Coheed & Cambria @ SWG3: 10 pictures as one of New York’s biggest metal comes to Glasgow

There’s not a massive metal scene in Glasgow - it’s pretty underground - but the fans are some of the most emphatic and loyal gig-goers you’ll find in the city, and that’s exemplified no better than in Coheed & Cambria’s gig at Galvanizer’s Yard last weekend.

The New York metal band played a huge set at SWG3 on Sunday, June 12. Coheed took the choice to have no support act - playing a massive high-energy two hour set.

Coheed & Cambria got through nearly 20 songs in those two hours - somehow managing to keep up the high-octane, head-banging energy the entire time, an incredible feat of endurance for both the band and the fans who moshed the whole way through.

The longer set allowed for Coheed to go through a lot of their biggest and most complex progressive-metal bangers. The anticipation in the crowd was palpable as frontman Claudio Sanchez stood alone against a back-lit stage holding an acoustic guitar before exploding into the marathon prog-metal set.

Metal gigs are a completely different kettle of fish than your average Glasgow indie-rock / post-punk affairs - they’re a much higher energy and just as friendly, if not more so since everyone in the metal community knows each other.

You can tell right away this isn’t your average Glasgow gig when the merch stall isn’t adorned with shirts, tote bags or badges - but a range of comic books and graphic novels authored by frontman Claudio Sanchez.

All pictures by Craig McConnell of Catching Light Photography.