Viva La Coldplay

Coldplay, Verizon Center, Washington DC
August 3

The sold-out Verizon Center crowd was hopping, cheering, and singing along to Coldplay’s 90-minute set on Sunday night. The show was quite a spectacle visually, as green lasers jutted out, large spheres dangled from the ceiling changing color and at times showing video of happenings from the stage, and colorful confetti would later sprinkle some in the floor seats. Getting all of this staging ready was why this show was postponed from its earlier scheduled date of July 2.

Singer Chris Martin was in great spirits, bouncing around with energy, and his voice was nearly (with one exception noted below) flawless. The show naturally focused heavily on the newest album, Viva La Vida, a valiant effort with a sound that lends itself well to live performance. In fact, Martin played nine of 10 songs from it. While I love and appreciate the new album, I am a Parachutes purist. I relish the piano-driven Coldplay and wanted more piano—dare I say more of the piano ballads that impelled Coldplay to change its sound to not get swallowed whole by critics.

My favorite song from the new album, “42” is a nice blend of older Coldplay, as it opens with a catchy piano ballad as Martin croons, “Those who are dead are not dead; they’re just living in my head,” along with the newer sound as the guitars erupt and the second half of the song rocks out.

The ballad “Fix You” was lovely and it was quite moving to hear much of the crowd singing the chorus. And, the little blunder toward the end of the song was humbling. Martin started on the wrong octave and simply stopped the band and apologized for the mistake. He said some days he doesn’t know if he’s trying to sound like Johnny Cash or Barry Gibb but that he hopes in 10 years he’ll sound like Johnny Cash and have Barry Gibb’s hair. He then led the crowd in singing the song’s finale.

It needs mention that the other three lads in this band&#151drummer Will Champion, guitarist Jonny Buckland, and bassist Guy Berryman&#151are truly talented and their camaraderie adds to the show's overall experience.

At a Coldplay show, one pretty much gets the songs as they’re written, no frills, no solos, but they did change up a couple of songs quite creatively. They performed “The Scientist” as a strings-driven acoustic piece (acoustic guitar and mandolin) from an impromptu stage set up toward the arena’s rear. Earlier, on a side stage that jutted from the main one, they rocked out with a pumped up version of “God Put A Smile Upon Your Face.”

During “Politik,” the first song of the encore, Martin snuck in the line, “where the Wizards play,” but most missed that local reference and only a few cheered. Of the “oldies,” Coldplay did play nearly half of the Rush of Blood to the Head album but played only one song from Parachutes. I left this show quite satisfied, yet somehow still wanting more.

Setlist:
Life in Technicolor
Violet Hill
Clocks
In My Place
Viva La Vida
Yes
42
Fix You
Strawberry Swing
Chinese Sleep Chant (side stage)
God Put a Smile Upon Your Face (side stage/techno version)
Square One
Hardest Part (half of the song, Martin solo piano)
Yellow
Lost
The Scientist (acoustic in crowd with mandolin)
Death Will Never Conquer (acoustic in the crowd, Martin playing harmonica)

Encore:
Politik (with Martin’s brother on stage adding more piano)
Lovers in Japan
Death and All His Friends