23 March 2006: Air Canada Center, Toronto, Ontario
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
There are many lessons to be learned in the practice of attending live rock shows. They include: "Don't drink too much if you've got a good spot in front of the stage, unless you plan to piss your pants" and "Don't wear your brand-spankin' new tour T-shirt at the gig because you'll look like a tool." The latest lesson to be learned is if you have a chance to attend a gig where the band are filming for a live DVD, go. You're guaranteed the best of everything, from lighting to effects to performance. Thousands and thousands of dollars are being spent to make sure this show looks and sounds stellar, so as a concert-goer, you can rarely do better.
Ex-Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft kicked off the night with a solid set evenly paced between his solo material and older Verve songs. The infamously temperamental Ashcroft was in a surprisingly jovial mood, kicking off his sneakers and grooving around the stage in bare feet. Songs included "Music Is Power" from his latest album, Keys To The World, "Science Of Silence" and classic Verve offerings "Lucky Man" and finale "Bittersweet Symphony," which brought the house down.
And then it was lights, camera, action. As Coldplay launched into their opening song, "Square One," Chris Martin exploded from the back of the stage and somehow managed to make it to the very front in three nimble Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-style leaps. The man is like a spider monkey. It must be all that yoga with Gywneth.
It's a good thing that Martin is the kinetic presence that he is, because the rest of the band were content to stay very still. When Martin was locked to his piano, the whole scene got infinitely less interesting to watch.
The cameras were present, but relatively unobtrusive, as Coldplay worked their way through an even-handed set that covered all the bases. After smashing through "Politik," it was on to the classic "Yellow," which had the extraordinary effect of gigantic yellow balloons filled with gold glitter falling from the roof. Martin then skewered two of them on the end of his guitar neck, causing a glittery explosion over the ecstatic crowd.
Martin's falsetto sounded a bit shredded on "What If," but his stirring delivery and the swirling light show made up for it. "I know you weren't planning to be in a film and wished you had changed your hair or gotten a nose job," he joked. "But we look like a bad version of the Bee Gees!"
A brief equipment change-around saw Coldplay gathered at the front of the stage with single keyboard and guitar for an acoustic moment. After "Kingdom Come" (which was written for Johnny Cash), the tribute continued with an entertaining cover of "Ring Of Fire."
Between the light show, the digital displays, Martin's energetic acrobatics and the band's sheer musicianship, it was a show to remember. The encore included "Swallowed In The Sea," "In My Place" (where Martin flung himself off stage and tore up the aisle to stand and sing with audience members in the back), and wrapped up with "Fix Me." It's going to be one hell of a DVD.
Source: chartattack.com
I love love love Coldplay and every time I see them live, I love them even more! I was lucky enough to get tickets for the 2nd night of their two night sold out shows in Toronto. I thought my friend Mike and I had crappy side view seats when I got there especially when I realized I didn’t have a good view of the screen. (Having seen them in Buffalo, I know that they do an excellent production on the screens behind the band.) But in the end, Coldplay were amazing to watch. I didn’t need the screen to distract me from the show.
Richard Ashcroft: Opening the evening was, Richard Ashcroft, former lead singer for “The Verve.” He started the set with solo material from his latest album, “Keys To The World.” The crowd was warmed up as they sang along to his recognizeable Verve ballad, “Lucky Man”. And by the time he got to his last song, he was playing to an almost capacity crowd at the Air Canada Centre.
During the Coldplay set, lead singer, Chris Martin says, “Richard Ashcroft opening up for us is like The Beatles opening up for Michael Bolton!” He’s right. Richard Ashcroft deserves so much more recognition! Honestly, if he released his new material under the name, “The Verve”, it would receive more acceptance and definitely chart higher. Richard ended his set on a high by playing the Verve’s biggest hit, “Bittersweet Symphony.” He had the Richard Ashcroft fans as well as the Coldplay fans singing along. Funny tidbit from side stage view: Richard wasn’t wearing any shoes; he was rockin out in his socks!
The Art of Playing A Concert Stadium: About 10 minutes after Ashcroft’s set, Chris Martin walks out on stage and says something like this to the crowd, “Listen we’re gonna tape this thing on DVD because Toronto is the best city we’ve ever played, so don’t be shy and be extra loud and we’ll see you in a few minutes.” His ploy definitely worked because as he left the stage, the level of excitement escalated to a roaring high.
