The anonymous warm-up “special guests” got on everybody’s nerves with the electronic ’80’s sound a-la Soft Cell, Human League, or, whatever, Gary Numan. The keyboard-playing female moved to the music in a rather provocative fashion, but at least one could see somebody enjoying their material. First rule of the day: never invite a warm-up band with tonnes of non-compatible equipment… it took forever to dissemble and tag away all the blinking lights, keyboards, and drums, to pave the way for the band everyone came to see… Coldplay. Some had travelled even longer distances than myself just to listen to them.
The English band took a while to begin, but the crowd forgave everything when Chris Martin appeared at the back of the stage, holding up the mic and rolling out the wonderful “Square One” from the latest album “X & Y”. The dynamic frontman whistled through the stage back and forth, and, thanks to my contact lenses especially attached for the occasion, I could enjoy his show to the full. In the beginning, the band seemed little more than random musicians who happened to play together, but the tension seemed to have eased off as the night gained swing. Coldplay noticeably started keeping closer together, which only added to the quality of the performance. Well done, guys.
Some highlights: I may be wrong, but the fans seemed particularly fond of “In My Place” from “A Rush of Blood to the Head”. “Speed of Sound” went off incredibly well, as did my personal favourite “Talk”, both from “X & Y”. “Clocks” rocked with the memorable piano line, and “Yellow” was accompanied by yellow baloons flying around the concert hall. It was not only the big hits, however, and Coldplay did a great job on ballads such as “Swallowed in the Sea” and the title track “X & Y”. During “Amsterdam”, Chris forgot the words, let through an f-word, and apologised, “We have not played it for a few weeks”. Bless you, my dear, anything tonight. He let the lyrics slip out of his mind on one other song. I think it was “‘Til Kindgom Come”. Another personal favourite of mine, “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face”, put, erm, a smile upon my face (okay, cheesy-weesy, I know). The band closed with the latest single, “Fix You”. Unforgettable.
Overall, Coldplay were great as expected. Thank you, guys, for the fantastic night.
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