Taking Back Sunday and Coheed and Cambria: North American Tour 2025 in Toronto at Budweiser Stage

A few months ago, I was hanging out with Chelsea and Braden and we were talking about all the music we listened to in high school. All three of us — born in different years and totally different areas of Toronto, mind you — were emo kids, so naturally, both Taking Back Sunday and Coheed and Cambria came up in our conversation. I hadn't seen or really listened to either of these bands since the late 2000s, and I wondered if they were still performing live. And that's when we found out they were actually on tour. Together. And coming to Toronto. So we had to get tickets, even just for the sake of nostalgia. And we finally got to see them last night:

Taking Back Sunday at Budweiser Stage, Toronto
Taking Back Sunday at Budweiser Stage, Toronto
Taking Back Sunday at Budweiser Stage, Toronto
Taking Back Sunday at Budweiser Stage, Toronto
Taking Back Sunday Set List:

1. A Decade Under the Influence
2. What's It Feel Like to Be a Ghost?
3. S'Old
4. Error: Operator
5. Set Phasers to Stun
6. The One
7. Liar (It Takes One to Know One)
8. Amphetamine Smiles
9. You're So Last Summer
10. My Blue Heaven
11. Timberwolves at New Jersey
12. You Can't Look Back
13. This Photograph Is Proof (I Know You Know)
14. Flicker, Fade
15. Cute Without the 'E' (Cut From the Team)
16. MakeDamnSure

The last Taking Back Sunday album I actually listened to was New Again, which came out in 2009, so fortunately I recognized the majority of the songs from their setlist. (The last time I saw them live was in 2003 at Kool Haus with Saves the Day and Moneen, and I still remember I thought that was one of the best live rock shows I'd ever been to. I still think that.) Despite some changes in their band lineup, they still play with that infectious energy that I loved so much over 20 years ago.

Coheed and Cambria at Budweiser Stage, Toronto
Coheed and Cambria at Budweiser Stage, Toronto
Coheed and Cambria at Budweiser Stage, Toronto
Coheed and Cambria at Budweiser Stage, Toronto

Coheed and Cambria Set List:

1. Goodbye, Sunshine
2. Shoulders
3. Blood Red Summer
4. Blind Side Sonny
5. Everything Evil
6. Number City
7. The Suffering
8. Searching for Tomorrow
9. The Continuum II: The Flood
10. A Favor House Atlantic
11. The Liars Club
12. In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
13. Mr. Brightside (The Killers cover)
14. Welcome Home

The last Coheed and Cambria album I listened to was Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV, Volume 1, which came out in 2005. (I did, however, see them at Riot Fest in 2015, so way more recently than Taking Back Sunday.) I recognized even less of the songs on their setlist, maybe four or five at most, and their music is way more metal than post-hardcore now, but my god, they sound phenomenal live — just like on their records, but with some crazy guitar ad libs thrown in. (Of course, Claudio Sanchez also has one of the most unique voices in the music industry, so I'll always know when a Coheed song is playing regardless if I know the song or not.)

Despite ending with pouring rain (Budweiser Stage is a covered outdoor venue, but it was raining so hard that the venue management asked Coheed and Cambria to shorten their setlist by two songs so everyone could get out safely), it really was an incredible concert. It's crazy to think that it's been over 20 years since I first listened to them. I guess you can take the kid out of the scene, but you can't take the scene out of the kid…