23 February 2006: Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY
From WikiColdplay
Setlist
- Square One
- Politik
- Yellow
- Speed Of Sound
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
- X&Y
- How You See the World Number 2
- Don’t Panic
- White Shadows
- The Scientist
- ‘Til Kingdom Come
- Ring of Fire (cover)
- Trouble (Acoustic)
- Clocks
- Talk
- Swallowed in the Sea
- In My Place
- Fix You
Reviews
Coldplay is a small-scale band at heart, a classic four-piece pop combo most interested in love lost and found or quiet moments of introspection. The English band's success, however, is massively large scale, with multiplatinum records, sold-out stadium shows and even a celebrity marriage (singer Chris Martin and actress Gwyneth Paltrow).
That dichotomy puts the band in an interesting situation: Its success almost demands that it aspire to be larger than life, especially in concert, but the music remains rooted in intimacy. Can the two be balanced?
Thursday night at Freedom Hall, Coldplay walked the tightrope with consummate skill for much of the show, rarely stumbling. It was an arena- ready show, with spectacular video effects to bolster Martin's tireless showmanship, but the human element was always near the surface. That was especially apparent during a short, more-or-less acoustic set that featured a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" dedicated to Muhammad Ali.
Songs such as "In My Place" and "Yellow" were delivered in grand style, but their underlying sweetness was intact. "Yellow," the band's first big single, was especially effective as a dozen large yellow balloons were dropped from the ceiling at the back of Freedom Hall and batted toward the stage by fans, appearing to roll in slow motion.
Other standouts included "Politik," "God Put a Smile on Your Face" and "The Scientist," but the newer songs from "X&Y" didn't translate as well. That's odd, as they were obviously written for arenas, but they're also much poorer songs.
Fiona Apple opened with a strong set that succeeded based largely on her compelling performance style. Apple is a famously troubled young songwriter, and there doesn't seem to be much buffer between her inner and outer selves.
She appeared to be reliving each song's inspiration as she sang them, stepping away from the microphone to shout angrily at someone (herself, maybe?) and occasionally slapping her head with extreme prejudice or collapsing into a wary crouch.
Unfortunately, Apple's charisma was sometimes better than her material. New songs from "Extraordinary Machine," while good on record, came across as weak compared to older songs such as "Shadowboxer" and "Criminal."
Source: courier-journal.com
I thought the Louisville show was fantastic. There was nothing lacking from the band, but the crowd was a little down. Let’s face it, Coldplay fans are pretty much white and preppie folks and I think that affects the energy (interpret that yourself).
U2 is by far my favorite band and seeing them live is nothing but radiating energy all around you. If I lived and breathed Coldplay like I do U2, I might have been a little dissapointed in the show being only 90 minutes and Chris not really seeming to be totally focused. BUT, these guys are young and so far they have developed AMAZING music that could one day take them places U2 only dreams of.
Coldplay is one of my favorite bands and it was amazing to see them. I especially love “White Shadows” from X&Y, so that was a personal highlight for me.
Keep rockin’, you great Brits!
SETLIST
Square One Politik Yellow Speed of Sound God Put A Smile Upon Your Face X&Y How You See the World Number 2 Don’t Panic White Shadows The Scientist
‘Til Kingdom Come Ring of Fire Trouble (Acoustic) Clocks Talk
Swallowed in the Sea In My Place Fix You
[Thanks coldfish]
Comments : The Coldplay concert was beautifully executed....from the yellow bouncing spheres, to the bright red screen ambiance....I felt that Chris Martin and Bandmates gave an exhuberant performance....highly energetic and crowd pleasing. My favorite part were his two mess-ups during the show, where he announced "I will be refunding you each 20 cents for that". I cried during the last song, "Fix You", as the audience slowly swayed and sang. I felt I was the only one in the building and the song spoke deeply to my heart. Also, I must say that Fiona Apple's opening appearance was one of the greastest inspirations to me personally and I will never forget that, Fiona!! :)
There is one minute on the clock and the spotlight is on Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. As the clock steadily ticks down, the words gracefully flow from his mouth as he begins to sing “Square One,” the opening song on Coldplay’s new CD “X&Y.” He asks the audience, “You’re in control, is there anywhere you want to go?” but the sold-out Freedom Hall crowd is already exactly where they want to be.
Senior David Rojas described the experience as “pure bliss. I was completely entranced.” Of the people I talked to, I could not find a single person who was not blown away by the concert.
Both Kevin Golden and Ryan Schuler described it as amazing, Chris Sims said it was awesome, and James Zukowski said, “it was the greatest concert I’ve ever seen.”
“Seeing them live was a completely different experience than I’ve ever had listening to their CDs,” James Wolff said. “There were a couple of times where they made a mistake and just laughed it off, and it was like they were real people just like us.”
This relaxed “chill” atmosphere, as Wolff described it, permeated through every row in all 344 sections of the filled Freedom Hall’s maximum seating capacity of 19,169.
Highlights of the night included their performance of their first single, “Yellow,” during which a barrage of massive yellow balloons was released into the crowd, and their newest hit, “Talk,” which began with an echoing guitar riff that bounced back and forth through the walls of the stadium and finally climaxed in an all-consuming light display in which the words of the song were displayed across the ceiling in different languages.
However, the part of the show that everybody couldn’t stop talking about occurred when the band went straight from their acoustic performance of “Til Kingdom Come,” with drummer Will Champion playing piano, bassist Guy Berryman playing harmonica, and both Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland sharing the role of guitar into a cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”
Just as they opened with a bang, the band ended in grand style. When asked what his favorite song of the night was, Rojas replied, “Fix You. There was no other way that they could have finished off the show better.”
After their final song was over, the band did not rush off the stage like most bands do.
Instead they did quite the opposite. After waving to the crowd and simply taking in the moment, the four members gathered at the front of the stage and took a bow and thanked their fans.
