11 August 2005: Post Gazette Pavillion At Star Lake, Burgettstown, PA, USA

From WikiColdplay

Setlist

1. Square One
2. Politik
3. Yellow
4. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
5. Speed Of Sound
6. Low
7. The Hardest Part
8. Everything’s Not Lost
9. White Shadows
10. The Scientist
11. ’Til Kingdom Come
12. Don’t Panic
13. Clocks
14. Talk
    Encore
15. Swallowed In The Sea
16. In My Place
17. Fix You

Reviews

There are not many bands worth driving several hours to see perform live. Based on the plethora of out of state license plates at Coldplay’s recent concert in Burgettstown, PA, they obviously are one of the few musical acts that are worthy of a multiple hour trek. And whether fans traveled one or one thousand miles, Martin and company put on a show that left them satisfied in every possible way. The concert started with the quartet of British rockers taking the stage under the bright glow of a white video screen displaying a countdown to the chorus of their first song, “Square One.” When the band reached that climactic chorus, lead singer Chris Martin exploded to the front of the stage and the instruments of Buckland, Berryman, and Champion roared to life as the giant screen behind them lit up with rising bursts of radiant color. The energetic performance brought the capacity crowd to its feet and set the tone for the entire evening. The second song, “Politik,” added to the crowd’s energy and enthusiasm, and an upbeat rendition of “Yellow” became a giant sing-a-long, complete with huge yellow balls that descended from the ceiling and burst with confetti.

From start to finish, Martin’s vocals were near flawless, and the rest of the band members were equally impressive with their spot on instrumental performances. Of these, Will Champion’s drumming stood out the most. By far the most underrated and under appreciated member of Coldplay (he was even mistaken as a seat filler at the Grammys), Champion’s drums set the tone for many of the band’s most memorable songs. After all, what would “In My Place” be without Champion’s infectious opening drum solo?

And, of course, what would any Coldplay concert be without Chris Martin’s offbeat dance moves? Martin is, without a doubt, one of the worst dancers I have ever seen, but that’s part of the brilliance in his performance. Not only is his dancing inadequacy endearing, it makes the rest of us that can’t dance feel at ease rising to our feet and rocking out to one of Coldplay’s anthemic tunes.

Coldplay also excelled at creating an intimate environment for the audience, so much so that Martin even ran into the audience during “In My Place.” Martin’s close proximity drove the crowd wild (even if those who tried to reach out and touch him were driven back by a group of bodyguards). In addition, Martin struck a chord with hometown football fans, dedicating “Everything’s Not Lost” to Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and changing the second verse of “Politik” to, “Take me to Pittsburgh to see the Steelers.”

The truly amazing quality about Coldplay’s live performances, however, is that the band actually sounds better in person than they do on their studio albums. The spirit with which the band performs in front of a live audience is remarkable. Martin sings with such sincerity that concertgoers can literally feel the emotion of every word of every song. In this way, Coldplay, along with U2 and the Dave Matthews Band, are undoubtedly the best showmen in music.

Source: http://www.the-trades.com