the dirty vocals, and was solid all night. One cool detail was that Charlie, their engineer, was playing only his second-ever set with the band on guitar. Arms Length also feels like a band that would thrive in a tiny room or a Tiny Desk-style performance. During one song Charlie pulled out a banjo and played the intro before the band launched into a Blink-182-esque track that had the crowd bouncing around and singing along.

Then it was time for Coheed and Cambria.

Before the set, I talked with a fan wearing a VIP lanyard who explained the different packages. One was a roughly $200 meet-and-greet, while another offered an intimate acoustic performance for around $80. Both came with early entry and a commemorative lanyard. The gear nerd in me immediately noticed Marshall and Mesa rigs for the guitars and Aguilar gear for the bass, though there weren’t any visible amp heads on stage. The band walked out to “The Freaks Come Out at Night” before opening with “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3,” which got an immediate reaction from the crowd. The middle portion of the set featured some distorted vocal effects and moments that felt like they belonged on the soundtrack to a Tony Hawk game. Toward the end they slipped into a short improvised jam that was mostly pentatonic before moving into some of the newer material. The crowd kind of moshed, but it was more jumping around than actual moshing. It was lively and the whole floor was being pushed around the whole time. I saw people get annoyed, say “fuck this” and walk toward the back. The energy stayed high all night. They closed with “Welcome Home,” as I assume they always do, and it became immediately obvious why. The crowd completely lost it and the Agora erupted one last time before the lights came up.

Images shot by Shane McNicholas @elsephoto with a Ricoh GRIII HDF