18 December 2005: Telewest Arena, Newcastle, England
From WikiColdplay
Setlist
- Square One
- Politik
- Yellow
- Speed Of Sound
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
- X&Y
- White Shadows
- How You See The World
- The Scientist
- ’Til Kingdom Come
- Don’t Panic (Acoustic)
- Clocks
- Talk
Encore - Swallowed In The Sea
- In My Place
- Fix You
Reviews
Coldplay, Metro Radio Arena - At 103 venues, performing to sold out crowds around the world, last night Coldplay finally got around to playing Newcastle. But, by lead singer Chris Martin's own admission, they were merely warm-up performances in preparation for facing a truly on form North East crowd.
You can always rate a gig on how well the audience reacts and last night the packed to the rafters Metro Radio Arena was buzzing.
The concert sold out in a record breaking 35 minutes, testimony to the pulling power of one of Britain's best live bands to date.
Oh, and to top it off they were supported by some bloke called Richard Ashcroft.
The ex-Verve frontman, barefooted, as is his usual tradition, took too the stage and opened with Nature is The Law, a track he penned with the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson.
He then went on to perform a string of his most well-known tracks including Sonnet, The Drugs Don't Work, Lucky Man (dedicated to the memory of George Best) and a few tracks from his forthcoming new album Keys to the World.
In particular Break the Night with Colour and Sweet Brother Malcolm stood out, and ending on a rousing Bitter Sweet Symphony Ashcroft vowed to return next year, much to the delight of the audience.
So after the starter comes the main the course.
Coldplay are renowned for solid performances of which they held up to last night backed by an impressive visual cascade of video streaming and lights which bolstered the energetic performance from the band.
Chris Martin revelled in the North East's enthusiasm, remarking on several occasions how amazed he was with the crowd's response.
Resembling Gollum, from The Lord of the Rings, he leaped and bounded around the stage with acrobatic ease and with almost every song he played the piano like a possessed Liberace.
During the track Yellow, large yellow balloons filled with gold glitter were released into the crowd from the back of the arena and duly made their way across the audience to the stage, where Martin took great pleasure in popping them.
Numerous remarks about the city were weaved into song lyrics, in particular a reference to Michael Owen scoring a hat-trick this weekend, a nice personal touch which pretty much defined Coldplay's performance. The crowd took over the singing during Fix You and at one stage Martin ran to the back of the arena where he was swamped by fans and where he continued to sing.
Before the night was out the crowd were treated to spine-tingling versions of Don't Panic, God Put a Smile on My Face, a manic version of Trouble, The Scientist (dedicated to Richard Ashcroft) and Clocks.
Leaving the stage to an ear-deafening rapture of appreciation from the crowd Martin wrestled with the TV camera that projected his big head on to the back screen and he lovingly gave everyone a big kiss goodbye.
But hopefully not for too long.
Source: http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk
Chris Martin and the others were on top form, producing a sound of near CD quality.
Sound: Chris Martin and the others were on top form, producing a sound of near CD quality, his trademark of putting random lines into songs featured the line “It’s Christmas” from Slade’s “Here It Is (Merry Christmas)” being placed in Speed Of Sound. Chris would dart from ether side of the stage with his microphone one minute and then playing the keyboard (and doing a funny girating thing whilst on the piano) the next. Guitar solos were as spectacular as one’s on the keyboard. Though I would have given them a ten, the acoustics in the arena were awful and thus you could not hear everything, some moments of crowd interaction were sadly missed. The support, Richard Ashcroft of “The Verve” fame was fantastic, hoping to start a solo career he performed the song “Let’s Break The Night With Colour” and of course performed some of “The Verve” hits such as the iconic “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Bitter Sweet Symphony.” It was one of the best support acts I have seen! // 9
Perfomance: A magnificent performance performing some unreleased songs from “X&Y” such as “Square One,” but also performing the song that made them famous “Yellow” and various other songs from there back catalogue most noticeably “Clocks.” He also covered a song by Jimmy Nail (a local legend) though Martin said “Don’t tell anyone ’cause he thinks we’re shit and he’s friends with Noel Gallagher only joking.” Crowd interaction was present, but did not dominate the performance. The Stage set up involved projected images from the back of the arena being put on the side walls, the lights they had were amazing, and there was also a large screen erected behind the band which displayed images of the band as they were performing, the crowd, and effects that were like windows media played times 10! This was one of the best sets that I have seen, honestly! // 10
Impression: This performance took place at the Metro radio arena, Newcastle, UK and the ticket cost £32.50, a price I would happily pay again to see Coldplay. The tickets sold out within 45 minutes and I can see why! It’s only when you see Coldplay live that you can see the musical talent that they posses. One of, if not the best concert I have been to! The Support, Richard Ashcroft, was excellent too, so good that Chris Martin dedicated a song to him! I eagerly await his solo album. If you had the chance I would go and see them I know I will be next time they come here! // 10
Source: ultimate-guitar.com
