6 June 2009: Sommet Center, Nashville, TN, USA
From WikiColdplay
Contents |
Setlist
- Life In Technicolor
- Violet Hill
- Clocks
- In My Place
- Yellow
- Glass Of Water
- Cemeteries Of London
- 42
- Fix You
- Strawberry Swing
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (Partial Techno Remix)
- Talk (Partial Techno Remix)
- The Hardest Part (Chris Solo Piano)
- Postcards From Far Away (Chris Solo Piano)
- Viva La Vida
- Lost!
- Green Eyes (acoustic)
- Death Will Never Conquer (Acoustic, sung by Will)
- I'm A Believer (Neil Diamond Cover - Acoustic)
- Viva La Vida (Remix Interlude)
- Politik
- Lovers In Japan
- Death And All His Friends
Encore - The Scientist
- Life In Technicolor ii
- The Escapist (Outro)
Photos
Photos from this show can be found at Coldplaying.com in the Gallery thread for Nashville. http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/1761
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=55534
Discussion
All post-show discussion for this show at the forum thread: http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55534
Fan Reviews
All fan reviews have been submitted to us by the members of Coldplaying.com[1], unless stated otherwise.
The Nashville show was my first Coldplay show ever, and I certainly hope it won't be my last. Without question, that was the most awesome thing I have ever seen. I was so amazed how the level of awesomeness never dropped off the entire time they were on stage. I can't really add anything about the show that greeneyes didn't cover. All I know is that I can't wait until I can go again.
[bamaweather]
This was the third time I've seen the boys this year, well 2nd to be correct (November - Atlanta, May - Atlanta, Last Night - Nashville) and I'll be trekking up to Charlotte in a couple months to see them once more.
I craigslisted some tickets from a great dude in Murfressboro, TN (Shout out to Justin P.) and we had floor seats in section 6 - first row..nice
Snow Patrol OWNED the crowd. They came out to a great roar and were awesome. It was my first time seeing them and they got a standing O after their set - at this point, the place was about packed, so that was very awesome to see.
The show was fantastic as usual, but compared to the energy from the Atlanta show a few weeks ago, Chris was much more subdued and didn't have too much to say. I know that he was VERY talkative (more so than usual) in Atlanta, but that didn't take away from the night. Perhaps it was due to being back indoors for a summer show, I don't know.
I believe the Sommet Center's capacity is 18K + and there were only a handful of empty seats that I could see - we're talking packed to the brim
Same setlist as usual (I managed to grab one from a FOH guy at the end of the night). I also may be completely crazy, but after the Scientist, Chris seemed to walk towards the back of the stage either a little tired, discombobulated or something and when they play LIT II, they used a backing track on his vocals (maybe just the chorus). I wondered if he was starting to feel a little sick/tired, etc.
All in all, great night - LRLRL distribution was as to be expected - slow but fun. I have a few pics, but nothing mind-boggling.
