26 November 2008: Jobing.com Arena, Phoenix, AZ, 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 (techno version)
- Talk (techno remix)
- 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 Phoenix. http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/1556
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=46460
Discussion
All post-show discussion for this show at the forum thread: http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46460
Fan Reviews
All fan reviews have been submitted to us by the members of Coldplaying.com[1], unless stated otherwise.
Just got back and it was amazing as usual. SAME SETLIST. NO NEW SONGS...but do I Have a story for you all!
I made a sign that said "Play Life in Technicolor ii or Glass of Water."
I was in the second row right next to the ramp of love, and I held up the sign right after the first encore (after DAAHF). Chris saw my sign, walked to the edge of the stage towards me and we had a mini conversation! He gave me the maybe hand sign, and strummed his hand like a guitar...like he didn't have the right guitar to play it...when all 4 band members were bowing, Chris pointed my sign out and they gave my a thumbs up!
Well...they came out for yellow but they didn't play LITii or GOW BUT, after Chris came over to me again and pointed at me, tore off Johnny's setlist from the ground and threw it towards me!!!! But, it hit the security guard and he gave it to the snotty B$it$H shitting next to me! And she wouldn't give it to me!!! By that time, Chris was gone and they boys had left. It makes me so made because she didn't even sing during the show and probably didn't even know half of the songs... and she KNEW that Chris was trying to give it to me. Some people...she has thebbad karma now!
But the fact that Chris and the whole band acknowledge me and my sign is so amazing!!! and he came over and tried to give me a setlist himself!!!! I'm so pumped up right now. I was really hoping that they'd play a new song for the last US stop this year. But, at least I got their attention
I will post some pics/vids tomorrow...I'm still in disbelief that all this happened!
[knectthedots]
Just got back to my hotel room and WOWWWWWW, the people in my section were great, dancing and singing even a mentally and physically handicapped boy with a cane, he waved it above his head as we all sang and clapped
I almost wet myself during In my Place, Jonny was sooooo close to the stage as I was filmingOh shit I love them somuch I want to see them again now!!!! And yes coldplaybirdsfly Ihopethey come back to US in 2009.
Well, you could tell they were tired, bless their hearts, especailly Chris, he wasn't his normal witty and chatty self. I didn't check the Anaheim thread from Tuesday, sO I don't know if his demeanor was the same then or not, but you could tell something wasn't quite 100% with him.
Especailly when he introduced Will for DWNC, he just simply said:"Here's our drummer Will, no clever intro this time, I don't know maybe he was not in the best mood or I'm just reading too much into it. But he was still animated and dancing around throughout. The crowd may have also added to the mood, the audience as a whole was a little mellow I noticed.
I still had the best time, I love these guys so much, and how beautiful is The Hardest Part with just Chris and his piano?
[clisaj]
I saw the yellow poster, as Chris did point it out at the end. This was my second concert of the tour. I came from Los Angeles. This was supposed to be paired with the Vegas concert, but everyone knows what happened. I'm not as mad as others, cause it means another vacation for me and my girlfriend.
The Lovers in Japan and Death to all His Friends ending really is perfect. We felt good enough to leave early, thinking didn't we hear Yellow already? Now, I realized that there was a second encore we missed. Bummer!
We had floor tickets, but we ended sitting in the handicap section since it was better.
Did everyone think this being the last show was better than the first few shows. Of course, practice makes perfect.
[gruder18]
coldplay.
First, let me just say how much I love Coldplay.
I LOVE COLDPLAY!
After several months of waiting, the concert was finally tonight. I’ve never been so excited in my life. Craig and Princess bought me tickets for my birthday. They bought the tickets in like April, my birthday is in June and the concert was supposed to be July 12. Apparently, somewhere along the line, Coldplay (or their people) got smart and realized Phoenix in July probably wasn’t the smartest idea. Hence, the show was moved to tonight. Craig and Princess were kind enough to get me two tickets so I could invite a friend. I invited my girl L-Cro! She’s the one that introduced me to Coldplay and I thought it was only fitting that I bring her along.
