29 November 2008: Arena, Sheffield, UK
From WikiColdplay
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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 (Chris solo, partial before switching to Trouble)
- Trouble
- Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)
- Viva La Vida
- Lost!
- The Scientist (acoustic, with ending of Take That's Back For Good)
- 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 Sheffield. http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/1563
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=45472
Discussion
All post-show discussion for this show at the forum thread: http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45472
Fan Reviews
All fan reviews have been submitted to us by the members of Coldplaying.com[1], unless stated otherwise.
Back!! That was a crazy car ride home, haha... lots of very loud music, fog, and tiredness I was in Block C, Row 22... good view for the Trouble/Postcards/GPASUYF and Talk. So cool to finally meet Maaaaarrrrri. It felt strange to be behind rows and rows of people who did nothing and didnt sing for most songs.... but hey. I musn't be downbeat! The most amazing moment for me had to be when I pulled out all the stops dancing to Politik in these said rows of quietness...... twas a beautiful moment!!
I also loved it when Chris decided to not play the Hardest Part and play Trouble instead...wahey!!!! I took a few music clips here and there with my mobile phone, but unfortunately my proper camera is kinda broken, so I don't have any photos or videos. Sorry. It was a good night! and I think the boys really enjoyed it too, I could see them having a smile and laugh a lot of the time. I just wish they threw in a few more oldies or a few of the new Prospekt's March stuff. Maybe in time........
[crazyduckette]
Awesome night - band on top form and, as previously said, looked like they were really enjoying themselves. We were sat/stood about 3/4 way back 5 rows up the tier and it just seemd that most of the crowd were happy just to stand and watch. No real singing or moving about which dissappointed a little. I guess thats what happens when the floor area is seated. Thats my only complaint of the whole night. If they’re half as good at Wembley next year then its going to be an amazing day!
[Ollyc]
Kara, if you got these non-singers all the way in the front, imagine me, all the way in the back. I had a guy beside me that kept asking: “so, do you also know this song?” And NO ONE one block 212 wanted to stand up. people were SITTING! I couldn’t believe my eyes (I stood up anyways. and a guy threw beer on me. i didn’t care). But The concert was amazing. and when Chris decided NOT to sing The Hardest part was probably the high moment of it!!! I have pics (few) and loads of videos (although from VERY far away) - which as always contain my amazing singing skills on it (sorry for that) - that I’ll put here as soon as I upload!!! And Kara, it was aaaaaawesome to meet you!!!!! Our little surreal foggy night, with the spanish and their picnic, listening to soundcheck and a crazeh drive home in the end!!!!
[marianatsl]
haha yeah that was really funny..”and the hardest part…nah i dont wanna do that one i wanna do trouble…oh no, i see” was my first coldplay gig and it was everything i was hoping for and more. one of the best nights ive had in a long time, not only was the performance great, they were very entertaining with the whole Gary barlow and country western bit
[shane_coldplay]
What a night at Sheffield Arena I was lucky enough to be just 8 rows from the front and feet away from the sides that they used. Like everyone else the highlight of the night just had to be Trouble (The first Coldplay song I ever heard) After that it had to be Fix You (Made the hairs on my neck stand on end) All you lucky ones that are still waiting to see there shows in the UK the wait is nearly over and believe me you wont be dissapointed if they are on the same form as last night at the arena boy what a treat!!
What the heck some people grumbled about lack of changes in the set list but after a two year wait for them back on English territory (Excluding the warm ups and Brixton) I was more than grateful to hear anything. The down side had to be the support acts AFJNR what can you say about a bloke who comes on stage in an indian headress abd performes all the way thu with a plastic Captain America shield on his arm , two young lady backing singers doing occasional stupid dances and making noises (Oh!! was told it was singing)
Then after that having to put up with 40 minutes of some DJ making just a load of noise which was totally and utterley pointless with even more pointless images on a screen. Stay in the bar till just before Coldplay come on save your energies for the boys YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED
[SPEED OF SOUND]
Favourite bit for me btw was a toss up between Coldthat and the end of 42 when the entire crowd did the “O-ohhhhhh” but Chris didn’t and he said something like “Yeah that’s it, thanks!”.