Coldplay appeased the crowd’s frenzied anticipation by opening with the powerful and edgy tune, “Square One,” the first song off their latest album, “X&Y” and kept the tension up by transitioning into “Politik” the first song off their “A Rush of Blood to the Head” album. And for their third song, Yellow, humungous yellow ballons floated down from the ceiling which created a party atmosphere in the crowd.
Whenever Chris Martin was on the piano, he was facing us (which meant our crappy side seats ended up being the best seats in the house!) And that was for a LOT of songs, most noteably, “The Scientist” and “Clocks.” Chris is an incredible show man. The man didn’t stop all night. When he wasn’t on the mic, he was either running, jumping, skipping or trying to get a reaction from the crowd in his playful manner. He also ad libbed on a few songs throwing in lines about Toronto and the CN Tower which the audience adored. He has come a long way since the days he received bad reviews for having “no charisma.”
Three quarters through the set, the entire band moves to the front of the stage to create a more intimate setting. Chris says, “This is a song we wrote for Johnny Cash.” And they play the accoustic song “Til Kingdom Come.” A nice segue to their cover version of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” They ended their intimate portion of the show with a heartfelt rendition of “Trouble.”
The crowd did not let up for one second before they came out for their encore sing alongs, “Swallowed In The Sea” and “In My Place.” The energy of the crowd was SKY HIGH. Probably the most enthusiastic crowd I have ever been in. You could tell that the band totally appreciated it too ending the show with a “band bow” at the front of the stage as well as high fives and Chris motioning his hand on his heart several times.
There are only a few bands that can successfully create an incedibly moving show at a stadium. (A little band from Dublin being one of them.) Coldplay has also mastered this craft!
Review by Liz Lulu (www.lovejoy.ca)
THE CONCERT WAS AMAZING!!
wow…i’ll never get tired of seeing them live. it was beautiful. the energy from the crowd was fantastic, you could hear them singing along, i was singing my heart out. i went with my friend, it was her first concert ever, and it was a great one. she was awestruck, really. i thought that my seats would have been really bad, but they weren’t! i think they were closer then when i saw them the first time in 2003 at the molson ampitheatre on lawn. i was in 308.
hehe i was wearing my shirt with their autographs on then some girl was like, “are those REAL?” and i’m like, “yep. met them last year” in my mind i was thinking “no they’re not real, i just decided to draw on my own coldplay shirt.” but i’m not mean, and i get where she’s coming from since it’s not likely or anything.
we got in there and after a while this girl comes up to us and was like “hi! what’s your name?” and i’m like…”uhh…amanda.” she was SO drunk. before it even started! and she’s like “NO WAY! my best friend’s name is amanda!”…and the same thing happend with 2 other people. then her friend came and told her she was making an ass of herself and took her away
richard ashcroft was pretty good. but nothing compared to coldplay. everyone was standing up and swaying and dancing. what if was amazing. tons and tons of blue cell phone lights were swaying in a sea of darkness and it was breathtaking. there was the occasional lighter, but most were cell phones and i joined in. the lights were amazing. red lasers for clocks, not green like the last times i saw them. the atmosphere was just fantastic.
chris let the crowd sing a bit of the scientist. one of my highlights, it’s my all-time favourite song. another highlight was the yellow balloons. what you see in the pictures is nothing compared to actually seeing them! those things are HUGE! and the gold glitter just added to everything. chris popped 2 with his guitar, and after when the lights shone on the glitter it just added to everything.
only a few problems with the show. during fix you, at the climax of the song when chris started swinging the light, right when he let it go it burnt out! i was actually a little dissapointed that it happened, but i was on such a natural high that nothing could ruin my mood. and none of the other band members talked at all! none! jonny sang in don’t panic for part of it.
in ring of fire i think it was, chris made a mistake and said that we could get out 50 cents back for it. (i think he’s said similar things at other concerts) he had to switch guitars once. i loved trouble. i was so happy that they played it. and at the end of white shadows chris and jonny lay down on the stage.
me and my friend both got a shirt for $40. it’s really nice
- sigh* absofuckinglutley amazing.
[Thanks twin4life]
