18 November 2008: Toyota Center, Houston, TX, USA
From WikiColdplay
Contents |
Setlist
- Life In Technicolor
- Violet Hill
- Clocks
- In My Place
- Speed Of Sound
- Cemeteries Of London
- Chinese Sleep Chant
- 42
- Fix You
- Strawberry Swing
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (Disco Mix Part I)
- Talk (Disco Mix Part II)
- The Hardest Part
- Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)
- Viva La Vida
- Lost!
- The Scientist (acoustic)
- Death Will Never Conquer (acoustic - Will singing)
- Viva La Vida (remix interlude)
First Encore - Politik
- Lovers In Japan
- Death And All His Friends
Second Encore - Yellow
- The Escapist (outro)
Photos
Photos from this show can be found at Coldplaying.com in the Gallery thread for Houston. http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/1552
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=44964
Discussion
All post-show discussion for this show at the forum thread: http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44964
Fan Reviews
All fan reviews have been submitted to us by the members of Coldplaying.com[1], unless stated otherwise.
Angie called and said DWNC got all fucked up - Chris did something and messed Will up and they had to stop and Chris apologized and they started again. She's got it on video.
[texasluvsjonny & melanieau]
It was a great show. my only complaint is that the techno God Put a Smile and Talk, are terrible and kill the momentum of the show...but the production is a brilliant overall.
[kcromeis]
HOLY CRAP THEY WERE AMAZING. the encore was SO loud. and when they burst into singing yellow it was just, wow. BEST CONCERT I HAVE EVER BEEN TO IN MY LIFE. i wanna go again! i didnt want them to stop singing
[iPlay181]
I had a BRILLIANT time tonight, and I had a GREAT time volunteering with Oxfam! Got to meet some amazing people to volunteer with, and had some okay (honest not great seats, but still LOVED the show). If you saw people with Oxfam, I was one of them! Hope everyone had a GREAT show, and I hear word that Tony Parker (Eva Longoria's husband) was reportedly at the show. I had a Texas flag but it wasn't very big but I had one! Great night guys, I'm still buzzing and smiling and singing.
[nobetternoworse]
Coldplay concert upgrade: “It’s good karma”
Houston — My two sisters, mother and I were headed to the nosebleed seats for the Coldplay concert at the Toyota Center in Houston Tuesday evening. After several wrong turns and a lengthy escalator ride we finally made it to the top and our $49 seats in section 410. Suddenly, a man grabbed a hold of my youngest sister’s arm, and began quizzing her.
“Name three Coldplay albums, not including the current Viva la Vida,” asked the English-accented man wearing a black polo shirt and a two-way radio.
“A Rush of Blood to the Head, Parachutes and XYZ,” she excitedly said.
No, not quite, he responded.
“X&Z,” she corrected.
“Okay, now name a song on A Rush of Blood to the Head,” he asked, leaving me wondering — is this guy trying to pick her up or is this how they get fans amped up for the show?
“Politic,” said Susan, an encyclopedia of various albums.
“Name a top single,” he followed, while the rest of us stared in confusion. “Yellow,” Susan said.
Next thing we knew, he was pulling out four fifth-row tickets on the floor.
“These are for you. We hold back a certain number of tickets to give to fans when they arrive to the show,” he said. “You just have to rock out down there.”
“Really? No, really? Why? Really?” we all asked as we all jumped up and down, and showered him with hugs. It turns out his name was Richard, and he would operate the camera just a few feet away from our fifth-row seats.
“Did you get an upgrade,” an excited fan asked in front of us. “We did, too!” The fan next to us told a similar story, pointing to her original seats at the top of the stadium (my sister overheard another couple nearby say they paid $750 for their premium seats).
The upgrade fans later pointed out their Coldplay good samaritan, a man with black-rimmed glasses at the front of the stage who only identified himself to me as “Mr. Lo.”
The Coldplay crew helped give away 96 such upgrades at the Houston show. It’s something the band apparently does “in the states,” Mr. Lo said. They look for fans wearing a lot of color and ready to show some serious energy.
“It’s good karma,” he said.
Richard, who we approached later, declined a photo or to give his full name. He said otherwise he would be stalked by Coldplay fans for free passes.
Shortly before Chris Martin and gang hit the stage, San Antonio Spurs and Eva Longoria hubby Tony Parker set off a scene when he walked to his seats. Further away than ours.
