12 June 2009: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, IA, USA
From WikiColdplay
Contents |
Setlist
- Life In Technicolor
- Violet Hill
- Clocks
- In My Place
- Yellow
- Glass Of Water
- Cemeteries Of London
- 42
- Fix You
- Strawberry Swing
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (Partial Techno Remix)
- Talk (Partial Techno Remix)
- The Hardest Part (Chris Solo Piano)
- Postcards From Far Away (Chris Solo Piano)
- Viva La Vida
- Lost!
- Green Eyes (acoustic)
- Death Will Never Conquer (Acoustic, sung by Will)
- I'm A Believer (Neil Diamond Cover - Acoustic)
- Viva La Vida (Remix Interlude)
- Politik
- Lovers In Japan
- Death And All His Friends
Encore - The Scientist
- Life In Technicolor ii
- The Escapist (Outro)
Photos
Photos from this show can be found at Coldplaying.com in the Gallery thread for Des Moines. http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/1765
Videos
Videos from this show can be found in the first post of the Coldplaying forum live thread for this show at http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55539
Discussion
All post-show discussion for this show at the forum thread: http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55539
Fan Reviews
All fan reviews have been submitted to us by the members of Coldplaying.com[1], unless stated otherwise.
Hey guys, show just got over. Amazing show! I was really skeptical about an Iowan crowd but they were really into it! Snow Patrol was awesome as well. Howling Bells were pretty good. Got Guy's setlist. (Actually got two but felt greedy and gave one away) Same as all the nights before, although they added more than one tritube to Des Moines throughout the show ( I think they felt guilty for never playing here before).
[bearcat1229]
OMG! Just got back! I loved everything about this concert! The crowd was AMAZING! (Crowd) was better than any concert I've been to and that says something!
I worked with Oxfam tonight and just expected to enjoy Coldplay from the Nosebleeds. BUT NO!!!! I was 10TH ROW CENTER!!! Omg sooooo goood! Thank you so much Soha!
I'm really tired after a 5 hour drive back to Chicago so I'll do my full review and PICTURES tomorrow sometime.
BUT let me just say Will wore a BLACK shirt (officially a fangirl now) and Jonny was his dancey self complete with the short-sleeved shirt! PLUS Chris had on a new V shirt!
[the.hardest.part]
This concert was #1! My favorite band of the night was Coldplay. It was awesome when they did Yellow because they dropped a hundred big yellow balloons all over the crowd for us to bounce around and pop. But, my favorite song was probably "When I Rule The World" by Coldplay. At one point they walked away from the stage and did some acoustic stuff right out in the crowd. I was literally 100 yards away from the band! Coldplay had a lot of energy plus I was a bit surprised to see that he grew his hair longer. He wore a black jacket, an Obama armband, and it looked like he had Happytape wrapped around his arm and microphone.
Plus, they give you a free CD on my way out.
Overall this concert was #1 because it was so amazing and because I loved it more than any concert ever.
If they would have blown my mind any more than they did, oh man -- it would have been heavenly. Jake and Taylor say I look SOOO tired, and it's true because I went to Perkin's after for an hour or more! G2G
[crapples]
I was at this show! It was the best night of my life.
I had seen them once before in Minnesota last fall- but this totally took the cake. Why was it sooo good, you ask?! 1.) it's Coldplay- DUH! : )
2.) I got handed front row center tickets!!! I went from being in the nosebleeds- sec302-row k- the last row- to the center row 3. When we got down there we found out that row3 center= FRONT ROW... HOLY CRAP. What an amazing experience!
[justjess]
Ohhhhhkay. Review time. I got into Des Moines at about 3:30 and kind of drove around for a bit. At 4, I parked and had a nice long walk to the venue in the POURING rain. I was soaked for the rest of the night but I got over myself because its COLDPLAY!
I went to this show because I volunteered with Oxfam (an amazing organization and I strongly suggest you volunteer at a show at least once)! I ended up getting the most signatures which was awesome! I got an Oxfam/Coldplay shirt! Here is our awesome group!
Everyone say hi to Soha if you see her! She's the one in the yellow pants! She's an awesome and so fun to talk to!
After we were done going around asking the concertgoers to sign our petition we met back at the Oxfam table to get our tickets. Soha told us that she got us really great seats. I thought, 'Sweet! Hopefully we'll be in the 200s instead of the 300s!' NOPE. She got us Row 10 Seats in the CENTER section. When we got to our seats, we were dead even with the end of the ramps! SO CLOSE!