[littlewhiteshadows]
We were on block 106, right at the end back when security taped us in! Odd, turned around and directly in front of me they had put up a makeshift stage! And i mean directly in front of us! We got to pat them all on the back as they came up onto the stage, I have some phone footage but cant upload at work. At the end chris threw his harmonica into the block above us, it bounched and landed on the floor. my partner nat scurried under the tape and grabbed it! I told her to put it in her purse and be quiet as I didnt want anyone to mug her for it!. So we had a great gig and we now have Chris’s harmonica!!!!! Whoop! Shes been playing it all bloody weekend mind and she’s proper dining out on the sto
[chimpola]
They were absolutely fucking fantastic! There is nothing else you can say - the concert was an entirely seated one which was a bit weird and our evening was slightly tainted at one point by a group of people right in front of us that insisted on dancing right in our line of sight on the edge of balcony meaning we couldn’t see the stage without standing up… and we had loads of seated people behind us… it was all very Politik.
It didn’t ruin it though - it was a shame that one of the women chose to wear a fugly purple satin binbag - that was offensive to my occipital lobe - but other than that the whole thing was FAB!! Chris Martin was gorgeous - the songs were COOL! They opened with Life in Technicolor and played solidly for about 90 minutes… Violet Hill, Viva la Vida, Trouble, Yellow (last song) Fix You, Politik, Scientist, Clocks, God Put a Smile Upon My Face, In My Place, Lost and others… It was ‘MAZIN’ to quote an Ella Word.
The show was fantastic - the set was great - at one point they ran down the arena and went up to the first balcony level to play Scientist. They were right opposite us - so gutted they didn’t pick our side but hey … you can’t have everything! I love DIT - I would definitely see them again - we are hoping to see them next year if we can..
I had an interesting weekend involving Coldplay and church. I caught the Coldplay concert at Sheffield Arena on Saturday and loved it. It exceeded my expectations as they made the event (all seating), a lot more active than I had imagined. The lighting was fantastic (giant Chinese lanterns with live video projected on them) and Chris Martin was as energetic and bouncy as Tigger. Plus they sound fantastic, have great songs and moving lyrics. The crowd knew as many of the words to the songs as the band that demonstrates the power of words and the power of sharing the emotions they evoke.
Had a fantastic evening, my Mum and Dad had the girls over night, while we went to see Coldplay kick off their UK leg of the tour at Sheffield Arena. Can’t find words to describe their performance……..simply brilliant…….absolutely one of my favourites. This was the first of four concerts we have booked over the next few months……………don’t see anybody for ages then loads at once………costs a fortune, but worth it! I’m glad we live so close to the Arena, I hate travelling home after the concerts. Still got Simply Red, Keane and…………………….er The Ting Tings……my husbands choice, that said I have been listening to them and I am looking forward to it.
http://pinkliliboo.blogspot.com
I bought a ticket to Sheffield during the first allocation, then realised my seat was really crap, so decided to buy better ones on eBay. I got Section C, Row 22 for a really decent price and was going to take a mate of mine, but unfortunately, she was unable to come due to a family emergency. I roped Kara into coming with me, which suited her fine coz she can’t make it to Coldplay’s O2 shows [how can you not make it woman!!! LOL!]. It was a lot of fun driving up to Sheffield, listening to Coldplay, especially their early stuff and the b-sides. Geez! I wish they’d play some b-sides. I’d love to hear Careful Where You Stand or Sleeping Sun at a gig. And, I’d kill to hear Daylight once more…
We got to Sheffield in about 3 ½ hours and it was foggy the whole way there. I’ve never known anything like it. When we left London it was foggy and all the way there it was foggy! I felt like we were in some sort of horror movie or something. Plus, the sky was turning weird colours. First it was blue, then yellow and we couldn’t work out why. Very trippy…. The Sheffield Arena is quite an imposing structure. It was easy to find [thanks to my trusty sat nav] and we were able to hang out in the Box Office area, which was lovely compared to the freezing cold outside.
We met up with Coldplayer marianats - a lovely girl who’s over from Brazil studying. Also a Spanish couple who she’d met earlier [whose names I forget - sorry]. We were having a laugh, taking pictures and eating Jamon with bread :).