We were close enough to see Chris Martin sweat, the little blemish on the left side of his Adam’s apple and the elastic band of his white underwear.
He and his bandmates ran up and down the side runways, crooned into a mike on his famous piano and jumped around with their famous energy.
http://www.austin360.com/blogs/conte...grade_its.html
Wow! What a great concert and evening!! I'm exhausted and still on cloud 9 all at the same time. It's tough to get back home (near the Woodlands) at 12:30am and have to get up with my daughter to get her ready for school at 6:05am!! Yikes, but WELL worth it!!!
Any chance any of you guys saw me frantically waving my sign in Section B last night??? I tried to be really polite about when I put it up so I didn't block others view behind me. However, I had it up after Clocks (i think) and was jumping up and down with it and Chris actually looked right at me and said.... "We hope you have a good time tonight and KEEP WAVING THOSE BANNERS!!" I could have died right then and there! That made it worth lugging that thing around all night even if they didn't play Moses as my sign asked them to!
I wish I had been able to meet Angie or Pris, but I never got over to their section. Maybe next time!
Well, back to reality and the countdown to the EP release next week. Wish I could be in Dallas for the show tonight, too....
[coldplayloveintexas]
Best. Night. Ever. I loved the show and the guys we're great! It seemed like they were a bit tired and low on energy but it's totally understandable considering how much they have been traveling. I also wished they would of played Glass of Water or Moses but it's okay...they still rocked! And I also loved The Scientist and DWNQ, event though Will lost his microphone in the middle the song. It just made it that much better! The crowd seemed energetic, enthusiastic, and like Chris mentioned, the best tacklers they've had all tour. Hahaha. Great night overall. Loved both encores and the confetti during Lovers in Japan. By far my favorites were Fix you, Lovers in Japan, and Yellow! Great show! Can't wait to see them again!
[luenamme03]
Just a quick note to say that I had an AMAZING time at Coldplay’s Houston show last night. The crowd were very receptive to the band, especially when they played Viva la Vida. People went absolutely mental for that song. The setlist was the same as usual. I was hoping that they would have played Glass of Water, but alas, no. I’m hopeful that they may play it tonight in Dallas :).
I’m staying with the wonderful Angie [aka TexasLuvsJonny], who is a fabulous hostess and has looked after me very well. We’re off to Dallas in about 2 hours. It’s a 5 hour drive [taking into consideration the usual Texan traffic].
Back to the gig. We got to the Toyota Centre fairly early, in the hopes of maybe being able to swap our separate tickets [on either side of the arena] for two tickets seated together. There’s nothing worse than being at a gig and not being able to rock out with your mates. We saw Jackie [head of security], who said that she’d see if she could sort out us, so we were quite gleeful [as you can imagine]. We waited about 4 hours, thinking she would come back, but she didn’t….
I wouldn’t have minded that she couldn’t help out with tickets [we had good seats anyhow], but for her not to get back to us, or at least send someone out to let us know either way was a bit bad. I know that she’s a busy lady, so I forgive her. The Toyota Centre is a nice venue, just the same as the venues we have in England, like the O2 etc. The ushers are lovely and polite and there are guys here and there with crates of beer, shouting out ‘Beer! Who wants beer??’, which kind of got annoying LOL!. Also there were huge queues for the merchandising stands, which went on forever. I was stood with LiquidSky [another coldplayer we met earlier on]. I think we were there for about 30-40 mins waiting to get served. I bought 2 t-shirts [the one with '42' splashed all over it and the one with the sepia one with the guys in that old monastery with the tour dates on the back], a poster and those Made with Love bracelets. They may have been made with ‘love’, but they weren’t made with proper glue, because 2 of ‘em broke before I got a chance to put them on!
You’re allowed to eat inside the arena, which I don’t think you can do at home. I was starving so got me some chicken strips. The food over here [in the restaurants anyway] is lovely! And the portions are huge! I’ve had so many doggy bags over the past 4 days, it’s not funny. We avoided the support acts. I did see a bit of Sleepercar, who are a country band. They sounded ok, but obviously I wasn’t there for them. I bypassed Jon Hopkins. I don’t think I could take sitting through his set another time [no offence].
