20 February 2006: Qwest Center, Omaha, NE
From WikiColdplay
Setlist
- Square One
- Politik
- Yellow
- Speed Of Sound
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
- X&Y
- 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
Was it the Qwest Center or a giant piano bar? Coldplay’s concert here Monday night found the crowd of 15,500 fans in strong voice, willing to belt out lyrics word for word and follow frontman Chris Martin’s lead in playful call-and-response.
“Man, they really teach you how to sing in Nebraska,” singer-pianist Martin gushed during the band’s swelling rendition of “The Scientist.” “We’ve never heard it that in tune before.”
Give Iowa voices some credit, too; Coldplay’s stop in Omaha was the nearest its “Twisted Logic” tour has come to Des Moines. Fans flocked to the concert from both sides of the Missouri River.
Whether it was fans’ golden throats or just a good night, Coldplay’s inaugural visit to Omaha radiated joy. The British band sampled 18 songs from its three-album, multiplatinum catalog — 2000’s “Parachutes,” 2002’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head” and last year’s “X & Y.”
Coldplay is among the latest generation of rock bands that sounds custom-built to play arenas. It doesn’t shrink from that ambition — hence the quartet’s frequent tag as “the new U2.”
Martin wrapped his aching falsetto around lyrics that further fed the notion of vastness: references to the tides, the stars, the sea, etc. Then there were the giant yellow balloons dropped from catwalks above the arena as the band aired its breakthrough hit, “Yellow.” Fans bounced them around before popping them and releasing bursts of confetti. Martin even charged a balloon on stage and pierced it with his guitar neck.
Flanked by guitarist Jon Buckland and bassist Guy Berryman, with drummer Will Champion behind him, Martin spent as much time strumming a guitar or prowling the stage as he did seated at his keyboard. The nimble, charismatic singer also sprinted to the back of the arena during the three-song encore to serenade fans in the cheaper seats.
Coldplay’s live sound was a study in steadiness in 4/4 time, with Champion pounding away and Martin doing much the same on his keyboard. It’s Martin’s falsetto, intertwined with Buckland’s atmospheric guitar leads, that allow the band to take flight.
The band wasn’t hurting for its own sing-along choruses on Monday. If anything, the chief gripe with the concert was its brevity. (The concise and well-paced 90-minute performance left no room for “Shiver,” or pick your favorite song that was neglected.) Yet Coldplay did take pains to pay tribute to a pair of American songwriters. Martin dedicated “Don’t Panic” to hometown hero Conor Oberst (the indie-rock wunderkind from Omaha who records as Bright Eyes). And Coldplay covered Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” during a three-song acoustic set at the front of the stage that let Berryman blow a harmonica and Champion tinker on keyboard.
The band also played its own tribute tune to Cash, “Til Kingdom Come.” Martin even reminisced about hearing Cash on the car radio at age 7 while riding with his dad — his official introduction to American culture. The audience, dominated by twenty- and thirtysomethings — a much younger sea of faces compared to the Rolling Stones’ sold-out concert in January at Qwest Center — sang along to “Ring of Fire” with as much gusto as the Coldplay hits. And speaking of the Man in Black, the Coldplay band members almost seemed to adhere to a casual dress code: black clothing, white sneakers.
Despite Martin’s increasing reputation for championing human rights causes a la U2’s Bono, the singer’s banter remained focused on lavishing fans with praise. Except for one word.
Martin uttered what sounded like “Bush” after a key lyric in the band’s latest single, “Talk”: “Well I feel like they’re talking in a language I don’t speak; and they’re talking it to me.”
Technically, Monday’s concert featured a pair of bands led by pianists. But much like Martin, Fiona Apple refused to remain rooted to her piano bench for very long. After tickling the ivories during a few tunes, she left the instrumental backup to her drummer, bassist and two keyboardists and commanded the center of the stage wearing a black, flowing kimono cinched with a red sash.
Apple’s voice crackled with a hoarse edge throughout her impassioned, 45-minute show. It was easy to see why, as she screamed and flailed herself into a frenzy during “Fast As You Can.”