Coldplay finally got on at 9:15. They were ON too! Jonny was so dancey, Will was pounding the shit out of the drums, Chris was all over the place, and Guy even had an extra bounce in his step! The highlights of the evening for me 42 (with Chris hitting that ridiculous note at the end, the cheeky bastard!), when Chris caressed Guy's head during In My Place, and I'm a Believer (when I heard GUY'S ANGELIC VOICE FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!! ). But what really made this night amazing was the crowd. They were all really into it. Even the corporate mofos were out of their skybox seats dancing!
Overall, it was a fantastic night! And it was Dan Green's 30th birthday! Happy belated birthday Dan! For those of you who don't know, Dan is Coldplay's sound engineer who has been with them since the beginning! I got a wave from Rick (Liz and I's roadie buddy) and said hi to Phil one of the camera men when he was roaming the halls before the concert!
[the.hardest.part]
So, here are my photos from the show, kidlets! Sorry it's taken so long to do a proper update, but I still can't really process it all. So, a rep from Capitol came and got us and we waited downstairs. And we waited. And finally Jackie (the lady with the afro) came and got us and took us into the friends and family room. And then in walks Guy. And then Chris. And then Jonny. Then Will. I'm sure my mouth fell open at that point
I was so humbled by how humble they are. They are the most down-to-earth guys you'll ever want to meet and Will was such a gentleman during our interview.
[Glastra]
New guy here. I just wanted to post and say how much I enjoyed this show, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. I have a new found appreciation of Viva after hearing most of it live.
Thanks for the set list and the pics! I was about 5 feet from the band when they came and played in the audience.
Awesome!!!
[CRAW]
I wanted to write this sooner but I didn’t get a chance. The show was GREAT! They sounded wonderful. You could feel the music moving through your body and energizing you. We were way up in the 304s, but even though we were way up high we were still able to see pretty well. We saw 2 girls get upgraded. They had no idea what was coming when the roadie sat down next to them. They looked shocked as he walked them down to the front. They were way at the back of our section, against the wall, so they had really bad seats. We tried to get the roadies attention but no luck. I was happy that the crowd was loud and singing along. I lost my voice from singing so loud. The b stage was the closest we got, it was directly under us. It is so nice that they move around and set up in different places so that if you have bad seats you will eventually get to see them closer. The butterfly confetti is amazing, as was everything else! On the way out we got some butterflies from the section below us and LRLRL with no problems. Thanks Coldplay for an amazing night!
[hmlc]
So we're sitting at the bar for a Friday afternoon happy hour downtown, when my good friend Paul gets a call and is told we have 6 available, front row tickets for that night's Coldplay concert here in Des Moines! We thought about it for a few minutes, but soon had a crew of 6 friends that were all excited to see what would become of this evening. My initial plan was to relax with some sushi and a movie, or hit up an ICubs baseball game with Jodie, but I suppose a randomly awesome concert wouldn't be too much of a compromise, would it?!?! lol
Anyways, we cruise over and have some drinks at the bar, before getting to our seats and enjoying Snow Patrol. I had no idea who they were, but ironically enough, they played the song that Jodie and I will dance to first at our wedding party in a few weeks, Chasing Cars! Obviously that was special and awesome, but soon Coldplay took the stage. I couldn't help but to laugh at the fact that just two days before we were all talking about JackDaniel's hatred towards this band on the GoGcast (Season 2 - Episode 5). Nonetheless, we were right next to the stage (as you can see from the photos) and Coldplay was a treat. Jodie is a big fan and I like them too, so although JD would not approve of this event, it was great...totally random...awesome...and free. Coldplay Rocks!
Shortly after it was announced that the Well Fargo Arena in Des Moines was hosting Coldplay on June 12, 2009… I purchased tickets on the first level balcony. Although I thought that the stage was to be right in front of me, I was just as jazzed with the seating when I realized they would be on the opposite side of the arena…cuz’…the seats were great. The full story, however, is rather silly…and sweet. With my kids here for the summer, it took some thinking to determine just when I would tell them about the concert. They are both big Coldplay fans. Especially since my daughter had already downloaded their freebie “LeftRightLeftRightLeft” LIVE album shortly after it was made available.
