07 September 2005: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA
From WikiColdplay
Setlist
- Square One
- Politik
- Yellow
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
- Speed Of Sound
- Low
- A Rush Of Blood To The Head
- Amsterdam
- White Shadows
- The Scientist
- ’Til Kingdom Come
- Ring Of Fire (Johnny Cash Cover)
- Don’t Panic
- Clocks
- Talk
Encore - What If
- In My Place
- Fix You
Reviews
The power of Coldplay is in the simplicity of its songs and their ability to generate a general sense of melancholy. Whatever your problems, you can plug them into most Coldplay songs and find not just empathy, but a soaring chorus to lift your spirits for a few minutes. Given the current state of the world, who wouldn't find that attractive, if even for a little while? And when singer Chris Martin changed the words of "Politik" to "Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens, send your love to New Orleans," it was clear the band's generic angst had found a particular home for the evening.
He dedicated "The Scientist," with its "Nobody said it was easy" chorus and its theme of fresh starts, to "everyone on the Gulf Coast." And the twin encores from the band's hit album "X&Y" (Capitol) - the moving, piano-driven sing-alongs "Swallowed in the Sea" and "Fix You" - could easily be adopted as the soundtrack for all the pictures of devastation and heroic rescues from Hurricane Katrina.
Coldplay doesn't traffic in big ideas, just ideas built for big places - big songs built to be sung by big crowds. It's true, look how they shine for you. Look how they shine.
Martin and his pals are smart enough to play to their strengths, and still offer a wink that they're aware of what they're doing. On the opening song, "Square One," a U2-styled rocker filled with chiming guitar, they turned the enormous video screens monochromatic and performed in silhouette, like U2's iPod commercial.
In the run-up to the stripped-down, acoustic versions of "Til Kingdom Come," which the band wrote with hopes that Johnny Cash would record it, and Cash's "Ring of Fire," Martin joked about the band's sales.
"If we looked like Mariah Carey, we'd sell 25 times as many records, which would be a lot," Martin said, smiling as he added, "and we'd be able to sleep with people like Tom Cruise."
Yes, Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow, but it's hard to imagine Ms. Carey pounding out such a rousing version of "Clocks" or continuing on in the same shirt after ripping it doing some gawky interpretive dance moves.
Opener Rilo Kiley was even more delightful than usual, clearly amped up for their first Madison Square Garden appearance.
"This is pretty epic," said singer Jenny Lewis, after a sweet little curtsy in her red dress. A good description, since pretty epics were the band's specialty during its 40-minute set.
Though "Ripchord," sung by guitarist Blake Sennett and the bittersweet "It's a Hit" are always strong, "Does He Love You?" was the set's standout. The ballad was reimagined to include a barrage of guitars and cascading tempos to make the bizarre-love-triangle tale even more powerful. It's a sign that Rilo Kiley is living up to the title of its new album, "More Adventurous" (Brute Beaute/Warner Bros.), while maintaining a Coldplay-esque sense of drama.
Source: newsday.com
