M2 - Coldplay Concert

Hey!

Well - here it is...the first and probably the last concert of 2012 as I haven't really heard of anyone noteworthy coming through our parts...then again - I did only score tickets to William Fitzsimmons one month before I saw him.

 The concert was excellent. They were great to watch live - very fun and there were tons of gimmicks. Like the bracelets they gave everyone. We got these bracelets at the door. The colour of your bracelet was dependent on the door you came in so there had to have been atleast 15 different combinations. I had a pretty good idea that they were going to light up but the anticipation was still very exciting. On the big 80s theme circle screens - there were repeat instructions to keep the bracelets on our wrists for the show.

This is what my bracelet looked like when it lit up. Awesome right?

But not quite as awesome as seeing 18, 000 bracelets lit up.

Everyone has been asking how this concert ranked with Foo Fighters and U2. I mean it was definitely up there. Their stage presence and even screw ups (like two or three songs - but they laughed right along with us) was amazing. They were very similar to U2 in that they didn't talk much between songs - they just played whereas I found David Grohl from Foo's pillow talk quite a highlight because he is so, so funny. I think one of the stand out things to this concert were the gimmicks. The bracelets, confetti explosions, balls falling from the ceiling on Yellow, giant inflatables and a pretty awesome laser show. Here's their opener (Hurts Like Heaven):

If I could give one criticism of the show is that Coldplay only played for 1.5hrs. 90 minutes. Seriously - I paid $125 for 1.5 hours? I don't know - I'd give up the gimmicks for 30 additional minutes of music. Foo Fighters have the same number of albums out and they played for 3 hours. I was seriously in denial when they started bowing out. I was convinced that they were going to do another encore.

Short or not, here's the setlist for the concert:

1. Mylo Xyloto
2. Hurts Like Heaven
3. In My Place
4. Major Minus
5. Lost!
6. Yellow
7. The Scientist
8. Violet Hill
9. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
10. Princess Of China
11. Up In Flames
12. Warning Sign
13. Don't Let It Break Your Heart
14. Viva La Vida
15. Charlie Brown
16. Paradise
17. Us Against The World
    encore
18. Clocks
19. Fix You
20. Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall

It was a good mix from all of their albums. I was really hoping that they would play Strawberry Swing but alas...no such luck. Will Champion, who is the drummer, is amazing. I LOVE HIM the most. On Viva La Vida - he was centre stage with a base drum and a timpani. I think I have a thing for drummers. They're just hotter than the rest of the band.

Lamest part of the concert (besides the 90 minute concert) was Princess of China with Rhianna on the screen. I don't know - I really like the song but couldn't they have grabbed one of the Pierces to jump in? The projected Rhianna was a little flat for me.

My favourite song of the evening was Charlie Brown. And here it is for you...sorry about the bumpy camera work. It's hard to focus on taping when it's so exciting.

I'll leave you with one last one. Here's Yellow - for all you true blue fans out there. That's right 100 balls dropped from the ceiling. Party on!