The boys of Coldplay are Gods among men - that's all I can say
[herrijt]
Last night, I volunteered in the volunteer state with Oxfam for the third time at a Coldplay show. Since I had done it twice before, I knew what to expect and more about what we were canvassing about. There were so many people last night who asked me & my partner detailed questions about Oxfam’s campaign on climate change, like what we were going to do about it, how it would help in the long run, and things like that. But luckily we knew all the answers to them! Of course there were the groups of people who let us talk for a long time then decided they didn’t want to sign, and people who asked where their seats were. Though it was a bit frustrating, overall our group did great. I can’t remember the number of signatures we got, but it was very high. I’m sure Soha will update us with it later. After 3 hours of canvassing, it was time to meet up, get our tickets and find our seats. The tickets said “behind stage”, which didn’t sound like we’d be able to see, but Soha told us they were pretty sweet…which they were! We were all in the same row, in section 113. (It wasn’t behind the stage, it was actually the side of it, and so when the screen was down for Life in Technicolor, we could all see the band, as we were behind the screen as well.) Once everyone sat down, we heard the usual U2, Jay-Z (with the break dancing roadie), and The Blue Danube. Then Coldplay emerged with the sparklers! For anyone who’s curious about where they go, they have a metal trashcan that they threw them into. Some were still lit. There were a bunch of technical difficulties throughout the show; most were before the B-stage with Jonny’s microphone. He kept walking to the side signaling to someone, who then came on stage to adjust it for him. From our view it was more obvious that two people come on stage between Violet Hill & Clocks, to move the piano. And at the end of Clocks, were waiting for Chris to finish hitting the keys to move it for In My Place. I really like the transition between the two songs; how they connected them and it fits so well. During In My Place, there was the usual Chris and Jonny love, and then when the balloons came out for Yellow, everyone had pushed them towards the stage, like I’ve never seen before. It seemed like all of them ended up there, leaving Guy, Chris & Jonny to pop them when they could. And at the end we sang the last few lines again with the sustained “ooh”. But this was another time that Jonny’s microphone was messing up or doing whatever it was doing, and a roadie was onstage fixing it. After this was Glass of Water, which didn’t have the usual sing along that all the others have, probably because everyone doesn’t know where it’s from still. During Cemeteries of London, Chris sang Cemeteries of Nashville, which everyone responded back with cheers. The lights & screen behind the stage during this song & 42 are always my favorite...it fits so well. When it was time for the B-Stage, there also seemed to be something wrong happening with Chris’s guitar and then the microphone. There was also a problem with the ball closest to my section, it kept coming down, almost touching the stage, and going back up the whole time they were on the B-stage, which blocked our view every minute or so. But was eventually fixed. Viva La Vida of course made everyone go nuts, and came with the usual mass sing along. At the end when Chris was lying on the floor, it was really obvious then that he was exhausted, and he stayed down there for a really long time, longer than I’ve seen at any other concert. And of course people were trying to touch him, and you could tell he wasn’t happy about it (probably because he seemed dead), and kept moving away from them. Finally he back flipped into Lost! The problem with the ball happened again, but was quickly fixed at the beginning of the song. Then they all ran out to the C-Stage, which always makes the people in the back very happy. My Oxfam partner who walked around with me earlier asked where they were going, and when I told her and why Coldplay does this, she was really excited that Coldplay are so awesome to do that. Anyone who was at the show, or has seen pictures of the C-stage, there was a little kid wearing a blue shirt who was absolutely stunned that Coldplay was performing right in front of him, his face was priceless, and when Chris gave him his harmonica, he nearly died. When we did the Mexican Cell phone Wave, that was also pretty cool since we were in an arena, and it almost made a complete circle. Even after I’m A Believer started, it was still going on. After the interlude, Politik started, and being behind the stage didn’t seem as cool because the strobe lights were in our eyes. I never thought of this before last night, but it’s also in the band’s eyes too, and during this song, or at least when the strobe lights are on, they all have their eyes closed…it all makes sense. And after over 100 shows on this tour, it is amazing they still do it every night and don’t have seizures or anything. Next was Lovers in Japan, which never gets old & is magical. Butterflies didn’t come to our section, but it doesn’t matter. Then after DAAHF, they bowed, and left. Since Oxfam wasn’t passing out the free cd, we were able to stick around. Chris came out alone for The Scientist, but first told us if we were ever going to download a song, to download one by the Howling Bells, which I’ve forgotten the name of now. He also then explained LeftRightLeftRightLeft, and after a minute of talking about it, telling us in different forms that we should get it since it’s free, he said “just fucking accept free Coldplay!” and started The Scientist. Next was LiTii, which I was only able to see half of before we had to go back, but it was still amazing, and a great end to the show. This was my 6th time seeing Coldplay, and it has yet to get old..even if I know the setlist, and where they're running to in the crowd, it's still exciting and every show has been different. They're truly amazing live, and worth every cent you spend on tickets or anything else.