During one my evening talks with my son, Jared, I informed him of the Coldplay tickets and together… we schemed to keep the knowledge a secret. The day of the concert I took a half-day off from work and took Haley shopping for “something nice”. Of course, Haley wasn’t all-together into the shopping until 4 or 5 stores later. Finally, we wound a cute pink/orange dress and a grey tank-top. Then, we went to Atlas for an early evening dinner. After a fulfilling meal of burritos, I handed a card to Haley. In a nutshell, it stated how much fun I had shopping with her and how apologetic I was that we did not get a chance to do that sort of thing more often. In the end, I mentioned that the evening was not finished and asked if she wanted to go to a concert tonight… in Des Moines. She looked up at me and asked, “What concert?”. With the largest grin on my face possible, I slid the three tickets across the table and she picked them up. She stared at tickets for what seamed hours… and looked up at me and asked, “Are you serious? Are you kidding me? Honest?” With that, she stated, “Oh my god. I’m almost gonna’ cry,” and got up from the table and gave me a hug adding, “I’m gonna’ have to wear that dress.”
Duh. Why did you think we went shopping? Of course, Coldplay was freakin’ awesome. The fact that I could hear them perform “Fix You” was BONUS enough. But, that is not the real point… never really was, to be perfectly honest. It’s been one hell of a year in the Lambing/Albers/Adkins family. It was nice to finally do something “out of the ordinary.” Something all three of us would enjoy. Something we’ll remember for some time to come. What about the boy? Well, Jared knows all the words to every Coldplay tune known to man…but, we’ll just keep that between you and me. OK? Cool…and about how I got such stunning pictures? Well…that’s a story in of itself.
Media Reviews
Three bands that had never played in Des Moines took the stage Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena, but you wouldn't have known that they were unfamiliar with our fair city. Coldplay singer Chris Martin thanked the crowd for skipping out on Winefest, writes the Des Moines Register.
Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody managed to pronounce "Des Moines" correctly (Howling Bells singer Juanita Stein wasn't as lucky, adding an "S" sound.) "If we knew how good the audience is, we'd have come a long time ago," Martin told the crowd. He even worked a line about "finally making it to Iowa" into the opening tune, "Violet Hill."
Coldplay put on a show filled with spectacle. Giant balloons floated into the 11,000-strong crowd during the band's early hit, "Yellow," exploding into a mess of confetti when band members would strike them. Martin made full use of the stage, which included two walkways extending into the audience. He sprinted around the stage during "In My Place," collapsing to his knees before finishing the song.
At one point the entire band gathered on a small portion of the walkway. Using a tiny, colorful piano and small drums to play "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face," Coldplay looked like it had wandered into an elementary school music room and started a jam. It added to the slightly surreal feel of the evening. And after "Viva La Vida," the band left the stage and crossed the arena to go to a third stage. Once there, drummer Will Champion sang the acoustic-accompanied "Green Eyes."
Instead of simple projection screens, images of the band and audience were projected onto suspended orb screens, twisting and distorting each image. At one point Martin had the lights turned out and requested the audience get out cell phones for "the first Mexican cell phone wave" in the history of the arena. The crowd, of course, complied.
Some of Coldplay's darker songs seemed an odd contrast to the lively and colorful stage show. "Cemeteries of London," "42" and "Death and All His Friends" are the kind of songs you would not expect to cause a crowd of thousands to jump and wave their arms enthusiastically, but it worked. The evening was heavy on songs from the band's latest album, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," and its second, "A Rush of Blood to the Head." The band's recent EP, "Prospekt's March" also got some love, but fans of Coldplay's debut, "Parachutes" and 2005's "X&Y" didn't get a lot from either album.
"You know it's great when you play a concert in the Hawkeye State," Martin crooned from the tiny stage. Not long after that the band launched into the Monkees' "I'm a Believer."
It was an odd moment in a night that was full of little eccentricities. After years of skipping over Des Moines, the band brought its "A" game, and the wait seemed worth it. Before introducing Coldplay, Lightbody said it had "about the most awesome arena show you'll ever see in your lives."
Perhaps there was a bit of hyperbole in that, but after underwhelming turnout for bands like Green Day and Nine Inch Nails, it was exciting to see a Des Moines audience embrace an alternative arena act.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com