Everyone met up at my place and we headed off for some dinner. Two Long Island Ice Teas later (thank you Lindsey), we were off to the show in Glendale at jobing.com arena. We were a little late and missed Sleepercar, which I was kinda bummed about. However, we had the unfortunate luck to not miss Jon Hopkins. Let’s just say, I’m not a fan of trance type music. It has it’s time and place, but the Coldplay concert was not it.
Finally it was time for Coldplay and the show rocked! The sound was great, the band was energetic, the lights and set were good and the video screens were like MTV (according to Lindsey). They sounded great and I got chills when they started singing Clocks. There were a few times when they moved out into the crowd and sang a few songs. Chris Martin did a piano solo of The Hardest Part, which I really enjoyed.
Overall, the show really cemented how I feel about Coldplay and their music. They are amazing and will forever be my favorite band. At one point I got so caught up in the music I completely stopped listening to the lyrics… which is funny, because the lyrics are one of the things I love most about their music. They sing some pretty powerful and meaning songs.
They didn’t play two of my favorite songs (Green Eyes and Warning Sign), but it didn’t matter because the set list was pretty amazing. They even kind of mixed up a few of the songs into like a club mix, which was awesome.
I saw Coldplay in Glendale last night as they concluded their American tour, and it was one of the most creative concerts I’ve ever seen. It was also the first non-amphitheater concert I’ve seen in a very long time. I’m guessing U2 circa 1997 was the last one I saw that wasn’t in one of those sheds. The show had many highs and a few disappointments. One of the best parts was the spectacular laser show. Short of Pink Floyd and probably U2, I’m not sure I’ve seen any band incorporate the visual element as well as Coldplay did last night. During the song Lovers in Japan they had tons of butterfly paper cutouts in fluorescent colors come streaming down, which were all lit up. The picture in the bottom gives an idea of what it was like. When darkened in the arena, it created a spectacular effect. They had a series of disco balls with visual images of the performers throughout the arena as well. The whole band walked literally into the crowd, with only mild security really, which put the whole band about 3 feet from me, which rarely happens in an arena concert and was quite cool. They played a few tunes in the aisle right next to the crowd in the cheaper seats, and I mean right there. Chris Martin is a top notch arena rock front man — peronable, talented and energetic. The only real downside to the show is that it was a bit short at maybe ninety minutes, and the ending was sudden and anticlimactic with only one encore. For what concert ticket costs in this day and age, the band should err on the side of pumping out a few extra songs. Their best song Clocks had a new, faster and not improved arrangement, and they didn’t play several of my favorite songs like Daylight, Moses and others. Overall, it was a very impressive concert that offered an enhanced appreciation of their latest album.
We enjoyed the concert overall, despite Chris Martin’s apparently tired voice. In his defense, Phoenix was the very last venue of a long American concert tour, and he does write himself all those songs that are so high. I’ve always wondered what he would be like live, because his songs sound like they’re much easier to sing in a studio than on a concert tour. I guess I was right. But who died and made me a critic, right? All in all, they did a great show and I felt they treated us to some great surprises.
[thanks Daniel Green]
Tonight is a night of festivities! As some of you know, I hold a part-time job working at jobing.com arena. I work in the guest services department on the suite levels. In translation, I work for a bunch of prissy, self-centered, high dollar people.
Along with their attitudes and expectations comes a wide array of costumes. I call them costumes because some of the outfits that these women wear are so tacky. I feel as if the only way they could think to wear some of these outfits is because they think it’s dress up day. Depending on which part of the suite floor you work on, and who is attending the event, you just might see a soft core porno that’s how bad it can get.
At any rate, I was working the Northwest Podium on the Executive suite level of the arena. I had a nice clear shot at listening to Coldplay strut their stuff and it was great! I enjoy listening to a band with soothing music.
Love their music, love them, love them in concert! Everyone should buy their music and love it!
http://futurejane.blogspot.com/
Media Reviews
British rock group Coldplay wrapped up its North American tour Wednesday in Glendale with a solid, understated performance, reports AZCentral.
