13 August 2005: Alpine Valley Music Theater, East Troy, Wisconsin, USA
From WikiColdplay
Setlist
- Square One
- Politik
- Yellow
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
- Speed Of Sound
- Low
- The Hardest Part
- Everything’s Not Lost
- White Shadows
- The Scientist
- ’Til Kingdom Come
- Ring Of Fire (Johnny Cash Cover)
- Don’t Panic
- Clocks
- Talk
Encore - Swallowed In The Sea
- In My Place
- Fix You
Reviews
Coldplay rocks Alpine It’s rare in this day and age for a band to pull off a follow-up to a successful debut. Let alone do it twice. But then again, there are not many bands out there these days like Coldplay.
Way back in 2000, the London foursome burst onto the music front with a song called “Yellow.” They have been determined to conquer the world if not the whole universe ever since. Who knew that five years and three studio albums later the band who once called themselves Starfish of all things would be the new U2?
On a beautiful August night surrounded by cornfields, Chris Martin and the boys arrived at Wisconsin’s Alpine Valley. With the eerie opening sounds of their new track “Square One,” they had cheeseheads eating out of the palm of their hands.
And of course we all know how much Midwesterners like to eat. Martin’s voice is flawless live whether he is dancing around doing his best Bono 101 moves or adding to the soundscape by accompanying the band on guitar or piano.
Martin is no question the MVP of the band and handles the responsibility with boyish confidence. It’s a role he presents with charm and with everyman-like quality. This isn’t an easy feat considering he is married to movie star Gwyneth Paltrow. His nervous energy is contagious and all around you can hear a sea of voices singing along to every word. And I mean a sea…have you ever seen the lawn at Alpine Valley? It’s a mini Lake Michigan!
“Some bands are talented. Some bands are handsome. We’re neither of these”, Martin declared humbly before going into the hidden track off of the band’s new album, “X&Y,” “Till Kingdom Come.” A song he dedicated to the late Johnny Cash. The band followed that with a cover of the Cash classic “Ring of Fire.”
Through the course of the evening, the band delivered a healthy offering of songs from all three albums. Playing early favorites like “Yellow,” “Politik” and “God Put a Smile upon Your Face.”
The band often criticized for being incapable of rocking out seemed to have no problem keeping the sold-out crowd on its feet, bouncing to every note.
Martin recently was quoted in Rolling Stone magazine saying his two biggest challenges in life have been, “trying to follow Radiohead and trying to follow Brad Pitt.” But with “X&Y” debuting at No. 1, being one of the biggest albums of the year, and with a highly successful tour, maybe Martin and the band can take a deep breath, step back and enjoy the payoff of all their hard work.
Of course, “X&Y” was an album that almost wasn’t. The band made a mistake going right back into the studio after being on the road for 16 months. After knocking around ideas for 8 months, the band scrapped their efforts and decided to start a new - a decision their label claimed was responsible for their poor profits early in the year.
Now, more than two months later and still in the top 10, Coldplay have proven themselves once again. There are very few bands that can live up to their hype and not choke. On this Saturday night they delivered the hits and managed to put a smile upon everyone’s face. Well, except for this police officer who accosted me on the way out with open-ended threats and obscenities. But hey...that’s a whole ’nother story!
Source: http://www.luminomagazine.com
Coldplay finds itself adored by the numbers
Coldplay vocalist Chris Martin can do no wrong. At least not for the 35,000 fans who worshipped his quartet's every move Saturday night at Alpine Valley.
It's doubtful any other frontman could have gotten away with, let alone be applauded for, continually hopping one-legged across the stage like a sugar-plum fairy or pretending to pluck stars from the sky. Nobody else would be so adored after earnestly asking to be made an "honorary cheesehead," spoiling in mid-song a heart-pounding rendition of "Politik."
As Martin traded off between guitar and piano, Coldplay's soft-rock comfort food came in the forms of encouraging ruminations ("Low"), sad meditations ("The Hardest Part"), sleepy reassurances ("Everything's Not Lost") and passionate pleas ("White Shadows"). These pledges, declarations and affirmations were carefully arranged for maximum emotional impact.
With its high-power light show, dry ice machines and giant LED screen, Coldplay has attained its stadium dreams. Yet in graduating to the larger environs, the British group appears to have lost part of the soul it displayed three months ago at Metro. On this tour, Coldplay has been playing virtually the identical set each night. And while nearly spot-free, the 90-minute performance was glaringly rehearsed, rigid and choreographed.
After enduring several hours stalled in a three-mile traffic jam to gain entrance, the audience deserved better.
Help didn't come from lethargic bassist Guy Berryman but from drummer Will Champion, whose timing and backbeats splashed color onto "Clocks" and turned "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face" into a reason to rock. Still, the graceful guitar lines and repetitious phase-pedal fills were U2 hand-me-downs, as were the video effects and Martin's awkward dance steps.
Coldplay didn't need those devices, as its best moments were also its loosest and most intimate. The corrugated "Talk," beautifully fragile "The Scientist" and country shuffle "'Til Kingdom Come" all conveyed emotional vulnerability and feeling without relying on predictable methods or manipulative prompts.
Coldplay's energy makes big venue work
Coldplay came to Alpine Valley on Saturday shouldering Big Expectations.
The band is clearly aware of the pressure.
Early in the Alpine gig, frontman Chris Martin remarked, "This is probably the most important concert we've ever played in America."
In an era of slumping music sales with fragmented markets and most of the leading road warriors of the land tottering into late middle age and beyond, the need for a new Gen Y act to emerge as fresh amphitheater fodder is critical.
Coldplay's ability to step into that void was far from a sure thing.
The band has just three albums on its résumé, and on its last visit to the Milwaukee market, it played the Eagles Ballroom, little more than a walk-in closet compared with the vast expanses of Alpine Valley.
Moreover, the new Coldplay album, "X&Y," for all its craft, has a certain pop introspection that doesn't exactly scream high-octane party time.
Also, nothing on "X&Y" has the unstoppable luster of "Clocks," Coldplay's signature hit from "A Rush of Blood to the Head."
So, were all those Big Expectations met?
Yes. Perhaps not in the spectacular fashion that would drive Bono into a career of full-time diplomacy, but with more than enough élan to make Martin and his mates plausible contenders for the long haul.
Part of it is that there's an itchy energy about Martin that is both disarming and magnetic.
He radiates a kind of boyish playfulness that seems utterly unaffected. Standing still ain't in him. He literally skips across the stage, and even when he's briefly fixed in one spot, he's hopping off his back foot.
Even as he holds the microphone, he tilts his head to his right, like a child peering around a corner.
Coldplay's amphitheater makeover has also benefited from a first-rate light and projection show that mixes distorted video projection, splashes of color, strobes, and black and white vids.
There's also a sense in which amphitheaters mask Coldplay's greatest weakness.
Martin is a prosaic lyricist with neither the vision nor the vivid imagery of U2 - Coldplay's most common comparison.
But at Alpine Valley, lyrical nuance gets buried under the thump and spectacle of a full-scale rock production.
Martin compensates for his thin lyrics with great melodic craft, and many of the songs from "X&Y" translate well.
There are echoes of early David Bowie in the closing section of "Square One" and "Speed of Sound," while "Talk" and "Swallowed in the Sea" are all gorgeous in their own right.
Martin also demonstrated some new range with "Til Kingdom Come," a folksy tune he had hoped Johnny Cash would be able to record.
To complete his nod to the Man in Black, he even added a respectable pass at Johnny's early '60s hit "Ring of Fire."
Source: http://www.jsonline.com