[greeneyes1207]
i randomly got a free ticket to go see coldplay in nashville on saturday at the sommet center (FAAANG FINGERRRS). opening act snow patrol was very charming and irish. another thing i discovered is that i dont need to defend why i like coldplay. everyone secretly likes them.
the stage set was pretty cool. the backdrop and costumes had a french revolutionary theme, a la Viva la Vida. it was one of those shows where you are like, "this is my favorite song!" "THIS is my FAVORITE song!!" you know what i mean.
at one point towards the end of the show, the guys walked down the floor side aisle and went up to a little platform a couple rows behind my seats (a la POTS traveling band at games) to play three acoustic songs. it was a real thrill.
also, did you know that the bassist is actually REALLY cute?
http://2pznappod.blogspot.com/2009/06/coldplay.html
A Marketing Lesson from Coldplay
I took my 16 year old son to see Coldplay Saturday in Nashville. It was an incredible show. It was the first time I have seen them live. I have to say, that it rivaled some U2 shows I have been to. We were about 25 feet from the stage, so that made it all the better. I’ll try to post some iphone photos shortly.
But what struck me almost as much as the show itself, was the crowd that was there. In front of us were some crazy 30 and 40 somethings, behind us were two african american women in their 60’s, and all around was a mix of all ages and colors. I expect this from a band that has been around for a while and has fans from different generations, but this was Coldplay. They only formed as a band in 1998, and their first record was out in 2000. Their popularity has only reached the masses in the past 5 or 6 years. So how do they do it?
Yes, they have good music that is accessible to a larger audience. But I saw something more Saturday night. I saw passion, I saw thoughfulness, and I saw excellence. It reminded me of something that happens with professional athletes. When you are the best at what you do, and are passionate about it, it draws in everyone. Even if you are not a basketball fan, you stopped to watch Michael Jordan fly through the air. And while I don’t play much golf, I am mesmerized when Tiger Woods makes that impossible shot that miraculously goes in the hole.
Coldplay is doing that with their music, and it is a lesson we all can apply to what ever business you are in or product you are marketing. Do it with excellence, be purposeful and thoughtful, and most of all do it with passion. You will find that your audience and customers will grow exponentially beyond your target demographic.
http://buzzsquared.com/2009/06/08/a-...from-coldplay/
Saturday night was the infamous concert...Snow Patrol opening for Coldplay! Todd, Laura, Ry, and I met up with Todd and Laura's friends at Cantina Laredo at The Gulch in downtown Nashville for dinner. It was hilarious! Good food and great company. After dinner we drove the rest of the way downtown, parked next to the Ryman and went into the Sommet Center (I now know that it is not the "Sum-It" Center, you say it "So-May" Center...just FYI). At this time we had missed the first band, the Howling Bells.
Snow Patrol was great! This was their first concert opening for Coldplay and you could tell. It was a tiny bit disorganized but overall I enjoyed it. It's hard to not be disappointed when the opening bands don't play all the songs that you want to hear, but they only have a tiny bit of time.
Next- Coldplay. Folks, I can't even begin to put into words just how much this show took my breath away. It was by far the best show I have ever seen. It was far and above every other concert on all levels- lights, sound quality, production, song selection. They were on stage for two hours and it didn't even come close to feeling like it. Our seats were really high but not all that bad. I couldn't take too many pictures because I couldn't get them to not look crappy. This is the only one that you could kind of be able to see what was going on. It was during the song "Yellow." I screamed at the top of my lungs, was singing my heart out, and had a dropped jaw at the production for the entire two hours. I would definitely love, love to see this tour show again. I balked at the price we had to pay for these tickets but now after seeing it I would gladly pay even more to see them again. I wish I had some suitable pictures from the concert to share with you, but it just didn't work very well. Not only that, but I was clapping and dancing and the camera was kinda forgotten for long periods of time.
Hope you all can go see Coldplay for the Viva tour. It was worth the ticket price, the travel, the food expense, the gas...it was great. If you can't find a concert to attend, go to their website and download the free LeftRightLeftRightLeft album they put out there for the fans. It's from some live concerts and it will whet your whistle for a taste!
http://www.sarahthequeen.com/belle_o...-round-up.html
Saturday was my first time seeing both Snow Patrol and Coldplay. I guess it was Snow Patrol's first-ever appearance in Nashville. Brian, mom, and I attempted to go to their in store at Grimey's, but an hour before showtime, they were already at capacity and there was already a line of 20+ people outside waiting. I wasn't too worried though because I was going to see them later that night. The lead singer seemed very grateful to be doing what they do, though I have to say I'd take his recorded vocals any day over what I heard live last night. Still, you can't deny the sonic beauty of their songs and I thought they made for a solid opener.