Though I’ve never climbed aboard the Coldplay bandwagon, it’s clear to see why the British rock band commands such a widespread, devoted following.
The group’s massively popular music isn’t breaking any new ground, but the band’s live show is a compelling audio-visual treat, filled with elaborate stage effects and powerful, soaring anthems well-suited for an arena.
The quartet, which sounded superb at Monday’s sold-out concert at Qwest Center Omaha, drew from all three of its albums during its first-ever appearance in Nebraska.
Before more than 15,000 fans, Coldplay entered the stage a little after 9 p.m. as a giant digital countdown flashed on a panoramic video screen. When the timer reached zero, the band kicked off its set with a powerful “Square One” and followed with an equally rocking “Politik.”
Whether strumming his guitar or pounding the piano, frontman Chris Martin was in fine voice throughout the night, with his pretty falsetto lending emotional heft to shimmery, elegant songs like “Yellow.”
During “Yellow,” Coldplay’s first big radio smash from 2000, about two dozen huge yellow balloons filled with gold confetti floated down from the rafters as fans swayed and sang along to the music.
Martin, along with guitarist Jon Buckland, drummer Will Champion and bassist Guy Berryman, performed with urgency and passion, filling their 90-minute set with old material and newer songs, including “White Shadows” from the band’s latest album, “X&Y.”
From 2002’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” there was “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face,” “The Scientist” and “Clocks.” The latter song elicited one of the loudest responses I have ever heard at an arena concert.
Martin seemed a bit surprised by the crowd’s enthusiasm.
“We didn’t expect such a warm welcome in a place we’ve never been before,” he told the crowd after playing “Speed of Sound.”
Wearing black pants, a black shirt and white sneakers, Martin was full of energy, bounding across the stage with ease and, late in the set, running out into the audience all the way to the back of the arena.
He performed several numbers on his knees with one hand clutching the mike and the other arm outstretched. He dedicated the old tune “Don’t Panic” to Omaha musician Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes.
The band’s set also included a stripped-down acoustic segment, during which they played a cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”
Following their 15-song main set, the band returned to the stage for an obligatory encore, which consisted of “Swallowed in the Sea,” “In My Place” and the show closer, “Fix You.”
Before Coldplay took the stage, singer-songwriter-pianist Fiona Apple opened with an incredibly moving 45-minute set of songs that showcased her husky vocals and intriguing, mature songwriting.
Apple, 28, performed material from her latest release, 2005’s “Extraordinary Machine,” as well as older tunes, including “Shadowboxer,” “Criminal,” “Fast As You Can” and a fantastic, intense version of “Limp.”
The only disappointment in her performance was that it wasn’t longer.
Source: omaha.com
The show was SURREAL. The crowd was SO into it. Chris Martin needs to father my children.
I have to work tomorrow at 7AM so I’ll write a real review tomorrow.
Highlights?
After Chris’ Johnny Cash speel before “‘Til Kingdom Come”, his guitar strings broke and he was like, *paraphrased* “That was a FANTASTIC introduction and look what happened.” Everyone had a good laugh. Also? Dedicating “Don’t Panic” to Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes because he’s “fantastic” and “lives around the corner.” He said if they would’ve known Omaha was this friendly, they would’ve come sooner and compared our “relationship” to Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.
And the crowd was so into Fiona Apple. She got a standing ovation.
It was FANTASTIC. I had such a good time. I hope everyone has a chance to see them because the experience is surreal.
[Thanks superkaty]
I don’t like to use the Lord’s name in vain, but JESUS H. CHRIST THAT WAS F**KING AWESOME!!!! I take back what I said about Coldplay’s performance at the Grammy’s, LOL! I think I was in a funk because Rob wasn’t there, therefore everything sucked to me, LOL! This show tonight was phenomenal! I was blown out of my seat, barely sat and if I did sit I was sitting on the back of my chair!
