27 February 2006: Ford Center, Oklahoma City, OK
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
Coldplay isn't a band, a sound, or a sought-after export. They are an issue, a political party. The New York Times published an article making the “Case Against Coldplay.” One vote for Coldplay and you may be the deciding vote against an indie rock oligarchy. If you kind of like them, sometimes, well you might as well just be voting for Ralph Nader. So a band of such polarizing effect, may inspire mass hysteria upon their arrival in Oklahoma City right? No. Despite the magnifying glass recently brought upon the band that noticed the stars were really yellow, Coldplay managed to keep things quiet.
First off is Coldplay's opening act choice. With Rilo Kiley and Black Mountain recently opening Coldplay shows, Coldplay continues to use their supporting slot to endorse bands with a previously strong following. This time was no different as Fiona Apple graciously belted out sultry piano confessionals from “Extraordinary Machine.”
No temper tantrums escaped Fiona's interpretive dance sessions, much to the relief of the restless audience. All sat, as only one row of women in the floor section felt Fiona's aching pain. “Criminal" incited spasms in the black-clad Apple.
Listening to the throaty soul of Apple is always akin to listening to that girlfriend you dumped and left in the basement come back and recite all of the blues she learned while in the basement. If only more could feel her pain. The set was short and rewarding.
Coldplay was best when they quietly set-up shop on the front aisle of the stage after the yellow confetti balloons (nods to the Flaming Lips) had burst. As drummer Will Champion took the keys, singer Chris Martin picked a burn washed acoustic and all members huddled together for a string of songs anchored by “Til Kingdom Come."
This was Coldplay forgetting about the awe-inducing light show that invades their shows, and dedicating “Kingdom” to Mr. Cash--one of the four great American vocalists, the others being Dylan, Elvis, and Wayne.
The nose bleed seats had a few empty slots but none below. Screaming twenty-somethings and forty-somethings sang the songs with purpose; a few rock and roll hand signs even accompanied the band.
The best image was seeing silhouettes lit against a backdrop displaying a countdown. The light show, as with all Coldplay shows, was an always impressive onslaught of mood beams of light and just enough white to show silhouettes of the band on the large screen, as if there is always something bigger going on than four guys with instruments.
Coldplay offered a generous set. It wasn't a feast though because they didn't include the two best songs in their catalogue, “Green Eyes" and “A Rush of Blood to the Head." In fact it only distinguished itself from the Austin City Limits set by two songs.
For “In My Place" Martin, accompanied by two security guards, sang in the cheap seats and “Fix You" featured a crowd chorus and a swinging light bulb. “Swallowed in the Sea" was reserved on the encore. Yet all of the earnest love pleas in the song were undercut by the fact that Martin's handwriting was artfully projected onto the big screen--as if the Ford Center was treated to the chicken scratch of genius for the first time.
The bigger Coldplay gets the more they will have to deal with these kind of pretentious trap doors. For instance, when Martin told the audience Wayne Coyne had driven him around Oklahoma City earlier in the day he said, “Even though we are international super stars, we are still fans of The Flaming Lips.”
Gee, thanks.
Instead of recounting a car ride with Oklahoma's favorite son, Martin could have made something big happen. Coyne was roaming backstage. The Lips and the biggest band in the UK could've united in Oklahoma. Martin's slightly tweaked closing to the heartbreaking “The Scientist" could've segued into a jubilant, collaborative “Yoshimi Vs. The Pink Robots" but an event of that magnitude was just not in the cards. People bought floor tickets for a price as steep as $300 and they didn't see the essence of psychedelic, indie rock Oklahoma combine with the enormous Brit-Pop enterprise Oklahoma is an important place for bands to be, but celebrations like this must happen, and passing bands can always give more.
To close, Coldplay's fans are very good looking. Judging a band by its fans is cheap and shallow but it is absolutely the case with Coldplay. Part of the fun of a Coldplay concert is still watching the pink shirted fellow who turns down his blonde's pursuing lips, so he can eye Martin, tear up a tad, and sing at the speed of sound. It happened on row 12 or so Monday night. These guys in the pink shirts are why critics don't really like the band. What critics forget, though, is that for three records Martin has condensed Radiohead into pop songs: an easily accessible structure that hinges on pretty vocals, chiming guitar, charming piano leads and boring drum play.
But Monday's display proved that Coldplay has it down tight, with a few signs of growing. Champion's drum play continues to improve. An extended clincher to “Clocks" showed Champion's intensity exceeding that of the charismatic front man's, and Martin only looked like the afro haired fool from The Grammy's half the time--when reaching into the air and miming a bird. “White Shadows" ended with Martin and guitarist Johnny Buckland sprawled supine, staring at the ceiling.