Coldplay is just on an entirely different level - something I'd always heard about, but never understood until last night. Chris Martin is an unbelievably smart entertainer. He had the audience in the palm of his hand throughout the entire night with witty Nashville lyric rewrites, frequent audience participation, and high energy bouncing around. He hardly ever stops moving, almost in a cartoon-character type way. I'd describe him as engaging, charming, and genuine. He came off like a humble, quirky, likable superstar that you'd want to hang out with for an afternoon. And the accent certainly doesn't hurt either! I am also intrigued by the drummer. Will have to read up on him a bit more.
Production-wise, they pulled out all the stops, such as these lovely yellow balloons they released during, of course, "Yellow," that burst into a confetti snow storm when popped. I'd seen something similar on a Kenny Chesney tour where he released "big orange balls" into the crowd (a lyric from "How Forever Feels"), though I don't remember them containing confetti.
Another genius move was playing on a stage toward the back of the venue, turning the back into the front for a couple thousand lucky fans. Not an entirely new concept, but still cool that a Platinum selling band is willing to play a few songs on a tiny stage barely big enough to contain all 4 guys.
Coldplay is one of those bands that almost everyone can agree on and appreciate. It was fun reading all of the Tweets throughout the night, especially those of artists and performers who were there, presumably to see what they could learn from Mr. Martin and Co. I also think their gesture of giving away a free live disc (9-song Left Right Left Right Left) to everyone who attends is pretty cool, especially in these tough times, though I wonder how many fans had already downloaded it from their web site, since it's been available for several weeks now.
I felt a little guilty for leaving the mom and the bro at home, since they were only in town for a short visit, but they were so pooped out from the day's earlier events that they were more than content hanging out at my place watching a movie. Definitely glad I finally got to see Coldplay live. It is indeed a unique experience. Believe the hype.
http://kristinwatson1.blogspot.com/2.../coldplay.html
Media Reviews
Concerts rarely inspire audience members to turn their attention in as many different directions as Coldplay's Saturday night show at Nashville's Sommet Center did. The British rock group's lavish stage production frequently urged its attendees to take in the spectacle around them rather than focus on the band on stage. Lasers shot across the venue for their hypnotic performance of "Clocks." Giant balloons rained from the ceiling at the start of the band's breakthrough hit, "Yellow." A swarm of neon, butterfly-shaped confetti shot into the air during their closing number.
Still, the most transfixing moments of the evening came when all eyes were focused on front man Chris Martin, who manages to balance commanding showmanship with palpable humility in a one-of-a-kind way. As all the house lights turned on for "In My Place," Martin bounded down the stage catwalks, greeting his audience with equal measures of cockiness and gratitude. During the choruses, he turned the microphone toward the stands like he was lobbing a softball, and the crowd, in turn, knocked their cues out of the park.
Moments like these also gave Martin a quick chance to catch his breath, which he'd certainly earned. The singer would leap and whirl in his trademark fashion from one end of the stage to the other, drop his guitar to pound some chords on his upright piano, then hop over to aid guitarist Jonny Buckland in keyboard accompaniment. By the end of "Fix You," he slumped onto the piano and pointed to the crowd to go on singing without him. The audience also aided him in forming "the world's biggest backing band" to sing a single note at the end of "Yellow," which he dedicated to "Faith and Tim."
Getting a number of their biggest songs out of the way early in the set, Coldplay piled on the mood lighting and video effects for a stretch of songs from their latest album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. Tunes like "Cemeteries of London" and "Strawberry Swing" are smart and charming enough, but lack the dynamic arena punch of, say, the epic, show-stopping "Politik" from 2002's A Rush Of Blood To The Head.
