19 March 2006: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
From WikiColdplay
Setlist
- Square One
- Politik
- Yellow
- Speed Of Sound
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
- What If
- How You See The World
- Don't Panic
- White Shadows
- The Scientist
- Til Kingdom Come
- Ring Of Fire
- Trouble
- Clocks
- Talk
Encore - Swallowed In The Sea
- In My Place
- Fix You
Reviews
The success of Coldplay’s third album, X & Y, accurately foreshadowed the repertoire of energy the band brought forth to the Bradley Center in Milwaukee Sunday night. Frontman Chris Martin started the evening with the same amount of enthusiasm as that with which the show ended, illustrating his yearning to one day be mentioned in the same breath as Bono of U2, which he has publicly confessed. When Coldplay came onto the stage, an explosive combustion of energy penetrated throughout the arena that was felt from the nosebleed seats all the way up to the stage. This sentiment was the catapult of the evening’s brilliant performance. Psychedelic light patterns alternated throughout the concert and enhanced the performance.
The audience enthusiastically embraced chart-dominating songs such as “Talk,” singing along with Martin every step of the way. During those moments, a spiritual feeling filtered throughout the stadium, and the unique moments of unity when music has the power to bring a diverse group of people together was sewn together by the moving lyrics of the poetic “Talk.”
The genesis song, “Yellow,” that only slightly indicated the band’s future success, was one of the highlights of the night. As the band jammed, huge yellow balloons filled with gold confetti were thrown out into the audience. The balloons flew throughout the audience and, as they popped, the gold confetti illuminated the sky and filtered down to the floor as “Yellow” ended. The crowd enthusiastically responded to one of the band’s classic songs, wildly cheering at the end.
No dull moment interrupted the band’s incredible evening. Each song was perfectly linked to the next. Highlights such as “Talk” and “Yellow” only regenerated the energy diffused through the entire evening. About three-quarters into the show, the audience was again enthralled by the power of Coldplay, as they surprisingly came together to the center of the stage and performed rousing renditions of some of Johnny Cash’s timeless songs such as “Ring of Fire.” Resembling the aura the Beatles brought to the States only three decades ago, Coldplay once again reminded the audience how versatile they can be and how talented they truly are.
Some critics argue that Coldplay’s continuous sound is too similar and does not provide variation in theme. However, this unity that drives their sound creates a spiritual experience live and continues to please their legion of loyal fans. The energy that Coldplay brought to Bradley Center was an almost out-of-body experience. The atmosphere that filled the venue that evening was well worth the price of admission.
As Guy Berryman (bass), Jonny Buckland (guitar), Will Champion (drums) and Chris Martin (guitar, piano and vocals) came together for those couple of hours, the venue was in a trance. Martin kept his audience’s full attention as he jumped, twirled and poured all his energy into his performance. Maybe Gwyneth Paltrow’s presence helped ignite his vigor, but in any case, he was amazing. The entire band did not disappoint; rather, they exceeded expectations and gave an amazing performance.
A great concert makes you want to see the band in the next city you can find tickets for, so if you missed Coldplay in Milwaukee, start looking for their Chicago show. This tour is one not to be missed.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: badgerherald.com
It has been rumored that Coldplay was once shy— if not awkward—in its live performances. But as the band’s popularity has grown, so has its confidence. A crowd of 12,000 crammed into the stands of the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on March 19 to watch Chris Martin and his bandmates’ confidence light up the arena. Opening the show was an overtly proud Richard Ashcroft who pushed the fans into Coldplay withdrawal. The lights dimmed none too soon after Ashcroft’s performance, and the Coldplay junkies awaited an almost-unexpected jolt of energy and enthusiasm that lined the entire performance. You could say the set started small with “Square One” off Coldplay’s latest album, “X & Y,” but small would only be describing the amount of time since the song was released. For this initial appearance, Martin was silhouetted against an enormous digital countdown. His precision in song versus dance was like clockwork, and as the time dwindled toward zero on the screen behind the stage, Martin’s energy began to climb and plateau at a level the audience could hardly counter. As the show progressed, Coldplay pounded out more favorites, including “Politik,” “Speed of Sound,” and the band’s first hit, “Yellow,” during which gigantic, yellow, glitter- filled balloons were dropped on ecstatic fans. The band was relentless, not leaving a second’s rest between each roof-raising song. Fans sang along to every hit, including Coldplay’s rendition of “Ring of Fire” in honor of the late Johnny Cash. If it was not the choice of song or Martin’s passion that captivated the audience, it could have been the light show that went along with the performance. Lasers, strobes and images on the gigantic projection screen behind the stage coupled with every lyric of every verse, leaving those whose voices were already lost with an alternative mode of amazement.