Last night, Coldplay only kind of wanted to be U2. The members of Coldplay will have to learn from the discipline that led them to huddle on the front of the stage for three songs and also allow themselves the vision to take full advantage of the arenas they fill. A duet with a Lip member may have been perfect aural equity for the polarizing Brits.
Source: oudaily.com
With a sudden jolt, a giant Cinemascope monitor illuminated the Ford Center stage Monday night, backlighting the shadowy figures of Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Jon Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman. Martin leaned on the monitor, intoning the opening lines from Coldplay’s latest album, “X&Y,” to the capacity crowd.
“You’re in control. Is there anywhere you want to go?” Martin sang as a digital countdown commenced on the screen. For the next 90 minutes, Martin and Coldplay took the audience everywhere it wanted to go. It proved that in the three years since Coldplay’s performance at the Civic Center Music Hall, the Oxford, England, group has evolved into something massive: a world-class band that has no problem filling stadiums with spectacle, exuberance and its dramatic, heart-stirring music.
Coldplay’s first three songs offered a backward glance at their recording career: after “Square One,” the group launched into “Politik” from 2002’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” then played the song that introduced them to the United States, “Yellow.” Giant yellow balloons fell from the ceiling, bouncing through the stadium and, after a few sharp volleyball spikes from audience members, exploded with gold confetti.
The balloons were reminiscent of a favorite spectacle employed by the Flaming Lips, the local heroes who once took Coldplay on as an opening act. During a stripped-down set played at the edge of the stage, Martin thanked Lips leader Wayne Coyne for taking them on a tour of Oklahoma City that day and told the audience there were four great American voices: “Elvis, Dylan, Wayne Coyne and Johnny Cash.” Coldplay then launched into “Til’ Kingdom Come” and segued into a spirited, rough-hewn version of Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”
Older favorites such as “Don’t Panic,” in which guitarist Buckland sang a verse for the first time on the tour, were greeted warmly by the Ford Center audience, but Coldplay played at peak levels on the epic rockers from “X&Y,” and the crowd responded with jet engine-level intensity. Martin raced around the stage with athletic grace, even sprinting to the back of the stadium during the band’s encore, which featured “Swallowed by the Sea,” “Fix You” and “In My Place.”
But while most of the crowd was there for the headliner, few will forget Fiona Apple’s fierce, feral opening set. If anyone expected Apple to just sit at the piano and play quietly, she quickly disabused them of that idea. Following powerful, bluesy renditions of 2005’s “Get Him Back” and her 1996 single, “Shadowboxer,” Apple jumped up and lit into her biggest hit, “Criminal,” stalking the stage with wild-eyed intensity.
When she was not singing with such focused passion, Apple seemed to be arguing with unseen opponents on stage - she made every frustration palpable through her manic dancing. And the crowd ate it up: if Apple could have stayed longer than 45 minutes, the audience would have welcomed her back for another hour of strange magic.
Source: http://newsok.com [Thanks Andrew Holmes]
I just saw this concert and I have to say that I have had a rough year in 2005. I approached divorce 3 times, and had a pretty emotional rollercoaster to ride. I confided most days in listening to coldplay and thinking about loosing my family. I care for my wife and my 3 kids very much and from songs like Green Eyes, The Sientist, Yellow, & Square One, have inspired me to look deep within myself and see the problems that I was creating, and why I was failing as a husband and a father.
My wife and I decided to reconcile after our last 4 month break-up, we bought tickets to the concert, and patiently waited for 2 months until tonight. Tonight was an extremely emotional night for me as I had tears in my eyes most of the night thinking back on this past year and how much I nearly gave away. I owe some sort of graditude to Coldplay and there quality of music.
I will never forget seeing them live and the highlight of the night was when he jumped off stage and ran from the front of the auditorium all the way to the back and climbed up on a platform that was staged by section 102 where I was seated, he began to sing to our section, not 10ft away from me and my wife! Was this coensidence? Sure, but we both felt very special and I would have given anything for us both to have been able to meet him and the band. May never happen but one can dream!
You Guys rock! I loved the show! Please come back!
[Thanks Jason Ellison]
After hurricane Rita spoiled my fun back in september for the Houston's show, I finally got to see my band last night. It was amazing!
We sat 3 rows from the stage and it was magic. This band's music has been the soundtrack to my life for the past 3 years (I am 38 years old). I really did not want it to end.
Thank you guys for your fantastic songs and for been so awesome. You are absolutely the best band in the world w/ the long hair and all.....Luv you.....Flavia
What an absolutely amazing mindblowing concert! Coldplay is one of my favorite bands ever, and it was well worth every cent i payed for that ticket. They managed to make me laugh, smile, scream, and even cry at the performance of the song "Yellow", which just happened to be mine and my wonderful boyfriend Trent's song. If one band can let a person show so much emotion in one performance, then they must be great. Thanks guys for coming to Oklahoma, we need more bands like you.