Vida's title track, however, was greeted with the set's most energetic roar. Its orchestral flourishes and techno-inspired beat were a surprisingly good fit for an arena rock show, and also served as the perfect segue between two additional stages the band performed on during the evening. The first was at the tip of the catwalk on stage left, where the band stood in close proximity and pounded out electronic versions of "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face" and "Talk." The second -- to the crowd's surprise -- was situated at the opposite end of the arena, where the band did a few acoustic numbers, including "Green Eyes" and an unlikely cover of the Monkees' "I'm a Believer."
When Martin returned to center stage to play "The Scientist" as the band's encore, he had one more (potential) surprise: free copies of Coldplay's live CD, LeftRightLeftRightLeft, would be available to fans as they left the concert. (The band announced the gift on their website recently -- the album is available as a download, but the hard copies are going to Coldplay ticketholders.)
The CD table was of course all but impossible to get anywhere near as the thousands made their exit, but judging by the rapturous response Martin and his band received at night's end, nobody was going home without a smile on their face -- with or without their free souvenir.
Realizing that attending Saturday night's Coldplay show--their first in Nashville in six years--was a no-lose situation, as we were guaranteed an entertaining spectacle of sound and vision, we decided we owed it to ourselves to witness the phenomenon of the band's success firsthand, and made it down to the Sommet Center on time. There, we we got caught up in the cattle-herd of teenagers outfitted in Viva La Vida fatigues, popped-collar frat boys and their girlfriends, Jon Bon Jovi look-a-likes who color-code their two-tone dye jobs with their pre-ripped jeans and slobbering drunk cougars. As a result, we missed the first half of Howling Bells, whose brief, shoegazey set droned more than howled.
Even from our plush ninth-row floor seats it was hard to see the Australian foursome burning holes in their shoes and taking cues from the 4AD discography due to the "moody" lighting that obscured them. Which is just as well considering that what they do is pretty antithetical to the whole arena rock thing.
Direct support act Snow Patrol were an utter waste of time. Between the contrived stadium choruses and a singer whose favorite move was reaching up to the sky to make sure we got a long look at his white belt and even whiter midriff, they blandly satisfied all the requisite criteria of the adult-alternative idiom. A shout-out to Grimey's record shop--where an in-store by the band earlier in the day had resulted in Beatlesque pandemonium--was enough for us to forgive their mediocrity and endure a set that would make Coldplay's seem fiercely original by comparison.
The arena, which appeared to be at capacity, was brimming with excitement in anticipation of the night's headliners, and you didn't have to be a fan to share in the palpable enthusiasm that comes with knowing you're about to see one of the biggest bands in the world. The crowd's deafening reaction as the band took stage with the one-two opening punch of Viva La Vida's "Life in Technicolor" and "Violet Hill" only grew louder with the trifecta of "Clocks," "In My Place" and "Yellow" (with the last chorus dedicated to Faith and Tim) that immediately followed--a string of hits that we were surprised to see played so early in proceedings. The fact that they could blow such a load in the first quarter of the set was a testament to their sheer prowess as both hit-makers and arena-rockers. Combine this the band's unsullied musical execution, frontman Chris Martin's disgustingly boyish charisma and the multitude of lasers, video imagery, dragon costumes, bursting ballo0ns and confetti cannons, and you have exactly what we came to see--a hit-laden multi-media extravaganza of epic proportions.
Despite the hi-tech tableau on the grand stage, the part of the show that connected best with the audience was a three-song acoustic set the band played on a mini-stage in nosebleed territory, during which they had the crowd do the wave with their cell-phones before leading them in a sing-along of Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer."
Mercifully, Martin & Co. spared us twelve of the thirteen tracks from 2005's critically maligned X&Y, opting only to play the overwrought anthem "Fix You," which was second only to the band's ultimate pussy-wetter "The Scientist" in eliciting the fever-pitch sing-along of the night. Along the way there was the epic fan favorite "Politick," nearly all of Viva La Vida and a smoke-break inducing solo piano set by Martin. While Martin's arrhythmic airplane imitations and cringetacular Bono-aping were a little much to handle at times, we found that our hands were up in the air, our heads were bobbing and our mouths were open more than we'd care to admit.
http://blogs.nashvillescene.com
