October 1, 2024

As I get older and older, weeknight concerts get harder and harder. To make matters worse, this concert happened on the Tuesday night right before my first day at a new job. That said, this concert provided the perfect end to a lovely week off and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I saw COIN twice before October 1st. The first time opening for Walk the Moon at SumTur Amphitheater in July 2018, and the second at Stir Cove in July 2019 opening for Young the Giant and Fitz and the Tantrums. I’ve been waiting for this headlining concert for YEARS. First and foremost because they were originally supposed to play in 2020 when covid hit, cancelling their tour. Second because the rescheduled 2020 date, which occurred in 2022, was on the date of my bar exam (like, are you kidding me?!). After unfortunately missing the 2022 headlining tour due to taking the most important test of my life to become an attorney, when COIN announced their 2024 headline tour, I rightfully freaked out!

COIN played at The Steelhouse in Omaha, which is one of my favorite venues. The Steelhouse opened in May 2023 and has a capacity of 3,000. This fills a much needed gap between venues like The Waiting Room which holds approximately 250, The Slowdown at around 750, the Admiral which holds around 1,500, and CHI Health Center which holds approximately 19,000. The Steelhouse design is first-class, with sleek design elements, a large outdoor patio, four separate bars on the main floor alone, and spacious bathrooms. The sound quality is my only complaint as at some concerts the instrumentals are much too loud. However, this could be partly due to sound technicians and not the design of the building.

Aidan Bissett opened for COIN and I thought my younger sister was going to die. She is Aidan Bissett’s biggest fan and knows literally every word to every song he has released. As such, we showed up over an hour early to wait outside the venue until the doors opened. I will say, The Steelehouse could provide better line management in terms of signs more clearly dividing line types. For example, we stood in the shortest line and no one got behind us the entire hour long wait despite a large group growing behind the neighboring line. This is because the door above our entrance said “Club Entrance.” Despite the label, this line was indeed for general admission as well. Our risk in joining this line provided a great reward as we shuffled in quickly once doors opened.

Once in, we ran straight to the floor to claim our spots and took shifts going to look at the merch. My mom took photographs and sent them to us for confirmation on which apparel we wanted as to not loose our spots on the floor. COIN had a good selection of merch, including a gray crewneck that I desperately wanted with “COIN” embroidered on the middle chest and a cute music patch on the sleeve. My middle sister claimed the crewneck for $60 and I instead supported the opener, Aidan Bissett, by purchasing a $40 t-shirt. Bissett’s merch featured funky design elements and the concert dates listed on the back, which made it irresistible.

Bissett gave a great performance filled with catchy lyrics and loads of entertainment. My youngest sister belted out the words to all of his songs, with the exception of a few brand new songs that he played just for us (although I would bet good money he’s tried out new songs on other dates as well). I’m looking forward to his new music as his tunes were upbeat and made me want to dance along. There were times his voice got lost in the background music and moments where his microphone came loose and fell forward while he sang. However, despite these hiccups, I would pay to see him again. The highlight of his set, Tripping Over Air, was one of my favorite songs of 2023. Following his set, Bissett waited at the merch table to sign items purchased by fans. Of course, my sisters and I sprinted to the line and waited for him to sign the merch we purchased. Not many artists will do that nowadays, so I am thankful for those that do!

After merch signing, COIN took the stage and absolutely blew us away. The setlist and stage design were both incredible. The setlist provided the perfect mixture of old songs and new. Lead singer, Chase Lawrence, provided so much entertainment during the set. You can see in the videos below, he constantly moved, bounced, ran, and danced around. My favorite moment was during Chapstick (video attached below) when Lawrence scurried across the stage. It absolutely made me smile. The set design consisted of a large screen behind the band that projected photographs, lyrics, song titles, and sometimes moving visuals. There were three banks of lights above the band that moved up and down in various patterns reflecting dates, words, and lots of different colors. The visuals felt simple, elegant, and entertaining.

The band played 25 songs, never missing a beat. My only note would be to switch up the order of the encore songs. The encore consisted of Strawberry Jam, Crash My Car, and Fingers Crossed. The first two songs are absolutely encore-worthy. The last, Fingers Crossed, was released in 2015. Although a great song, it didn’t match the hype of the encore like the other two songs. Rather than the whole venue singing along, only longstanding fans did. I would much rather have heard Brad Pitt for the final encore song, but it is what it is. For Strawberry Jam, Lawrence pulled out his harmonica and absolutely crushed it. I’ve never liked the harmonica, but I might be changing my opinion on this issue as 1) I LOVE this song; and 2) the harmonica surprisingly goes hard live. Overall, the concert was worth the late Tuesday night right before my first day at a new job!

After COIN concluded, Bissett again joined fans outside the main room for a meet and greet. He waited for every fan who wanted to meet him to get through the line. He kindly spoke with everyone who wanted to, posed for photographs, and did so with grace. What a great way to build a fan base. I truly enjoyed meeting him and would highly recommend seeing him live!

OVERALL RATINGS

Venue: 9.5/10

Setlist: 8/10

Sound Quality: 5/10 for Bisset, 9/10 for COIN

Merch: 6/10 for COIN, 10/10 for Bissett

Vibes: 20/10