Come back!
[Thanks Emily]
My wife called me at work 2 days before this show and asked me if I wanted to go. I was reluctant because of the high ticket price, but I agreed to go.
Actually, we weren't interested in seeing Coldplay at all. We came to see Fiona. Because of a mix up with the online ticket vendor, we actually got some of the best seats in the house, face to face with miss Apple. Her performance was brilliant. I sat in amazement, wondering how this incredibly moving and powerful voice was coming out of this young woman. Her stage theatrics were often bizarre, yet seemingly genuine, and her verbal outbursts (done away from the microphone) were reminiscent of Tourette's syndrome. This made for an exciting performance from perhaps the most gifted female talent of her generation, although her set did seem incredibly short.
Poor Coldplay I thought. What an awful decision to let Fiona open their show. How could they possibly measure up? I must say, I was pleasantly surprised, if somewhat perplexed. In true arena rock fashion, Coldplay brought down the house. Despite the strangely somber demeanor of both guitarists (maybe Mr. Coyne had slipped them some shrooms pre-show), this was an all-out assault on the senses. The elaborate lighting (some operated by little men suspended above the stage), the dense atmospheric sound, and Chris Martin's yoga inspired acrobatics combined for a most entertaining experience. Maybe I'm not getting out of the house enough these days, but I had no idea how huge these guys were. These fans were not your typical screaming teenagers, they were mostly thirty-something upper-middle class suburbanites.
These were gainfully employed and responsible folks, out late on a Monday night getting their "groove on," at the risk of sleeping in the next morning. The deafening roar in the stadium must have rivaled that of Beatlemania, convincing me that I was witnessing the rise of the new rock messiahs.
Despite this perplexing spectacle of devout adulation, I have gained a new respect for this band. They really know all the right buttons to push to work the fans into a frenzy. This could have easily been a Jesus revival.
When I got home, I decided to dust off a copy of X&Y that a friend had given me several months previously. Although I'm reluctant to admit it, I now understand what the fuss was all about. Although they don't quite measure up to Fiona, in my very biased mind anyway, they do possess a subtle, endearing charm, conveyed by heartfelt (although sometimes cryptic) lyrics. I must confess, I am now a Coldplay fan, and a hard-won fan at that.
[Thanks Todd McFall]
OMG! It was THE TIME of my life! I’ve NEVER been sooo freaking happy! Cheesy
Here’s the story lol:
Me and Watson [a friend of mine], on our way to the Coldplay concert…trying to find a gas station…It was outrageous! we arrived in Oklahoma City about 2-3 hours BEFORE the concert and so we were trying to find something to do lol.
After arriving to the Ford Centre, we paid our way to parking and rushed into the FC. It was awesome! FanFire was there, selling loads of Coldplay stuff [that I was going nuts over…] and people from Oxfam were there! I gotta stamp on my hand from the MakeTradeFair.com logo, and so did Watson! [I signed the petition as well…woot woot!] It was crazy cool!
Later, we went and found our seats [after I went nuts and bought a program because I left my debit card in the car and couldn’t buy apparel….grrr!] The program is nice! Anyways, we found our seats…and waiting a good while and then the lights went out…
…Fiona Apple comes on in her little outfit [lol reminds me of “what really grinds my gears — family guy, peter — lolol] and yeah, she’s all gliding across the stage like she’s big and all…lol Nah, Fiona is good. My favourite song of hers is “O’Sailor”. She has THE WEIRDEST music, but it is THE COOLEST…and that’s what makes her AWESOME!
Anyways, she was kinda…um boring?…Game over.
Alright…Now to the GOOD PART! [This isn’t “The Hardest Part” lol — Coldplay lovers know what I mean lol] Anyways, after the Applehead gets off of the stage, people rush back and forth trying to get her shizz off the stage so they can put the famous MTF piano on the stage and all that! I was excited just WATCHING the guys move it out there! Freaking COOL! Anyhow, they take a good 20-30 minutes getting Coldplay tuned and set up and then the lights start teasing us…They get dim…and then dimmer…and people are going crazy!!!! — Especially ME — And I’m all…where the HELL are they at!?!?! I’m all jumpin’ around, looking for them and ommmgg…FINALLY, THEY COME OUT! The crowd goes WWWWWWIIIIIIIIILLLL LDDDDDDD!!!!!!! Compared to Fiona Apple, COLDPLAY KICKED HER ASS OVER 10 MILLION TIMES! Especially with Guy’s bass! You could FEEL it pound as he hit the strings! It was unbelieeevable!