We heard Coldplay’s soundcheck and were going completely nuts, then a few minutes later, I realised it wasn’t actually Chris singing live, but a pre-recorded show that they use to balance the sound in the arena [boo! LOL!]. We were well excited thinking that Chris Martin was just behind the door, playing for us, because it was quite loud. You could even hear it outside, which meant that, even if you didn’t have a ticket to the show, you could still readily hear all of it anyway. I felt ripped off.
When it was time to let people in, we were kept queuing outside at the bottom of the steps to each entrance and the queues were quite long. I know were won’t be getting anything stupid like that when Coldplay hit the O2 as there’s lots of shops and restaurants - on the inside, which I’m really looking forward to. Met Oxfam Pete, who said it was weird him seeing me on a different continent. Well, this is my home continent, after all…LOL! We needed the loo and every one we went to had huge queues, so we went inside the arena to see if we could find an alternative. Inside was quite nice, better than other arenas I’ve been too. The hospitality suites were at the top and the 2nd tier seats were underneath, which was nice. It meant those who were in the nosebleeds were closer to the action. I saw a familiar face in front of me and I realised it was Hoppy, who was tuning the guitars and then I realised we were standing on the platform that Coldplay would be doing their acoustic set in - Section 107! That was very cool. They wouldn’t be in the middle of things like they were at other gigs. The section had an easy way out and the crowd were kept at bay as there wasn’t going to be anybody stood directly above the band, just below. We found our seats and we were right in front of Stage B, where Coldplay do their ‘techno bit’ so I was dead chuffed at the seats I bought. I’d only ever seen the boys from behind during this part of the set, so that was another thing to look forward to.
Kara and I were messing about taking picutres, when all of a sudden I dropped my camera. It was ok, until I realised the memory card had slipped out! I was going crazy, trying to look for it. I mean, it’s not like I’d moved or anything, so the bloody thing couldn’t have gone far. And, I didn’t have my spare memory card on me. I was absolutely livid. So, no pictures of the band, I’m afraid. I have some scrappy vids from my phone, but they’re rubbish and I shan’t upload them. First on was Eugene Francis Jr, who I’d completely forgot was supporting Coldplay. He is a excellent choice to support the band and played a great set with his band The Juniors. ‘Poor Me’ was a song that I discovered ages ago, when I was looking for a Coldplay video to feature as a Song of the Week. It’s really trippy. Have a look…
He came on stage with a full Indian headress on, which is part of his bag. He’s wacky and very cool. He also had a sort of shield on his arm as he was playing, which looked like something Captain America would wear as it was red and which stripe with a star in the middle. He was great! He said he was ’shitting’ himself’, but he needn’t have worried. The crowd really liked him and he sounded awesome. He played his political song at the end of this set and the band donned those hats that privates used to wear back in World War II. Then we had Jon Hopkins [yawn]. I was playing on my ipod. Then when the Jay-Z track came on, I knew it wasn’t long until Coldplay! It was so loud. Kara was getting amped up and was singing [she knew all the words]. I didn’t see any roadie lights flashing, which meant they weren’t dancing, which was a bit of a downer. When The Blue Danube came on, there was nobody to whip the crowd up, so there was no clapping, which was a shame. I was trying my best, but there nobody was with me. In fact, the crowd was quite static, which was very odd. There wasn’t any jumping about or dancing during Coldplay’s set [except for me and Kara]. The Sheffield crowd were really quite boring.
Oh yeah, the seats behind the band were not sold, so they had these huge black curtains up, which threw huge shadows of the guys on the sides of the stage. Coldplay back in the UK. How I’ve waited so long for this moment! I had a wee plaque, which said ‘Welcome Home Coldplay’ and I flashed it when they guys were on the B-Stage. Whether they saw it or not I cannot tell. I also had my Glass of Water and Lost banners, but some nazi security guard moaned at me to take it down. I did flash ‘em up so the band could see every so often. I didn’t see anyone else with banners :(.
Chris was having trouble with his guitar because Hoppy kept running on stage to try and fix it. I didn’t notice anything different about the sound. I didn’t know anything was wrong. Chris sounded great and he had good energy. He said that they hadn’t played in the UK for about ‘27 years’ and that they were glad to be back. I loved his little embellishments and extensions to the end of songs. He always does something different.