I was so pumped when I heard the Jay-Z song that they play before The Blue Danube. It was turned up really loud so really hit you in the face. During The Blue Danube, there were some security guards at the front on the barrier getting the crowd going with the clapping, which I thought was great. They really enter into the spirit of things over here. So, Coldplay hit the stage with Life in Technicolor and the crowd is going ape. I could see Jonny quite clearly from the angle I was sitting at, without the black curtain, which was great.
The guys put on an excellent show, as usual. Chris was everywhere, on both ramps giving the crowd what they wanted and front and centre entertaining the front row. He was waiving to different ones and also saw a small kiddie before playing ‘The Hardest Part’. He was quite shocked and asked ‘how old are you?’, to which the parents replied ‘four’. He said ‘this song was written before you were born and also written when most of you were in your 50s, which means that we cater for all ages’, or something like that…LOL! Also he was good at acknowledging those folks that was behind the stage. To be honest, I don’t even know why they sold those tickets. I think I would have felt cheated if that was where I was sitting seeing the guys backs all the time [ok, maybe not....LOL!]. Also the people in the top tier - who seemed awfully high up.
The stand out songs for me were Cemeteries of London, Lost! [of course, my favourite song that had me bouncing up and down], Viva la Vida was a blast from start to finish and definitely was the most popular song of the night. No wonder it went straight to Number 1 in the charts over here [go Coldplay!]. Clocks was a stormer and the magic balls were really magical. It was nice to see them in full, instead of them being above and behind you. The one nearest us came down really close and the colours and quality of the animation was superb. They really are lovely.
I also got to see when the guys came off stage and started running down to the end of the arena. Chris was taking his time and Guy turned around to look at him, as if to say ‘come on!’. He was busy having a drink. When they got to their position at the back, the crowd were literally hysterical with joy. I had a good view on the video screen above so was able to get some good pictures, especially when Will was singing ‘Death Will Never Conquer’. Firstly, Will’s guitar was sounding a bit ropey, so he had a bit of a tuneup. Then, Chris was bending down for some reason and accidentally pulled out Will’s guitar lead, which was just the funniest thing ever! Will stopped playing and looked around. You could see Hoppy scrambling to put the lead back in and they guys broke down into hysterics. They resumed the song and Will could hardly sing because he was laughing so much. Guy had his head down and was giggling. Shame I never caught that on tape!! Angie did though and her vids are wonderful [she'll be uploading in the next few days, so please visit her Youtube channel]. My pictures and videos will have to wait till I’m back home, I’m afraid….
During the Viva la Vida remix, I could see people getting their groove on. Folks aren’t afraid to dance it up over here. We didn’t get lots of those little lights, like what Roadie #42 was talking about. I did put mine up though. Politik was fabulous. The lights always thrill me during that song and the beat had me rockin’. Oh yeah, the acoustics in the arena were really good. Guy’s bass was nice and heavy and you could hear his harmonies during ‘Speed of Sound’ really well. And he and Jonny seemed to be having a grand old time and were always smiling at each other. Will was a force to be reckoned with. His drumming is always top notch and always great to watch. Go Mr Champion!
The butterflies during ‘Lovers in Japan’ were lovely, but the aim of them was a little short. We didn’t get any over our heads at all. I felt like we were missing out :(. ‘Yellow’ was another belter and satisfied the crowd greatly. The guys took their bow after ‘Death and All His Friends’, but seemed in a hurry and left the stage directly after ‘Yellow’ with no bow [apparently, they were late to the show - Houston traffic sucks]
[anon]
Alright, I'm finally home in SA which means I can finally talk about the show last night.
First off, the show was unbelievable, I just wish I had closer seats (I had Floor E row 17). I was disappointed that Glass of Water wasn't in the setlist, I had my camera ready to take video until I heard SOS come on immediately after In My Place, either way, its all good! I'm trying to think of what song he changed the lyrics to add something about Houston, TX but I can't remember, maybe someone could help me out?
The messup during Death Will Never Conquer was pretty funny, the band, especially Will looked pretty embarrassed. The visual effects and lighting were off the hook, again, I wish I was much closer, maybe next time I'll look for seats closer to the stage but not on the floor..where do you all think the best seats are?? (other than the front row heh)
I was incredibly surprised on how many people started to leave after the Scientist. They missed the best part of the show!
I would get into a bit more detail but I'm tired from driving 500+ miles in 1 1/2 days. Overall the show was great and the merchandise was top notch. I can't wait til they come again, hopefully next year!!