The set list was like so: [I’m sorry I don’t really remember EXACTLY how it went, I am VERY tired lol] I know they started with “Square One” and ended with “Fix You”…
“Square One” — this was a killer! The crowd went nuuuttzzzzzz!!! Cheesy [the had the huge white background with the digital clock counting down behind them!] and chris was singing and ommggg!!! “Politik” — hell yeah, woot woot! “X&Y” — it took me a minute to get what this one was…lol “Yellow” — omggg big yellow balloons dropped from the ceiling with gold glitter!! “Speed of Sound” — shit! people stood up and jumped for this one! Cheesy “God Put A Smile Upon Your Face” — the big screen behind them was freaking awesome!!! “Talk” — chris didnt pick up anyone’s cell phone…but it was FAAANNNTASTIC! “Clocks” — rainbow lights…they lit up…and was slow…and you could hear music playing…and then they were like DUN UN UN DUN UN UN DUN UN DUN UN UN DUN UN UN DUN UN DUN UN UN DUN UN UN DUN UN DUN UN UN DUN UN UN DUN UN…OMMMGGG!!!! THIS SONG WAS THE BEST! EVERRYONNE WAS SHOUTING SOOOOOO LOUD! This made me wet myself. [jk lol] it was awesome! Cheesy “How You See The World” — i have to say, that i DON’T know the words…im ashamed lol…but it was freaking cool! “Til Kingdom Come” –OMMMGG THIS WAS AWESOMMMMEE!!! YOU SHOULDVE WENT! OMGGG OMGGG OMGGGG [valerie, you wouldve gone nuts! lol] “The Ring of Fire” — johnny cash is a freaking cool guy, mannn!! coldplay performed this VERY well! since they’re down south, and Johnny’s country, eeeeeveryone went as nuts as they did when they played “Clocks”!!! sweet! “In My Place” –this was awesome…i had some guy fairly close to me on my left side holding up a lighter…hahahhaa. ..i was normal like everyone else and just held up my cell phone…but Andrea was on the phone listening! Cheesy “Don’t Panic” — crazyyy cool! im surprised to hear people singing to it! the crowd was in a daze! I just came back to this one…I forgot to mention…That for the FIRST TIME EVER [according to Chris, but i actually knew Jonny had sang by himself on it before] JONNY BUCKLAND [lead guitarist] SANG A VERSE BY HIMSELF IN THIS SONG! [i’m sure he’d do it again lol] [which he has!! LOL] he has a very nice voice! he should start singing more often! chris move aside, sexy! Wink “The Scientist” — wow…the video behind coldplay was zooming in from outer space to this guy’s hand…lol…and it went further [its scientific!] and yeah…weird, but cool! Cheesy “Trouble” — the whole band came to the front of the stage for this one! will was on PIANO [he didn’t do the whole thing like chris, but he was jammin mann!] and jonny was on lead and guy did the acoustic while chris sang! it was awesssommmmeee! [chris later joined the high note side of the piano while will played lower…it was awesomme!] “Swallowed In The Sea” — this was AFTER “Talk” was played and they said that it was it and have a good nite!…ERRNNKK! WRONNNGG! It was an encore! they came back and played this followed by… “Fix You” — ommgg…CHRIS HAD THE LIGHT FROM THE VIDEO IN THIS ONE! HE SWUNG IT AROUND SEVERAL TIMES AND THEN LET IT GOO! JOHNNY WAS JAMMIN!!! YAAYYYYYYY!!
Note: I just remembered that…It was hilarious, but Chris had just got done singing “Square One” and he went up to the mic and asked how we all were doing…We yelled FREAKIN SWEETTT! And he was like…”I have JUST been informed from one of my very loyal crew members that, my trousers were unzipped!!!!! :O!!!” he was like “hahaha! i didn’t mean to offend anyone by that, i promise! i just didn’t know that happened!” ommmggg we were all laughing our butts off! it was awesome! Watson who was sitting there beside me yells “DO IT AGAIN!!! DO IT AGAINNN!!!” hahahahahhah!!!!! ommggg! it was great!…
He then goes into “God Put A Smile Upon Your Face” and then CHANGES THE LYRICS in the first part by making fun of himself and his unzipped trousers! LOLOL OMG IT WAS GREAT!!!! It was ONLY for US…It was…hahahahha! Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy I’ll NEVER forget that! Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy
Anyways…It was freaking awesome and yes, Andrea, I DID have the time of my life! I will not EVER forget that night! When rumours like “when you see Coldplay live ANYTIME of your life, you will NEVER forget the show” go around, they really are GOOD…
[Thanks coldplayerx&y09]