The experience with their concert was so awesome I can’t even describe it without ya’ll experiencing it. There were 17,000 people there tonight kids! If it wasn’t sold out then I was fooled because I didn’t see one empty seat in that place! To be there to experience the music and the sound and to be amongst all those people and the lights, oh my gosh I’ve never seen such a fantastic light show before at a concert, amazing! They had big screens so we could see their faces. Chris sounded just like he does on the cds, the music was amazing. So powerful and touching. I’d go see these guys again in a heartbeat! Kari loved it! I loved it!And even if I didn’t know all the songs I still loved it.
My favorite was “Yellow” as the arena dropped a gazzillion yellow balloons filled with gold glitter during the song and when they popped glittler went all over the place. We were seated in section 112 in the lower bowl and during “In My Place” Chris Martin ran through the crowd on the main floor and jumped up to the lower bowl in section 113, I nearly had a heart attach and I don’t even think he’s attractive, LOL, but it was the whole “holy crap he’s right there” vibe and I just kept thinking “the amazing photos those guys are getting, the amazing photos those guys are getting and that girl, she must be on cloud nine” when he got up there he grabbed some girl and smiled and sang to her and then he got the giggles. WEEEEE!!!
He is so damn adorable in a puppy dog kind of way, I want to run my fingers through his puffy fro! LOL! Loved “The Scientist” always have loved that song and knew what it was the minute I heard the first chord, the video they showed along with it was very gorgeous. The very last song they played was “Fix You” which I about started crying, it was so awesome my nipples even had goosebumps, LOL! To be amongst all those people singing the chorus, awesome, just awesome and Chris did the same thing he does in the video where he twirls this lighted thing around in the air and then at just the right beat of the music he lets it go soaring out over the audience. Rawking moment for me!
There was one song that was really touching during the encore that I’m not sure of the name, but the lyrics were flashed by light over the entire arena, so we had lettering over us, that was pretty cool! I loved that, because someday in my own place I want to have an music/movie room and I want to cover the walls with my favorite lyrics. Like Jena wallpaper, LOL!
I friggin love concerts! I’d go to one every night if I could, LOL! When we got in the car the radio station was playing back to back Coldplay in honor of them being there, so that was a nice drive home!Phone calls to the station were nothing but praises! Chris said Omaha was the best show of the tour, yet I have a feeling he tells that to every city they are in each night, LOL! They played most all popular songs from all three albums. One I wanted played but wasn’t was “Warning Sign” as it’s one of my faves, but that’s okay.Awesome freakin awesome…..I still can’t hear, LOL! I will say one thing, Fionna Apple was bloody awful. Thank God she only played for 30 minutes because it was wrenching and she freaked me out, she looked like a 12 year old version of the girl from The Ring. Had absolutely no personality on stage and no correspondence with the audience at all…Coldplay hit the stage about 9:05pm and played until 10:40pm, good show, good show!Thanks for the recommendation.
[Thanks Jena]
Until my esteemed colleague, music writer Jillian Cohan, joined our staff this fall, I went to a lot of concerts. A lot. I was the go-to girl whenever ‘N Sync, Def Leppard, Kenny Chesney, Kid Rock, Martina McBride, 50 Cent, Evanescence and others rolled through town.
So I’m not sure how an odd quirk of modern technology escaped my attention.
Last week, some friends and I went to see Coldplay perform in Omaha. It was a great show, and the first concert I’ve attended in years where I wasn’t on assignment.
Toward the middle of the show, the band performed a slower song, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the crowd was awash in glowing light.
Cigarette lighters, I assumed.
But no. Upon closer inspection, I realized that nearly everyone in the crowd was holding a cell phone, opened up and glowing, waving it in the air to the beat of the music.
I expressed shock at this techno-development, thinking I’d stumbled on to something revolutionary. But my friends just started at me.
Welcome to 2006, they said.
I still don’t know how I didn’t know about this, but Jillian helped clear it up.
Some shows are still lighter shows, she said. Particularly hard-rocking concerts at the Cotillion.
Arena shows featuring yuppie music — like Coldplay, for example — attract more of a cell-phone crowd.
Next time, I’ll be prepared.
Source: kansas.com
