Concert Review: Coldplay at Philips Arena in Atlanta
Last night saw Coldplay entering Atlanta as true rock gods, playing their first big time arena show at Philips Arena. Touring on their recently released X&Y, the “Twisted Logic” tour is set to introduce America to the next huge rock star. Most of us have seen this runaway train coming ever since they fulfilled their tremendous promise on that tough second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. Now there was never any question in my mind if Coldplay would put on an amazing show. Their performance at the Grady Cole Center in Charlotte squeezed into the number 7 slot of my top 10 concerts of all time. The question was more along the lines of whether they could adapt to being a true arena rock stars, sharing the same musical performing space as giants like Oasis and U2. I’m very happy to report Coldplay was more than up for the challenge.
No knock to Patrick’s original assessment, but I have to say X&Y is a damn sharp album. It took a while to setup camp in my head, but now that it has, it is a staple listen with its spacey, grandiose feel that just fills your musical senses. Though it does fall short of their first two efforts, two of the best albums ever made mind you, it’s ambitious sonic leaps make its own defining mark and allow the band to continue growing into their rich sound.
The evening started with openers Rilo Kiley. I’d seen them steal the show from Death Cab for Cutie as the opening act at the Variety so there was little question to their talent. Arriving a bit late, we managed to catch the tail end of their set, which included my personal favorite “Portion for Foxes.” While they sounded very sharp, the volume on their amps was turned up much too loud. Also, Rilo Kiley’s music doesn’t lend itself very well to the arena experience. Their savvy, punctuated sound gets lost somewhere in the rafters.
Then Coldplay stormed the stage with a big ass, countdown alarm clock ticking away behind them to signal the launch of the opening tune “Square One.” While it possessed a great energy and drive, it lacked that bombastic charge of the opening “Politik” from the Rush of Blood tour. They seemed to sense it as well queuing up none other than “Politik” as the evening’s second selection. The light show was a spectacular thing to take in whether it was the beaming bright yellow lights for “Yellow” or the video traveling from space to microscopic skins cells in “the Scientist.” Chris Martin has morphed into showman extraordinaire, wanting to run out to the furthest reaches of the arena to make sure each audience member was having a personal experience with the music. He even cut “the Scientist” mid-breathe to say it was sub par, and Atlanta deserved better. Atlanta certainly seemed to hold a special place in the hearts of the members of Coldplay. Martin kept plugging local musicians into the lyrics when appropriate and gushed on and on about how much he loved the city. They sounded at the top of their game so their sincerity shone through with the extra push of effort that emboldened these songs.
There were several moments the band took it down a notch, especially during some of the selections from Parachutes. It seemed more intimate as Martin channeled himself through the piano. The piano humping action was a shade disturbing, but the man was in the moment so I can cut him some slack on his special relationship with his instrument. There was a nice moment after the homage to Johnny Cash tune “Til Kingdom Come” where they segue way into a cover of Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” Playing all three albums in a jumbled string really showed how A Rush of Blood stands out for its bold daring. I have a feeling they’ll be chasing their brilliance from that one for some time to come.
The moment of the evening was provided by none other than R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe. Stipe walked onto the stage at the start of the encore as the cacophony of the crowd noisily embraced one of Georgia’s most loved musicians. Martin manned the keyboard as Stipe sang a stirring rendition of “Night Swimming.” I have to say prior to I always thought “Night Swimming” to be one of the lesser tracks on the brilliant Automatic for the People. After seeing it performed live, I have a whole new level of appreciation for this beautiful song. Last time the boys were in town playing the Gwinnett Arena, they were joined by Sir Elton John. How are they going to top Stipe next go around? Maybe get the fellas from Outkast to come onstage to play their remix of “God Put a Smile on Your Face.” I was a bit disappointed Stipe didn’t stick around a song longer to help out on one of Coldplay’s numbers.
My biggest problem with the show was its length. Including the encore, they were onstage for a total of an hour and a half, sampling pretty evenly among their three works. That means there are a lot of gems from X&Y that just didn’t make the cut. “X&Y” and especially “What If” come to mind as the most glaring songs missing in action. While I love their back catalog, I wanted to see how those new songs played live. Preferably just extend the outer bounds of your set list or, if Philips was tying your hands, put more focus on the latest effort when assembling the play list.
It was a heady evening of sensational music that really cemented Coldplay’s place as one of the greatest bands in the world. Their sound was highly refined, their stage show was an explosion of dancing lights and Chris managed to put a personal touch on a place defined by its overwhelming impersonal nature. While I am a little sad that I’ll never see Coldplay in a quaint little venue like the Tabernacle again, they have elevated their already strong stage show to a masterpiece of sound and visual spectacle. The band hasn’t lost any of their edge even as they’ve grown into booming 300-pound gorilla and the inevitable backlash has started to take hold. They still know how to rock the ever-loving crap out of the casbah, and they aren’t afraid to do it.