04 May 2005: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA, USA
From WikiColdplay
Setlist
- Square One
- Politik
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
- Speed Of Sound
- Warning Sign
- Yellow
- Low
- The Scientist
- Don’t Panic
- ’Til Kingdom Come
- Clocks
- What If
Encore - A Message
- In My Place
- Fix You
Reviews
While hardcore fans offered to trade cars, bottles of expensive wine and even their bodies for a pair of black-market tickets, those lucky enough to actually land a couple for the measly asking price of $26 per ticket stood in the rain for hours Wednesday as the line outside the Fillmore ran down and around a very sizable block. Even there, people with sad faces marched back and forth through the gray drizzle holding cardboard signs offering hundreds of dollars to anyone who could get them into the show. It might seem a little much. But, really, when will anyone ever get the chance to see Coldplay this up-close-and-personal again without the aid of NASA's gamma-ray telescope?
Those who caught the British quartet at this very venue less than five years ago might wonder what all the fuss is about. Well, since the release of its last studio album, 2002's "A Rush of Blood to the Head," Coldplay has somehow ascended into the ranks of arena-fillers like U2 and Radiohead. It's not because singer Chris Martin married Gwyneth Paltrow, becoming a tabloid fixture with their baby Apple, or that, showing shades of Bono, he has been an avid campaigner for social causes like Fair Trade. It simply comes down to the songs -- atmospheric, emotional piano ballads that slowly grip the senses and strike a universal chord with their simplicity: "Look at the stars/ Look how they shine for you." It's hard to argue with that.
The band couldn't have hoped to create a better buzz leading up to the release of its third and latest album, "X&Y," on June 7. Earlier in the week Coldplay headlined the massive Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Southern California. Its latest hit, "Speed of Sound," meanwhile, made the group the first British band since the Beatles in 1968 to have a new single debut in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It certainly helped that the balconies were occupied by celebrities like Robin Williams and former 49ers quarterback Steve Young. But it was Martin, possibly the most unassuming front man ever, who really created a sense of excitement in the room. He expressed his gratitude to the rapt crowd several times throughout the set: "Thanks for having us and thanks for remembering who we are."
He also led the charge through 90 minutes of beautifully crafted songs, including a handful of thundering new tracks such as "Square One" and "What If?" Old hits like "Yellow" and "Clocks" sounded huge, inspiring riotous audience sing-alongs. Martin broke into his inimitable dance routines, in which he hopped on one leg, wobbled his head and humped the piano. Despite the bumbling Englishman routine, every song was delivered with unblinking intensity, even the ones that had been gathering dust in the 18 months the band was off starting families and working on new ones. By the end of the night it was clear that Coldplay has gotten bigger simply because it has gotten better.
Yet the best moment -- the one that made the fans who whored themselves for entry feel totally justified -- came when the band briefly veered off the set list for an endearing but disastrous run through "Don't Panic," from its multiplatinum 2000 debut, "Parachutes." After forgetting the chords and the words midway through, Martin stood up from the piano and cut it off, drooping his head.
"That's why we're the third-best band in the world," he laughed.
Source: sfgate.com