The crowd went absolutely mental when Chris decided not to play The Hardest Part and played Trouble instead. ‘I don’t wanna play that…’. That was so funny. I’ve stopped hoping that they’ll play Glass of Water. I guess we’ll get it when we’re least not expecting it….
When the boys left the stage to go to Stage C [block 107], the crowd we well curious as to where they were going. One woman was standing on her chair, going ‘Where are they going? Where are they going?’ LOL! You could see them ok from where we were standing, which makes Sheffield Arena seem quite small. It’s was so nice of Chris to turn around and sing to the folks behind him [see video below...]
Also, during The Scientist, Chris said ‘this song should’ve been written by Garry Barlow’ and then sung ‘Back for Good’ by Take That at the end. It went down a treat and sounded lovely. And when Chris introduced Will for ‘Death Will Never Conquer’ he said ‘in the tradition of singing drummers. Here’s our handsome 30 year drummer Will Champion’. Awwwww. Will sounded absolutely gorgeous! During Politik Chris sang ‘14,000 from Yorkshire watching us’, which they loved. Oh yeah, as we were being let in, I saw a sign which said ‘this performance will contain pyrotechnics’. And I’m like ‘Whaaaaaaa!!!!!’. Coldplay are going to have some fire. Wow! But, it didn’t happen… I could have them under the Trades Description Act for that! LOL! We missed out on butterflies during ‘Lovers in Japan’. During the first chorus they fell in front of us and then during the second chorus, they fell behind us. We didn’t get any until after the show. I’ve been to quite a few shows now and I do notice little enhancements that have been made, especially to the video screens. During Yellow, they interspersed the band with images of the audience, which I thought was lovely idea. Also at the end of Politik when the camera is on Chris’ hands they echo his movements into 3-4 layers. A really cool effect.
Another thing that happened was, they forgot to lower the balls on the sides of the arena during Speed of Sound. It did seem a little weird at the time and I don’t think anyone else would’ve noticed that, apart from me! LOL! And during the Viva la Vida remix, the magic balls had footage of the twinkling lights from other shows, but nobody got their lights out [except me]. Geez people, get into the spirit why dontcha!
[Thanks WF]
Coldplay - Viva La Sheffield - 29/11/08
Freezing fog was the order of the night in the heart of the city, as cars and coaches of fans carefully navigated into the car parks around Sheffield Arena, and to the respective ticket concourses. Inside, the 14,000 something audience, ages ranging between 7-70, quickly filled out the seats as black veils suspended from ceiling platforms were rolled down in front of the stage set up for this opening night.
While the house lights were still up, a piped feed of the classical Blue Danube eased any doubts I had earlier about echoey acoustics, then at 9:30pm sharp, Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland on lead guitar, Guy Berryman on bass and Will Champion on drums took to the stage. They launched with a short instrumental, Life In Techicolor, jamming behind the veils which rose for Violet Hill, revealing all to the audience who gave the band a respectable standing ovation and remained that way for the rest of the evening. Chris alternatively added "If you are at the first England concert, won't you let me know" as the closing line to rapturous applause.
Clocks consisted of lasers shooting various beams across the arena, before a set of globes featuring a montage of colours were lowered from the lighting platforms, setting the scene for Speed Of Sound. Next, 2 numbers from the new Viva La Vida album, firstly introducing Cemetries Of London as an apology for the change of date (originally should have taken place the following Sunday) and to blame Chris or his haircut for f'king up anyone's plans including The X Factor! An excellent 42 followed with a 70's style television set centre stage projecting live images onto the big screen backdrop.
Chris encouraged the audience to sing along to Fix You but wasn't really necessary as a choir of Yorkshire voices were already in song. Boy, they were good!
Settling down at the piano on one of the extended stage walkways, Chris joked that "he had a spot on his forehead the size of the Isle Of Wight" before, perhaps appropriately, singing the opening words of The Hardest Part, then suddenly announcing " that he didn't want to play this and let's play Trouble, very quickly changing the pace! Remaining at the piano, techno versions of God Put A Smile Upon My Face and Talk followed.