Source: uwgb.edu
Nice guys may or may not finish first, but apparently they draw well at the Bradley Center.
Before an adoring crowd of roughly 12,000, Coldplay performed a 90-minute set that showcased the band’s strengths and gave even its shortcomings a rosy glow.
While technically a quartet, England’s biggest band of the moment is dominated by the sprightly, surprisingly flexible Chris Martin, whose rubbery stage poses suggested he’s been taking yoga tips from wife Gwyneth Paltrow.
Band mates — guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion — stayed in the background for nearly the entire set, leaving Martin plenty of space for his stage acrobatics and aerobic piano playing.
The set opened with a strong trio spanning Coldplay’s career in reverse, beginning with the new “Square One” and then stomping through 2002’s “Politik” before dusting off its first commercial hit, “Yellow.”
Often (too often) compared with U2, Coldplay does share a number of attributes with its Irish peers, particularly in a live setting, where both bands’ more anthemic material — and outsized front man personalities — have room to stretch out.
Songs from 2005’s “X&Y,” notably “Swallowed In the Sea” and “Fix You,” both part of the encore set, benefited from the rush of energy, losing the somewhat sleepy sound of the album. Coldplay also understands how to augment its live performance with thoughtfully chosen visuals. On the enormous curved screen behind the band during “The Scientist,” for example, a satellite appeared to zoom in from space on a man along Milwaukee’s lakefront.
In a moment evocative of U2’s “Rattle and Hum”: late in the set, the band gathered at the front of the stage for the gem “Til Kingdom Come,” a hidden track on “X&Y,” and a rendition of “Ring of Fire.”
That mini-set was one of the evening’s highlights, but once the salute to Johnny Cash was finished, the band went right back to its repetitive formula of sensitive yet vague lyrics and thoughtful, mid-tempo rock with a big swoopy chorus.
Sure, there are far worse bands making far less interesting music. And, to Martin’s credit, his gratitude throughout the show came off as sincere. But one hopes Coldplay’s next move will be to skip yet another song about breaking up with “whoooHOOOwhoohooo” in the middle and instead flex more creative muscle.
Let’s also hope that some of Martin’s humility and enthusiasm for entertaining his audience might rub off on former Verve front man Richard Ashcroft, who opened the show. Ashcroft complained about lack of radio play and railed against Nike for paying him $500,000 to use The Verve’s lone hit, “Bittersweet Symphony,” before introducing it as “one of the greatest songs of all time.”
Source: jsonline.com/
It's not that U2 should be all that worried about hanging onto its heavyweight title for super-sized, heart-on-the-sleeve arena rock. But Coldplay's show at Milwaukee's Bradley Center on Sunday night showed that the British rock band is starting to figure out how to present its emotion-drenched songs in a live setting and is becoming a worthy contender.
In the past, frontman Chris Martin and company seemed at times to be a little tentative in concert, unsure of whether they should overplay or underplay the emotional content of a given song. But this time around, touring in support of the superbly crafted third album "X&Y," every gesture seemed right for its song, and the high-energy, passionate result kept the near-sellout crowd enthralled for nearly two hours.
Martin first appeared in silhouette at the back of the stage, framed against a giant wrap-around video screen that featured numerals counting down to zero. Hunched over, one arm raised, Martin crooned out the dreamy first verse, then raced to the front of the stage, leaping into the air and landing onto the sunken stage apron in perfect sync with the first, thunderous chord of the chorus.