"You can't do an American tour without finishing in Phoenix, Arizona," said singer Chris Martin, who could be forgiven for his slight geographical slip-up. Coldplay is one of the most dependable touring bands in rock these days, and the group's 90-minute set gave the near-sellout crowd at Jobing.com Arena plenty of well-executed anthems.
Clocks, Yellow, Speed of Sound and the title track from the band's latest album, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, all were delivered with precision. This tour was one of the Grammy-winning group's largest undertakings in terms of staging, with a huge screen occasionally used for videos, intense strobe lights, scores of lasers and intriguing illuminated globes that alternately held artsy designs and images of band members.
Martin hopped and bounded all over the stage, often playing a guitar instead of his signature standup piano. Bandmates Jonny Buckland (guitar), Will Champion (drums) and Guy Berryman (bass) were content to hold their positions until the curly-haired Martin dropped by to give them a hug or a good-natured shove.
Much of the concert spotlighted this year's Viva La Vida album, with the crowd singing along to such new classics as Violet Hill and Lost! A highlight of the new material was a haunting-yet-sleek version of Cemeteries of London. Martin slid behind his famed upright piano for another strong new tune, 42, a slow song building to a climax in which the singer jokingly stuck out his tongue.
The band took to a small stage sticking out into the crowd to pick a few favorites, including 2002's God Put a Smile Upon Your Face. Martin took a solo on 2006's The Hardest Part, playing a nice extended piano solo as the song wound down. Later, the group ventured into a far corner of the arena and delighted ticketholders in that section by mounting a small, hidden stage to perform a few songs. "Here's an old song, and it's not even that good a song. But it means something to us," Martin said, in introducing The Scientist. The audience disagreed, going crazy when Martin played a harmonica as other band members strummed guitars and a mandolin.
Coldplay mixed things up just enough to keep it interesting, and although Martin will never be compared to Bono or Jagger, his low-key stage demeanor strongly connects with a younger generation that doesn't demand bombast in its rock stars.
Source: http://www.azcentral.com
Obstacles greet plan to see Coldplay show
The plan was simple: go to Phoenix on Wednesday to visit friends and go to the Coldplay concert that night.
Insert joke from "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" here.
The plan quickly unraveled.
I'd received approval from Coldplay's people to get a photo pass to shoot a few songs and review the show that included El Paso band Sleepercar as the opener.
Only problem was my camera battery died. Four stores later and I finally found the battery. Things would go smoothly now right? Nope.
As I was getting ready for the drive Wednesday morning, I noticed my left front tire was a little low. Put air in the tire and off I went. By the Texas Canyon rest stop in Arizona, the tire was 2 to 3 inches from being on the rim. I managed to put air in the tire and hobbled my way to Casa Grande, where I had a new tire put on.
Two hours and $75 later, I was back on the road just in time for speed enforcement zones every 20 miles, which caused traffic to slow to a crawl. I arrived at the arena with a few minutes to spare to catch Sleepercar.
Will call, of course, could not find the tickets and photo pass. Eventually, I was told to go to the administration office and try my luck there. After several minutes, they found the tickets and photo pass under a different name. I
walked into the arena in time to see Sleepercar leave the stage. Two bottles of water, even at $5 each, were gonna hit the spot. The concessions people took the tops away because you just know someone who buys $5 water wants to throw that bottle at someone right away. An empty bottle can't possibly be tossed if it doesn't have a cap on it either. I spilled some water on my walk to my seat.
A little over an hour later Coldplay took the stage for the North American closer to their "Viva La Vida" tour.
I wish I could say I had a good view of the band, but truth be told, from my seats stage left/rear and near the top of the first section I mostly just saw their profiles and badonkadonks.
Without being able to get a good view of the band, I watched other people nearby, like the guy who made hip-thrusting motions during "Viva La Vida," earning a slap from his girlfriend, while two women in the row in front of me danced sexily to the pep-talky song "Fix You."
Guys, if anyone ever gives you crap for liking Coldplay or wanting to see them live in concert (i.e., they repeat the line from "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"), tell them you're going for the women because, trust me, beautiful women love Coldplay and tend to attend the shows with friends.
