Jovitalk - Bon Jovi Fan Community - Coldplay

Just a quick review for those who are thinking of going/going/have gone to see a show this tour. I first saw Coldplay back in the Parachutes days… they’ve come on a long way!

Firstly. Getting to the Reebok Stadium in Bolton is an arse, driving around Manchester is shit, but at least we got through all the Coldplay albums in the car. Traffic around the industrial park was bad, but we parked in the stadium car park which was a bonus, though getting back out wasn’t so easy for some.

Rain sucks. But never spoils a concert. Thankfully, stopped before Coldplay took to the stage. Got into the ground at about 4.00 and waited for what seemed like forever in the shitty showers for the first support, Morning Runner. Described as "Toss" by one person after the show, but they were okay. Another hours wait for the next support, Elbow. Pretty well known but I'd not heard much from them before. Their opening song (forget the title) was good and their closing song, Newborn, was great.

9.10 – Finally, the band took to the stage, and kicked off with Square One. It was such a “Wow!” opening, then straight into Politik. Brilliant, really explosive, something to make me think, “Bugger me, this is gonna be one hell of a show”. I can’t remember the set exactly. But, there was a good mix of Parachutes, A Rush Of Blood To The Head and X&Y tracks, each one played in a way that made us want to clap and sing really loud. However, no Shiver, Trouble, X&Y or Swallowed By The Sea.

I’ve come to the conclusion that Chris Martin is a quality front man. In a few years he’ll be put up there with the greats, this much is clear. Involving the crowd at all the appropriate moments, interacting with the crowd between songs, and no promoting fair trade. This is something I was a little worried about after hearing about Bono’s rants. I’d like to point out that I have no problem with rock stars charity campaigns, but I think they are to be left out of the concert. The gig is a time to forget the troubles of the world and concentrate on the music and having a good time.

The final song in the encore was Fix You, where we were told that the song would be played through twice because it was being filmed for the new video! You won’t be disappointed by this video people. No more Chris Martin walking some long path in front of a camera. They waited for the perfect atmosphere to play Fix You. A black sky, lots of waving fans with lighters, and Chris Martin playing to a single hanging light that had been dropped on a rope from the top. Chris came off the piano when the electric guitar kicked in and ‘passionately’ swung the light around above his head, reminded me of Roger Daltrey with his microphone or even Eddie Vedder’s more extravagant swinging. In kicks the drums, and lots more light. Chris lets the light go and fireworks just kicked the crowd up a gear. I don’t think I’ve experienced this atmosphere at a concert for many years. The second time through was a little less exciting, but that was the last song.

The sound was good enough for me. I’m no tech expert, but I had no complaints. There’s a lot of lights and laser-y things going on which was fun and the live pictures beamed on the back of the stage were cool. Apart from Fix You, the audience were a little quiet, but nothing to really affect the band’s performance.

Highlights: Square One, White Shadows, two song acoustic set including Til Kingdom Come and Don’t Panic, Clocks (with rather risky but awesome very-unlike-Coldplay-uptempo-rocked-up outro), In My Place and of course Fix You (x2).