At this point, those high up in the tiers had to watch from 2 large screens either side of the ceiling above the floor or looking down with binoculars at the stage, as the show stewards began 'sealing off' the floor sections from entering the aisles. I started to wonder whether this was some sort of restraint as the crowd were mostly well behaved from where I was standing with the exception of someone reprehanded for filming or standing on their chair.
Politik featured another alternative lyric acknowledging the "14,000 people from Yorkshire watching us" sang by Chris and Will Champion performing an energetic drum routine in sequence to the strobe lighting effects. All evening, his drum work was a joy to watch.
We were in for a surprise when the quartet unexpectedly hurried past us along the aisle (explaining the sealed off floor audience) and onto a platform in the middle of the crowd at the back, playing acoustically and slowing the evening down with The Scientist, changing the closing chords to lyrics from Take That's Back For Good. Introduced as the great tradition of singing drummers, Will Champion had a chance to showcase his vocal talents with the upbeat Death Will Never Conquer, to an appreciative audience.
Returning to the stage, millions of flourescent paper butterflies rained down from the ceiling during a rocking Lovers In Japan, then another set of veils unveiled VIVA as the backdrop for an excellent rendition of Death and All His Friends as the final number. An anticipatory foot stamping ovation commenced for the encore, as Chris came back on under the spotlight and asked "Is there anything we forgot to play?" Chores of Yellow echoed amongst the Yorkshire choir one more time, as he and the band launched it as the song that first brought them to Sheffield, and will eventually kick them out of there!
Eagles Babe 18 @ http://www.rockphiles.com
Media Reviews
Masters Of Mellow Show They Do Thunderous Too
Long before he took to selling it on the TV, John Lydon used to take delight in smearing butter on his face to aid the growth of any emerging spots. On the first night of Coldplay’s British tour, Chris Martin had skincare issues of a different nature. Sitting at an upright piano while his band took a breather, the singer bemoaned the luck that brought “a spot the size of the Isle of Wight” in time for their grand homecoming.
Veterans of the punk wars – indeed, anyone who feels that pop music has long since lost its edge – would no doubt have invested significance in Martin’s facial cleansing crisis. But if you saw the way events unfolded at Sheffield, you wouldn’t need to be told that the truth is more complicated. In spite of, or perhaps because of, its containing their most adventurous music to date, the group’s fourth album – Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends – has yielded a rapturous response from American audiences.
Until Martin, a man for whom the adjective “spring-heeled” was surely coined, skipped into action over the pounding industrial folk balladry of Violet Hill, there was no reason to believe that British crowds might be any different. And yet, to gaze out on to the floor, you could have been fooled into thinking that no one had heard the new songs. If a happy-go-lucky Martin was thrown by the stationary throng before him, though, he didn’t show it. The spectral skeleton-rattle of Cemeteries of London – a song that, a week previously in Colorado, had elicited a deafening ovation – seemed to be met with bafflement. All of which led you to conclude that the group’s Yorkshire constituency were primarily here for the sonorous mid-paced anthems – Clocks, In My Place, Fix You – for which the quartet are best known. Yet, when the evening kicked off in earnest, it was for Viva La Vida, a song narrated from the perspective of a deposed dictator, whose chamber-pop arrangement owes more to Michael Nyman than anything to trouble the pop charts in recent decades. This was the moment that hundreds of shaven-headed fortysomething men steadied their plastic double-pinters with one hand while punching the air with the other.
A bizarre tipping point, then, but a tipping point nonetheless. Utilising the whole stadium, the four, dressed in their now-familiar quasi-French revolutionary garb, ran off stage through faintly startled fans and reappeared on a tiny platform amid the upper stands at the back of the venue. Playing acoustically with the drummer, Will Champion, switching to guitar and the bassist, Guy Berryman, on mandolin, they delivered an achingly spare version of The Scientist, made none the worse for Martin’s realisation that you could sing Take That’s Back for Good over the same chords.