For the rest of the song, and much of the night, Martin sprinted from one corner of the giant stage to another, leaping, twisting, collapsing to the ground and then popping right back up again. Even when he got behind the piano, adorned with a bumper sticker promoting fair trade, Martin would rock back and forth furiously and somewhat suggestively on his stool, as if he could barely contain himself.
As the band moved to the slamming "Politik," the swirling "Speed of Sound" and the emotive "Yellow," it was clear that Coldplay wanted to rock back the naysayers on their heels, the ones that say Coldplay is a snoozy soft-rock group masquerading as arena rockers.
At almost every turn, the band chose to go louder and bigger rather than smaller, and whenever Martin took a turn on solo piano or guitar, you knew a big callback from the band's other three members was right around the corner.
Martin, sporting shaggy hair and a scruffy beard that he quipped made him look like a "Bee Gees impersonator," seemed very comfortable with his frontman status, able to confidently handle the sweeping catharsis of a song like "Speed of Sound" but also to come across as unpretentious and even self-deprecating.
The entire band, for some reason, wore all black outfits with blindingly white tennis shoes, an outfit that Martin said was equally inspired by Johnny Cash and Venus Williams.
Speaking of Cash, the band effectively scaled things down in the show's midsection to pay tribute to him. The quartet gathered in a tight clump at the front of the stage to play "Ring of Fire" and "Till Kingdom Come," the latter a Coldplay song the band had written for Cash, but were unable to record with him before he died in 2003.
Then it was back to the grandiose for the finale, with the anthemic "Clocks" and "Talk" rounding out the main set and the encore featuring a tender "Fix You" and a high-energy version of "In My Place," for which Martin raced all the way to the back of the arena to perform for the fans in the cheap seats.
Bono, if you're reading this, you might want to start working on your 100-yard dashes.
Source: madison.com
Coldplay gains confidence after ‘Square One’
It has been rumored that Coldplay was once shy— if not awkward—in its live performances. But as the band’s popularity has grown, so has its confidence. A crowd of 12,000 crammed into the stands of the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on March 19 to watch Chris Martin and his bandmates’ confidence light up the arena.
Opening the show was an overtly proud Richard Ashcroft who pushed the fans into Coldplay withdrawal. The lights dimmed none too soon after Ashcroft’s performance, and the Coldplay junkies awaited an almost-unexpected jolt of energy and enthusiasm that lined the entire performance. You could say the set started small with “Square One” off Coldplay’s latest album, “X & Y,” but small would only be describing the amount of time since the song was released.
For this initial appearance, Martin was silhouetted against an enormous digital countdown. His precision in song versus dance was like clockwork, and as the time dwindled toward zero on the screen behind the stage, Martin’s energy began to climb and plateau at a level the audience could hardly counter.
As the show progressed, Coldplay pounded out more favorites, including “Politik,” “Speed of Sound,” and the band’s first hit, “Yellow,” during which gigantic, yellow, glitter- filled balloons were dropped on ecstatic fans.
The band was relentless, not leaving a second’s rest between each roof-raising song. Fans sang along to every hit, including Coldplay’s rendition of “Ring of Fire” in honor of the late Johnny Cash.
If it was not the choice of song or Martin’s passion that captivated the audience, it could have been the light show that went along with the performance. Lasers, strobes and images on the gigantic projection screen behind the stage coupled with every lyric of every verse, leaving those whose voices were already lost with an alternative mode of amazement.
Frontman Martin, along with Guy Berryman on bass, Jonny Buckland on guitar and Will Champion on drums, were called back for an encore that surpassed expectation.
Martin raced to the floor of the balcony seats and sang out “In My Place” before returning to the stage to finish the concert with “Swallowed in the Sea” and “Fix You.”
Audience members laughed, cried, screamed, sang and fell in love with Coldplay all over again during the 90-minute gig at the Bradley Center. It seems to me that the band found all the confidence it needs, and it all started at “Square One.”
Source:UWGB