Later everyone.
[sa_spurs_tx]
O hey I just read some of the last pages on this thread, there were at least two other people from Spring/Woodlands area! Mee toooo I live down FM 2920 in the Spring area but I moved from straight out of the Woodlands year and a half ago. Sweet beans, fellow Houstonians.
I can't believe how many people left after the Scientist. I wasn't leaving until they kicked me out! Those suckers missed the BEST part of the show, seriously!
The lighting effects were very much brilliant, but it was super smoky in there for some weird reason so a handful of my shots reflect that. But otherwise, everything else was awesome.
And was anyone feeling nauseous when those two dudes climbed the ladders to get to the cams or lights (whatever it was they were controlling way up there)!?! I was like "no they did not just go swinging themselves up there!" the whole time they were setting up. And I guess they got bombarded with butterflies, they kept sweeping them off of themselves.
I wish I would have had more time to set up a meet up, but my husband had surprised me with tickets just the night before. I had been begging him to get me tickets months ago when I found out about the show ( I have missed their hows like four times for whatever reasons ) and he just kept saying maybe, maybe. So I had put it out of my mind the whole time just assuming I wouldn't get to go. But man! He got me! We spent entirely too much with tickets and a handful of shirts/merch. and food and parking (15 dollars for parking, awesome...right?) But well worth it, truly and amazing show!!!!!
[ClearasCrystal]
I spent ALL day yesterday between flights and airplanes, and got home horribly late....... thanxx to the stupid delayed flight........
But anyways............ here I go!!!!!!
Get ready because this is gonna be a loooong story.....
I arrived Houston on Monday night, and i was told by the organizer that our tickets would be handed to her by someone from emi at the venue, just before the show. So the next morning i just wondered around downtown with the only two contest winners that had arrived, and we decided to walk to the Toyota center..... it was still very early when we got there, so there was really nothing to see...... We got back to the hotel to meet the rest of the winners and then we went to get lunch.... i barely ate anything, i was waaayy too excited!!!! The organizer said that we would meet at the hotel at 5:30, 'cause we had to be early at the venue to get our tickets and for the meet and greet. But at the exact moment when i was thinking of the quickest way to get to the toyota center and join Angie in the stalking festivities, she announced that she needed the two mexican winners to get back to the hotel with her, because she needed us for some contest-stuff.... so my stalking plan got So we got back to the hotel, the organizer said that she would go to her room to get some stuff, and she'd be right back......... and when she did she was glued to her cel phone so she ended up not needing us at all but she didn't let us know until it was already 5:30........ And all i could think of was all the fun stalking i just missed........
So then she announces that her contact with coldplay think her name is Lorraine> called to let us know that the meet and greet had been postponed to 8:30 and that we were just gonna say hi to them and she was gonna take one picture of all of us with them. We could not ask for personalized pics or autographs, and our organizer was also told that we could not get any cameras in the venue > but of course we all refused to that, and despite the organizer's best efforts to stop us, all of us took our cameras with us......
So we arrived to the Toyota Center, and were told to wait there. Lorraine was gonna contact us to give us the tickets and let us in for the meet and greet. So we were standing there for what seemed like FOREVER!!!! Everybody started going in, and we were just standing there. We were all wondering were our seats would be, when the organizer walked over to us with a huge smile in her face and the tickets in her hand. We were all very excited, and asked her where they were located. She had no idea. So i took the tickets and almost died of disapointment when i saw that we were seating in the freaking nosebleads!!!!! We were all really bummed about that, but extremelly excited to at least get in, see the show and meet them!!!!
We were waiting outside, looking at the radio stand wondering if they could upgrade our tickets when i took a look through the glass at the inside of the Toyota center and the first thing i see is Pete talking to a girl with a red and white striped jersey > and cursed for not being able to get in........
Then, at about 7:30 Lorraine called our organizer, and after a couple of minutes she found us. We walked into the arena and were told to stay GLUED to her and to each other. Walked through glass doors and then into a elevator that would take us upstairs into the room we were meeting the band...........
So we arrived to god only knows what floor > and Lorraine walked us into a room. She said we could seat, have some cookies or water and that she would let us know when the guys were coming.
