Coldplay
November 13, 2008
Sprint Center
By JASON HARPER
Photos by SCOTT SPYCHALSKI
Click photo for slide show.
To the question at hand: is Coldplay cool? Cool enough, that is, for a discerning, punk-bred, 45-collecting, uncomfortable-shoes-wearing music blog reader such as you?
Well, if you’re reading this review at all, most likely you already love Coldplay and you’re just waiting for me to (a) report on awesomeness of band and give the setlist so you can feel affirmed, or (b) dis Coldplay for being loved by squares so that you can eviscerate me in the comments.
But on the chance that you are a certified hip dude who thinks that Coldplay is the Target of major bands, let’s look at a few attributes of the band. First of all, these guys are British. Next, they have guitars -- lots of them -- plus lasers and glowing orbs and waterfalls of butterfly confetti when they play live in enormous, sold-out arenas. Feeling like a chump yet? No? Alright, one of them – the good-looking one – is married to a famous, beautiful actress, and they have a child named for fruit. The other members of the band are fruit – two grapefruits and a pummelo, to be precise.
They dress like extras from Les Miserables.
They’re wildly successful and play songs that boom in your miserable skull for years.
Get the picture, hipster douche? They’re cooler than you. On to the show.
Click photo for slide show.
The first words out of Chris Martin’s mouth, and people were singing along. It was a new song, “Violet Hill,” but never mind that; people were prepared.
(White people, of course. Many of them hot and svelte. In fact, one of these hot-svelte people asked me and the people around me before the show began, “Do you smell Plato?” “Plato?” people asked. “Yeah, Plato – everyone’s been saying they smell it!” I leaned over and asked, “Plato or Play-Doh?” “That’s it!” he said.)
As the band rolled through a set weighted on the Viva la Vida side (not surprising, as it’s their richest, most musically sophisticated one ever) and peppered with songs from X&Y (three years ago) and A Rush of Blood to the Head (SIX years ago) with maybe just a sprinkle of Parachutes (like, 30 years ago), the stage setup moved from simple and livingroomlike to A Space Odyssey. At first, the only screen being fed by the two closed-circuit video cams down front was on a tiny antique TV on a pedestal. The backdrop was the Renaissance battle scene from the cover of the album: goddess with tits out, Frenchmen with muskets. Then, the big orbs descended from the ceiling, flashing marble patterns that eventually became images fed from the cameras. Later, a giant screen came down, showing chopped and screwed images from the stage.
Musically, the sound was BIG. Way bigger than four guys with one instrument and microphone apiece. How's that? Backing tracks, that's how. For all of Chris Martin’s wide-eyed, sweating-on-piano, knees-bent-running-about charisma and his switching between piano and craftpainted guitars, live, Coldplay’s music tends to plod along, dependent on the musical prowess of three-fifths of its members (Martin, drummer Will Champion, the aforementioned backing tracks) and is all but weighed down by the other two-fifths: the guitarist and bassist, a.k.a. two dudes who should be absolutely thrilled to flash their chops and strut around before crowds of thousands but who look and play, most of the time, like cranky old fudders stuck playing at a fairground on the off season in Blackpool.
In short, I was shocked to learn that Coldplay doesn’t do bona fide live versions of its songs.
Johnny Buckland, guitarist, did have his moments, most notably when he and Martin wound up on the stage-left platform that jutted a dozen rows in the audience during “Clocks,” playing off each other like toy soldiers reenacting the French invasion of Russia. But let's stop a minute: When critics compare Coldplay with U2, they seem to overlook the fact that Buckland and the Edge have only a rhythmic-echo sensibility and a chorus pedal or two in common. Buckland is the diet, caffeine-free Edge. (Likewise, for those who insist on comparing Coldplay to Radiohead, God is in the guitars.) He even flubbed up one of his only spotlight moments, the jig-like riff from “Strawberry Swing,” which, oddly, occasioned one of the only smiles he and Martin shared the whole show.
And what’s with the frownies? Even when the four dismounted the stage and wound their way high, high into the crowd to do two remote acoustic numbers – “Scientist” and the delightful, Champion-sung “Death Will Never Conquer” – all three except for Martin looked like schoolchildren forced to learn recorder (only in this case, it was guitar, mandolin and resonator guitar; why not, like, just one guitar and four guys singing and having fun?)
Maybe they’ve been on tour too long. Or maybe they just had an off night.
In the end though, as a whole, they ended up sounding fine and putting on a good show. They’re Coldplay after all. Cool as hell.
Setlist
Life in Technicolor
Violet Hill
Clocks
In My Place
Glass of Water (unreleased)
Speed of Sound
Cemeteries of London
42
Fix You
Strawberry Swing
God Put a Smile Upon Your Face
Green Eyes (solo Martin)
Postcards from Far Away (piano solo)
Lost
Viva La Vida
The Scientist (acoustical jam)
Death Will Never Conquer
Encore 1
Politik
(piano solo)
Lovers in Japan
Death and All His Friends (Will Champion, drummer, sings)
Encore 2
Yellow
Critic's Notebook
Personal Bias: I like guitarists who can make it howl and move.
Random Detail: Coldplay has sold somewhere around 40 million albums since forming in 1998. Oh, wait, that's not random at all.
By the Way: I came down with a cold right in the middle of this show. For real.