With everything that happened in relation to the show, I can only sum it up with the border saying "asi es la ------ vida."
http://www.elpasotimes.com/living/ci_11096829
Innovation is hard to come by in the music industry, especially when it comes to concert tours.
Someone, usually the Rolling Stones or U2, has always done it before. Several aspects of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" concert in Glendale, Ariz. Nov. 26 were quite familiar because the concert had a definite U2 feel to it.
A bit of singer Chris Martin's stage presence seems borrowed from U2's Bono, such as the little jump-hop-skip combined with an arm thrust into the air he’d do.
The two ramp thrusters that came out from the left and right parts of the front of the stage were a way for Coldplay to get closer to the audience on the floor and in the first level of stands.
During the fourth song, "In My Place," Martin and guitarist Jonny Buckwald faced off with each other in a mini-battle before Martin dropped to his knees to sing the song's final lyrics.
Hmmm, this looks exactly like what U2's Bono and The Edge did during
"Until the End of the World" on 2001's "Elevation Tour." Well, Bono overacted his demise when he did it.
And instead of the stage thrusters just stopping after about 15-20 feet or so, U2 made a heart-shaped catwalk that enveloped part of the audience on the floor during the 2001 tour and a similar catwalk for 2005’s “Vertigo Tour.” It’s a big commitment to do such a catwalk because just like a model on a catwalk, you gotta work it. It can’t be there just to look at.
Just like U2 and even the Foo Fighters on their last tour, Coldplay had a second stage they performed on. Coldplay’s second stage was at the end of one of the stage thrusters with a floor lit up like a disco floor. The quartet squeezed onto the small stage to play techno versions of “God Put A Smile On Your Face” and “Talk” before Martin stayed on the stage alone to perform beautiful versions of “The Hardest Part” and “Postcards from Far Away” solo on his piano.
Coldplay separated themselves from other bands with the third stage they set up in the arena. After a powerful version of “Lost,” the band left the stage, walked across the floor (the crowd on the floor surged toward them) and up to the top of the first level for a two-song acoustic set.
Martin joked that if people had bought cheap seats near them to be far away from the band, he was sorry he ruined their night. Martin then said it was time to get serious before they played “The Scientist” with Buckwald, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion all on acoustic guitar.
Next, Champion took over lead vocals for the b-side “Death Will Never Conquer.” The acoustic guitars gave it a country feel, but the song also sounded like a hymn that would fit right in on Sunday mornings in church. A gospel choir joining Coldplay on the song on stage would bring the house down. Feel free to use that idea boys on the stadium tour next year.
The third stage in the audience give U2 and other bands something to top, if they’re brave enough.
While Coldplay’s stage show has definite similarities to other bands’ shows, the band’s music — especially songs on the latest CD, “Viva La Vida,” — set them apart.
The theme of the night was a celebration of life most notably seen in “Viva La Vida.” Sure, the lyrics are about a king who’s lost his kingdom, apparently centuries ago, but that doesn’t really matter as the music just soars and takes the audience singing along.
“Lovers in Japan” was the unofficial end to the party (even though it wasn’t the last song of the night) with its four shots of confetti that were shot out from the rigging above the audience. Confetti, especially butterfly-shaped confetti, just scream it’s a party.
After shooting the first three songs from upclose, I went to my seats to the side/rear of the stage, at the top of the first level. Seeing mostly profiles and posteriors of the band, except when Martin did his interesting dancing or played his piano, I really couldn’t see the band’s faces. Well, I could look at the screens or on the songs where they were used, the oversized light bulbs that doubled as projection screens, but the shots were usually so tight on their faces that you couldn’t see the musicianship as if you were able to see the stage properly. The disadvantages of this are obviously not being able to take in the whole show. The advantages of it are I focused on listening to the music more and was able to focus on audience reaction to the songs.
Even though it was the last concert of a long North American tour, Martin's voice held up remarkably well. There were a couple of times it got lost in the mix, but his voice never gave out.
Martin said in a recent Rolling Stone interview that the band is playing the best they ever have live in concert. He said they're not quite up to Pearl Jam's level and he's right on that. Pearl Jam aren't just tight, they also signficantly vary the setlist night after night. Coldplay play pretty much the same setlist every night.
