The best artists tell us something about themselves. And, if
we're really lucky, they'll tell us something about us while doing so.
Coldplay
are unfairly targeted as lightweight and boring. But, they reveal
something about themselves just as much of themselves as any "credible"
artist. For
example, Chris Martin famously has a break up (with Gwyneth) and voila!
the result is a break up album (Ghost Stories). Then, possibly in
response to the break up, Chris Martin decides to respond to this with
positivity and a "moving on" album appears (A
Head Full of Dreams). How much more do we want him to tell us?
But how does this translate into the live show? Well it
certainly helps if you have all the tricks that a modern rock show
allows. TV screens, Fireworks, Confetti, Electronic wrist bands that
flash in tune to the music. And that's just the first song!
Coldplay approach the first song much like another band would approach the
encore. They throw everything at it, and then (this bit is different to
most bands) they keep the energy level at that point for about two hours.
One thing they've got on their side is the number of songs that
appeal to a crowd of 50,000 people. They've got the ballads covered
(Scientist, Fix You), they've got the Beyonce number (sadly she didn’t appear
in person – she featured on the backing track to Hymn for the Weekend), they've
got rockers (Charlie Brown), they've got the obligatory acoustic set (featuring
early hit In My Place), they play their first hit (Yellow) and they turn the
whole arena into a dance party (Adventure of a Lifetime). This was the
point that I think it all came together.
The song Adventure of a Lifetime is where the band states their
manifesto, which is both intimate and universal. Paraphrasing here, it says “If you’ve only
got one life, I want to share it with you”.
And that’s the trick. They’ve got
the songs that mean something to every single person in the audience, but also
to everyone collectively. This is some
trick.
Don't take my word for it though. Take the word of Ms "hard to please" 15. When told that another reviewer gave the concert 4 stars she said - disdainfully, as only a 15 year old can - "it deserves more than that". Who am I to argue? If it can touch the impenetrable 15 year old heart and mind then it deserves every one of its 5 stars.