Showing 1-19 of 19
seriously, best night of your life?
again, i feel sorry for you.
i've seen so many shows with so much more to offer than a fucking soundtrack to shopping for khakis.
wow, $90 for a 1.5 hour show! Awesome!!! If you can't pick up the sarcasm sorry. So glad I didn't go to this show. Why would someone pay $50-$100 to see a band flub a lot of their songs? I mean, they aren't a "jamband" type of band. They should hit their marks and not sing songs out of key. I mean wtf?
Oh, and to the person who said this show was the best night of your life.....wow. Clean the shit out of your ears and go see some more live music.
>>>Heath says:
What time did coldplay actually get on stage, compared with the start time?
Posted at: November 17, 2008 2:29 PM
Heath -
Coldplay got on stage around 9 pm, I think it was a little after, and their part of the show lasted about 1.5 hours.
>>>Heath says:
What time did coldplay actually get on stage, compared with the start time?
Posted at: November 17, 2008 2:29 PM
Heath -
Coldplay got on stage around 9 pm, I think it was a little after, and the show itself lasted about 1.5 hours.
I thought Coldplay put on a great show, mistakes and all. The mistakes are what make them real and they interact w/ the audience keeping them on their toes (i.e. the little 7 yr old) The guitarist have always been serious. Heck, Chris has enough energy to carry them all and he is funny to watch. For those of you who make fun or don't like them, do us all a favor and don't go so we and others who enjoy them can have your seats. But if you want to take in a good, entertaining and enjoyable concert, then by all means attend cause it is worth it!!!!
I am not a great big fan of this group but went with my wife for her birthday. I ended up having a great time in an arena with a bunch of other people that seemed to be having a great time also. These guys are probably as busy on tour as any of us ever are with work and I don't think I could entertain anyone at my office as well as they do. Everything sounded pretty good to me, I don't mind when people make mistakes. Errors are human, it's how pick it up that counts. I do think some of the guys seem to be a little lacking in personality compared to the singer. But hey, we all have bad days and who can fault a guitar player for trying to focus on his job. Anyway, I payed full jack for my seats and don't feel that I wasted my money. As a matter of fact, I have taken a couple of the cds out of my wife's car to listen to in mine. Also, seems like alot of these posts are really concrened with what is cool or not. Please, grow up already.
GOM: Great points. I like what you say about how he probably can't play "Sweet Home Alabama." You and I totally disagree on whether or not that's cool, though. I'd much rather watch guitar players who, regardless of the simplicity of their own band's music, are clearly good enough to sit in on a blues or jazz jam or play fucking "Sweet Home Alabama."
Friday, a friend pointed out to me that U2 uses backing tracks, though she didn't mention hidden musicians. That's lame. But a lot of bands use backing tracks and employ extra musicians on tour, and I'm OK with all that (especially the extra musicians); it's just a matter of whether the guys on stage are carrying most of the burden of creating the sound. I used to be in bands, and I enjoy watching the sounds being made by human hands. I expect backing tracks, especially from textural Brits like Coldplay. The thing is, I expect more from millionaire bloody guitar players.
to Anonymous above, you probably dont get away from your world of warcraft enough to know the fun a good concert can be. so you should stfu and go back to your playstation and jackit to final fantasy. this isnt youtube. try respecting other peoples opinions.
Honestly, this was the best night of my life. I thought the show was excellent and one of the best Coldplay's done. All the members contribute to their amazing sound. Your review doesn't do them justice.
>> Who was the opening DJ act???
It was Jon Hopkins. [1] They had a couple of his CDs for sale at the merchandise stand. And, apparently, he also contributed some to the Viva La Vida album...
-Drew
[1] http://www.jonhopkins.co.uk/
Well, I love Coldplay for all the reasons you obviously don't. I like the fact the the guitar player is more about textures than riffs. I honestly don't think he would no how to play Sweet Home Alabama. That makes him so much cooler than just about every guitar stud in this cow town. I like the fact that the band isn't mysterious and they don't take themselves too seriously. They made A LOT of mistakes musically. Which, by the way, is probably why the guys looked so glum. They were trying to hold the thing together. Martin screwed up a number of times. One time even stopping and starting a song again when he began singing out of key(green eyes). But he didn't act like an ass. He laughed and said, "that sounded terrible." And it did! They got off on with the backing tracks on Fix you too. Also Martin wimped out on many of the high parts and frequently hit the notes without holding them which is an old save your voice trick.
By the way, U2 uses a extra keyboard/guitar player under the stage as well as backing tacks.
Overall, it was an enjoyable night. They sounded okay but not great.
Very interesting and completely predictable review from an average critic. Sorry, but those were all of the mistakes that every average layman would have noticed, however what you failed to pick up on was the interaction with the what did you call them...the svelte crowd? At the end of the day, they are the people that paid the $90 for artsy, pop rock and they really connected with the band, or Chris Martin in particular. The crowd fed off of his high energy and the spoon fed rock, ignoring the actual poetry of the lyrics, but still walking back to their BMW's feeling satiated. Plus, I really enjoyed the concert and the car ride back home in my beemer.
And what about the part where Chris Martin stopped the show and made a gorgeous seven year old boy feel like he was on top of the world! That was so cool that Chris Martin singled out that cute kid and made him feel like a rock star. That was very impressive and confirmed for me and a lot of people that he's a very grounded rock star himself.
Max, I don't know, but the accompanying animation was the longest Mike Gravel campaign advertisement ever!
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