I took a seat right in front of the open door that led to the hallway from where we entered. Lorraine and another girl were standing there the entire time, along with a security guy >
It was pretty obvious that we were right next to catering..... we could smell food and listen to people talking and the sound of dishes. There was an open door conecting to that room, but it was covered by the black nighty. All i could see was some flowers on a vase and a lamp on top of a table.
Then i had a kindergarden flashback........ the organizer and i asked Lorraine if she could point us the way to the bathroom. Instead she walked us to it, and waited outside for us, and walked us back into the room......... think i was 5 years old the last time someone did that for me
So there we were, talking, shaking and waiting when I looked over to the hall and saw Franksy pass by He looked over to us, but kept walking. Less than 5 minutes later he passed by again and smiled back at me
Thank god the bathroom was at the end of the hall......... Less than 10 minutes after my Franksy sighting, Phil passed by!!!!!!!!! He was looking as hot as always, wearing a blue suit and smiling at Lorraine and the other girl > Of course a couple of minutes later he passed by again....... He looked so pretty
After a few more minutes Franksy walked into the room we were at, and thanked us for being there and waiting for the guys..... He said that they were on their way to us, and that he would come back in a couple of minutes with them........
At about 8:30, Franksy walks in and we all knew what was comming....... he keeps looking over to the hall but we can't see anything .....
And then i recognise a VERY familiar figure.......
the first one to walk in??
My scotish death that's who!!!!!!!!!!
I froze and had my stupid ass grin in my face
Guy walked into the room followed by Jonny and Chris. They all walked over to us, shaking hands one by one......
I nearly DIED when Guy came over to me......... he's SOOOOO gorgeous!!!!!! had his little viva outfit, completed with his ripped jeans > and he gave me one of his shy smiles and introduced himself <> asked how i was and were i was from...... dunno were i got the courage to actually get words out of me...... then he moved on to the gurl next to me, but Jonny was saying hi to the girl to my right and i couldn't freaking believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He looked so tall and was very talkative, then he walked over to me and i looked at his eyes and he showed me the most beatiful smile i had ever seen, and i felt my knees go weak..... Jonny is AWESOME I do not remember what he asked or what i said.......... the Jonny effect....
Then it was Chris....... he walked by and asked for my name and apologised for his voice.......
Quote: Originally Posted by melanieau;2637488 Angie texts: Chris sounds kinda sick
He WAS sick, he said he was just warming up..... he was all blushed and sweatty..... > Then we asked him for Will.......... who none of them had any idea where he was at......
Then they started talking, asking what we thought of Houston, and we said we didn't had a lot to say about that 'cause we'd barely seen the place...... told him we had arrived the night before and were leaving the next morning....... He said that it sounded a lot like coldplay
Then Franksy interrupted, and started saying that we had a picture to take......
Then everybody went over to the nearest wall and located themselves while i went over to my purse to get my camera..... i took it out and as i hand it to Lorraine i see Guy staring at me all i could do was smile at him
And then.....
this happened...............
i'm the one in black..........
but then Lorraine said that the pic needed flash, so she tried again..........
still no flash, so another one.........
still!!!!! no flash, so she handed the camera to me so i could get it to work......
Don't see the difference between the ones with and without flash, but who cares!!!!!!!
Then they just said thanxx, enjoy the show and good bye After the M&G, we basically ran to our seats........ further in the back and i would've been outside of the arena.......
But i still had an awesome time...... sang, danced, jumped and laughed my ass off when Chris unplugged Will's mic during DWNC....... classic coldplay......
[Pris]
I was looking for you Pris! I wanted to be like "I'm with her.." (smile, smile, smile, smile! SMILE!) but we never found you or you never found us.. When I got to the venue, I thought there was going to be a huge crowd outside waiting for Coldplay. It wasn't 'till I found out way way later that they weren't even in Houston yet. How disappointing! I wanted to slap myself! But I got to meet Angie! I think I freaked her out a little bit haha 'cause I kept on hugging her and she really never told me to not hug her at all but I could tell she was a little uncomfortable (Sorry, Angie! I'm a hugger and I was excited to meet another Jonny fan )
So we were waiting outside and finally Angie said to me "we are waiting for Jackie (or whatever her name is) to come out and give us a pair of tickets" so Angie and Nettie could sit together 'cause they had tickets but not next to each other. I was just really excited to be there and I kept singing while we were waiting. I thought Angie and Nettie were going to tell me to shut the hell up already and then Angie was telling us about an incident that Mich had at the Florida show that a guy touched her arm and said you really like this band or something like it and she freaked out. It was funny.. My boss kept on calling and texting me..I was supposed to go to a meeting but I already knew everything and had already told him what else needed to be done. He just freaks out sometimes. We had a huge visit yesterday which is why I didn't go to the Dallas show. So finally it was around 7 and the lady never came out so we decided to go in and while we were going in, a security guard asked Nettie what her sign said and she freaked out too. She said "Nothing" and the guy said "No, what does it say" and she threw her poster away. I would have never thrown my poster away. I don't think he was going to tell her anything bad..