A thunderous Lovers in Japan marked a brief return to the stage. “Lovers, keep on the road you’re on,” exhorted Martin over a vast rhythmic upswell akin to a goods train hurtling through space. Then, from the rafters, a rain of maybe a million paper butterflies. The band blamed by many for ushering in an era of polite, soul-baring popsmiths, from Snow Patrol to James Blunt, have moved on. With British dates only just under way, there has never been a better time for their detractors to do the same.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk
FIRST night of their first UK tour in two years and Chris Martin had one thing on his mind. Well, it was actually more on his face. "I've got a spot the size of the Isle Of Wight," chirped the amiable singer at his piano on a stage extension. Appropriate then that he should tinkle into early gem Trouble.
Like said blemish, the quartet spread themselves well about the place at this sold out encounter – including strolling to the back of the venue to play an acoustic stint on a stairwell. Chasing the success of fourth album Viva La Vida this was a rare Sheffield incursion for a band who previously played The Leadmill with a then little known band called Muse in support.
"This is the song that first brought us to Sheffield," said CM, introducing Yellow as an encore offering. Oh how things have changed since; as piped hip hop gave way to the classical Blue Danube the band first appeared in instrumental mode behind a dark veil before chugging into the single Violet Hill.
One thing that hasn't altered on the way to shifting 40 million records is Chris's knack for politeness – even his swearing is civilised. The dance moves have got a bit more erratic, though, the lofty frontman vaulting about during Fix You amid a stage show that included video orbs and day-glo butterflies dropping from the air onto fans.
He got his breath back behind his piano briefly during songs such as Clocks, playing the odd Les Dawson-style wrong key as lasers dissected the hall. For all the classy effects the punters were here for In My Place, Speed Of Sound and other Coldplay classics now etched into the minds of millions.
While Chris apologised ironically for moving the show date to an X Factor night, their shifting from simplicity to massive moments in between swapping instruments only further confirmed the versatility of a band that fully deserves the accolade of being one of Britain's biggest.
A Warm Glow From Coldplay
Coldplay project quiet confidence and inner strength at Sheffield Arena. Fog and freezing temperatures proved no deterrent to the Coldplay legions, who were equally indifferent to the fact that Sheffield Arena is a feat of grim anti-design that makes your local Ikea look like York Minster. The band's three-year absence from British stages had made hearts grow fonder, and the crowd's enthusiastic singalongs were often stirring. "Holy s---, that was good," boggled Chris Martin, after the audience had displayed noteworthy zeal in Fix You.
Martin doesn't look quite right as the frontman of one of the world's biggest bands, scampering eagerly around the stage and apologising for making everybody miss The X-Factor on TV as though he's leading a giant school outing, but Coldplay's secret may be the way the quartet project a sense of quiet confidence and inner strength.
All flashiness has been expunged, with Jonny Buckland fitting his guitar parts carefully into the overall plan without ever straying into ego-massaging excess, while bassist Guy Berryman stays locked tight to drummer Will Champion's powerful, unswerving beat. The songs, with their messages of doubt, struggle and quest, seem like personal confessions, but are vague enough to apply to almost anybody, like horoscopes.
Still, it's hard to believe this is the same outfit that used to drive around in a van and play quietly tasteful shows at the Shepherds Bush Empire. Coldplay have taken on the baggage of megaband-hood, such as the huge orbs that descend from the rafters to display graphics or live video, and have pinched the U2 trick of performing several songs from mini-stages at the front and back of the hall.
Thanks to a massive sound system, the pulsing riffs in songs such as Violet Hill or Viva La Vida were delivered with crushing force, and the remorseless thwack of Politik was like having your head battered by road-mending machinery. When they played Yellow for an encore, the tune was obliterated by the enormous bass and drums.
The sweetest spots occurred when they allowed their instinctive melodic feel to shine through. The pingy guitar and rolling chords of In My Place were effective because of their simplicity and clarity, while Martin's high, vulnerable vocal put the creamy topping on Speed Of Sound.
When they moved to the secondary stages, the scaled-down configuration worked in their favour. For God Put a Smile on Your Face, Champion used a synthetic percussion pad to add a crisp, semi-techno edge, while Martin's solo version of Trouble let him indulge in some nimble piano work while showing off how well he can sing falsetto.
But the pick of the night was Fix You, a song whose sad stoicism seemed perfectly pitched for these bleak days of terrorism, political crisis and the demise of Woolworths. Even a temporary warm glow is better than none.