But that's OK when you have as many hits as Coldplay does.
Ladies in the crowd loved the songs and danced or swayed to much of the set. I did find it odd, yet beautiful, when two pretty women in the row in front of me danced sexily to “Fix You.” The sing-along song, built on lyrics of a promise to help out someone dear to you are heartwrenching and sincere, not exactly the song you’d imagine someone would grind to.
Martin not-so subtley reminded the audience of the song’s meaning by stumbling around the stage and pretending to be punched in the face and continuing on.
Women weren’t the only ones dancing. A guy sitting a few rows in front of me decided to live la vida loca during “Viva La Vida” by thrusting his hips (complete with coordinated arm motion) to the rhythm of the strings in the song. The Beavis in me laughed, even though the guy’s gyrations earned him a slap on the arm by his girlfriend.
Coldplay showed different sides of what that band can be. You want sensitive rock? Here’s “Fix You,” “The Scientist,” and “Yellow” for you. You want country songs? Here’s “Strawberry Swing” and “Death Will Never Conquer.” They even have techno for you with “God Put a Smile On Your Face” and “Talk.”
As nice as it is to hear the different sides of the band, it might be even more interesting to see them perform their whole set in a country style or techno style just to shake things up.
Of course, if rumors of the band’s imminent breakup or Martin’s retirement are to believed, then that all goes out the window.
Although, Champion fronting a country band with Buckwald would be worth seeing.
http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/concert/2008/11/asi-es-la-ida-a-coldpla-reie.html
Blog #3: The third and final instalment from our guest blogger, Soha Yassine. Soha took the reigns for all things Oxfam, for the final 3 US shows of 2008. Phoenix was the last of these 3 shows, before the UK tour kicked off.We arrived in Phoenix at what seemed like an ungodly hour for a tour caravan that hit the road at 1:30am. As I rolled out of my bunk in the ungraceful manner that I do every morning and headed into the venue for some much needed coffee, I stopped by the stage area. It wasn’t even noon yet and my bus-mates have the skeleton of the stage already constructed! Confetti butterflies had already littered the ground. They tend to get stuck on all of the equipment from the night before and fall off everywhere they go. They don’t bother anyone though; who can get mad at butterflies? As I stared at the butterflies in my pre-coffee state, I realized the familiar pattern of metal puzzle-pieces on the floor of the venue. This could only mean that there was an ice hockey rink beneath us and my pre-coffee-Californian-self could only think of one word: gnarly.
Later in the day I take a tour of Jobing.com Arena with the venue representative and we have a very nerdy conversation unfit for a roadie about temperature regulation of the ice as compared to the rest of the venue. That night, thousands of Coldplay fans stomped their feet to Viva la Vida above ice. Very gnarly.
Before that 17 volunteers including our lead volunteer, Abraham, who travelled to Phoenix for the concert, urged hundreds of Coldplay fans to give their voices to the fight against poverty. As I made my way around the concourse to check-in with the volunteers, one volunteer told me that she was approached by a Coldplay fan who said that as she was in line at one of the venue’s many venders, she thought to herself that the money she was about to spend would be better served by giving it to Oxfam. Although the volunteer told her that donations were not the purpose of our presence at the show, the woman insisted on donating the money to Oxfam. After she told me the story, the volunteer and I looked at the money and smiled.
Tonight’s show is bittersweet for me. On the one hand, I get to go back to So. Cal. tomorrow and spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my family and friends before flying back to Boston to resume my duties as an Oxfam intern. On the other hand, it’s Coldplay’s last show in the US and the end of my time on the road with them. My time on the road was a once in a lifetime experience. It couldn’t have happened without the guidance of my colleagues at Oxfam, the awesome crew behind the scenes, and Coldplay themselves for believing in the power of small actions.
My last night on the bus was one of interesting conversations: the merits of fiction as a literary genre, water sanitation processes in the US and UK, the state of specialized education in Western academia, and other various subjects unfit for rock and roll roadies. It was unfortunate that it wasn’t until my last night on the tour that I realized I wasn’t the only nerd on the road with Coldplay.
Peace, S