We were walking around and we saw Pete (I didn't know who he was 'cause I had never seen a picture of him and I don't read his blogs either.. I didn't even know he tours with the band, okay?) You can really tell I'm keeping up with the Coldplay news,huh? So I asked him if I could take a picture with him and we took a picture with Angie. Pete is really nice btw..I was chatting away lol. I was really happy to take a picture with him. I didn't take a picture with Jonny but taking a picture with Pete was like taking a picture with Jonny
Angie left to her seat 'cause she was tired and hungry. Nettie and I stood in line to buy some stuff. She was then telling me about how Kelly doesn't like her and she doesn't know why. I was telling her about my trip to New York and my trip to Cincinnati and how crazy it was. She was then telling me about her Muse concert. Finally it was around 9 and we were still in line. She already knew where her seat was but I didn't even know where my seat was. I think she even went to the wrong section 'cause she was in section 118 and she went in 124. The lights were down and the opening acts had already played (I'm making this too long) I got escorted and then I saw my friends (they were really close to where Coldplay played the acoustic part) Bastards! But overall, I had an amazign time. I think a lot of people left after The Scientist 'cause they didn't know if it had ended or not. I was chatting with the people next to me and we got really excited for Lovers in Japan. The butterflies are BEAUTIFUL! I had a butterfly on my head I did think the concert was over so fast even thought they did sang a lot of songs. I didn't even noticed they didn't played Yellow until they came out and played it. People were singing along and clapping along. They kinda got lost on the middle of Strawberry Swing haha (I loved that song!!!!!!)
Between NYC show and Htown show.. I liked New York better 'cause it was louder and all the hard core fans were in the front and not the "I kinda like Coldplay"..fans.. you know. I'll be uploading my pics in a bit.
[LiquidSky]
I was in attendance at the Houston, TX, Toyota Center concert earlier this week. And yes, they did not play 'Glass of Water' off their new EP. I am looking forward to hearing that one. I don't know if you were at the show or not, so here are a few things that did happen:
Coldplay played techno versions of 'Talk", and 'God Put a Smile ...) ...very innovative, different, unexpected, and just damn good.
The four members ran thru the audience, to almost the back of the venue, and played a four part, accoustic guitar version of 'The Scientist". They also played "Death will Never Conquer"...Will was just playing guitar and singing his heart out, when an bobbing, weaving, dancing, animated Chris Martin accidentally unplugged his guitar cord, stopping the song dead in it's tracks. They just sheepishly looked at one another like "WTF!?" Then, Chris warmly apologized to Wil, introducing him as 'the most talented member of the band', plugged his guitar back up for him, said "Sorry" to the crowd on hand, blew a harmonica lead in, and they all started playing right where they left off. Everybody was laughing and cheering at the same time. It was great! lol
I am sure by now you have seen or heard about the butterflies....damn, there were millions of them. The light show was great. The sound was great. The video feeds on the screen backdrop were excellent. But most off all, a group of great musicians played great music. It is an unlikely mix for 4 musicians to be that great, that talented, that young, and that humble. I spent 5 hours driving to Houston, spent mega bucks, I am now broke as hell, and I don't regret a second, or penny spent. I hope I get to seem them again soon.
Also, Chris played an accoutic version of "The Hardest Part" on the piano. They can all play every instrument on the stage when called upon to do so, it seems. I give the show a 9.7 on a scale of 10. I am docking them .3 for one reason and one reason only....They should have closed with "Fix You". But they, surprisingly, played it in the middle of the show. And I will admit it, at age 44, full grown man and all, that I went APESHIT!!! To see them play THAT song live...the power...it was almost overwhelming.
[kennyt1964]
Media Reviews
The problem with Chris Martin isn’t the fact that the Coldplay frontman writes lyrics that resemble something that might come from the diary of a seventh grader who sniffs magic markers (snow, it turns out, is white after all). No, it’s the fact that he almost forces people to take him so goddamn seriously. And the reason is simple: He is a a) rock star; b) a celebrity (or at least married to one); and c) a social activist.
People often compare Martin’s motives to those of Bono, but that’s not exactly an apt comparison. Martin seems to be actively trying to dissociate himself from activists like Bono —Bono is a rock star who makes shitty music, but also a social activist who is trying to actually make social changes (Third World debt, etc) — while Martin is a pseudo-rock star who makes shitty music with designs on being perceived to be a social activist.
His political rhetoric is foggy - we all got a pamphlet from Oxfam upon entering Toyota Center, but who reads pamphlets? - just like his music. It appeals to people who put value in clichés, and this has turned Martin into a critical punch line (Chuck Klosterman writes extensively about this, most particularly the “fake love” Coldplay songs inevitably engender) and more importantly, a genius.
Martin is over-abundantly aware of his own iconography (he wants to be Radiohead), but seems to be entirely unaware that he is ruining for the rest of us every conceivable notion of what is or is not art. Everyone, Aftermath included, has bought into Coldplay's aesthetic for at least one year of their life, most likely the first year they “get a boyfriend” or the first time they “kiss someone,” and that year usually becomes seminal in the construction of what one believes to be real emotion.
And that’s dangerous. Dangerous because nothing Coldplay sings about has any relation to reality. It’s contrived bullshit for the sake of sentiment. It’s emotional pedantry masked as poetry. And it’s the continued Oprah-fication of culture that is turning art into a homogenized grayness (think Danielle Steele trying to write Gravity’s Rainbow).
Martin’s genius is that he knows people use his music for their own emotional gain - we all see ourselves trying to “fix” someone who will no longer love us. We’ve all wanted “go back to the start” in a relationship that wasn’t working. So as long as Coldplay exists, Coldplay will prosper. And prospering they are. People go bananas for these guys. Or maybe not bananas, so much as those plastic banana-shaped yellow cylinders that live in brown wicker baskets atop the kitchen tables in houses for sale in River Oaks. That much was evident by the more than 15,000 people at Toyota Center Tuesday night. But those people got something I don’t know they expected - a sanitized nothingness, a rock show that looked and felt like a summer blockbuster (probably starring Will Smith), void of context and connection.
Seeing Coldplay is a weird experience.
Martin and crew played all the favorites, of course, going from “Violet Hill” right into “Clocks,” which included a boringly opulent laser show where the red and green beams just sat there, beaming their beams onto the beamed. It meant nothing, and felt like a futuristic hospital.
“Speed of Sound” was next, where Martin channeled his inner rock star, skipping around the stage like some Superball from a vending machine at a bowling alley. I think this was supposed to be a sort of first-act highlight. But the audience seemed full of only obligatory excitement. Most of them screamed and screamed for the first 30 seconds and then either sat down or started texting and feigned interest - sort of like, "I’m at a rock show, I should probably dance, right?"
“Fix You,” Coldplay’s most sing-alongable song, was pretty great, though, with the entire audience singing every single line. It reminded me of The OC episode when that one dude died. Probably the weirdest song of the night, though, was “The Scientist,” where Martin and his three bandmates waded their way through the stands until they finally reached their destination - where else but the cheap seats.
Sort of a taking the music to the streets kind of thing, like we really do care about you fans who only paid $50 for tickets. So there they all stood, singing like a multimillionaire French revolutionary peasant-boy barbershop quartet. What we didn’t get at all was Martin interacting with the crowd, except that one bit where he said, “Hey, you’re a four-year-old - this song was written before you were even born!”
And then to someone else, “But you’re like, 50… Wow!” The problem with this is that Martin misinterprets age difference as diversity, and the crowd at Toyota Center last night was the least diverse crowd I’ve ever seen at a concert. Coldplay appeals only to a certain group of people - those who are privileged enough to not have to make personal connections to art to help them define their position in the world; those who, when looking into a mirror, see nothing but a face.
As the show was coming to a close, I kept asking myself, "I wonder if Chris Martin knows what color the stars are?" Oh, they’re yellow, huh? Got it.
