I Took My Love Down to Houston

Oops, I meant Violet Hill...but last night I really was in Houston seeing my boys Chris, Will, Johnny, and of course Guy, at the Toyota Center. This was my 5th Coldplay concert, and it was just a few weeks shy of my prediction for the next time I'd see them. Although I can never top what I saw at ACL Fest in 2005, this was still a very entertaining show. And I got to see it with two of my Coldplay veterans, my brother Chris and Kway, plus one of my favorite Megans in the world.

Thinking back to the $30 show that only sold out half of the Erwin center in 2003...they've come a long way. Five years later its $100 for nose-bleeds in the massive Toyota Center and they've got crazy lights, lasers and even these weird globes that would change colors and transmit the same videos as the jumbo trons. And even their guitars were customized with the VIVA logo!


Although I'm still a bit confused why their costumes and album artwork are of the French Revolution, yet nothing about the album reflects that -- the title is Spanish and the songs either have Japanese or African influences. If only I could interview the band to ask WHY?. I actually haven't gotten a chance to really discuss my analysis of the album with anyone since it dropped this summer, so it was fun dissecting it with Chris and the girls. I don't know why we were surprised that the new material was the best of the show since that is exactly what they are trying to promote. (Except for one mind-blowing exception, the older tracks from X&Y and Rush of Blood were nothing compared to previous tours. They were either something I've seen before or a simple straight-forward-no-frills performance). I honestly was disappointed by the lack of material from the Parachutes album. All they did was the required Yellow, but I would've been really excited to see Shiver or Don't Panic.

You know what else I would've liked more of? GUY BERRYMAN! Man, he did not get enough jumbotron time, that's for sure. But Kway and I made the best of every moment he did get. We both still want to have his Scottish babies, and now that he's divorced.....well, you never know!!!


Haha, ok enough of that though...VIVA la Coldplay!



They appropriately opened the show with Life in Technicolor...which is a track I'm very curious about because on the album its mostly instrumental but was originally written with lyrics...wonder what they were! Guess I'll find out next week when their EP Prospekt's March is released. The other track from the EP they did was a piano-centric song called Postcards from Far Away. I liked it, but it since it isn't yet well-known it became kind of a 'resting' time for the audience.

Of course, Violet Hill and Viva la Vida got a ridiculous reaction from the crowd since they are the bigger hits of the new album (a girl behind us even started to shriek...I forgot what its like to be a teenager at a concert). In Viva there was a ton of clapping and singing of the 'whoa-oh' back-up vocals. But I was most entertained by Will because he was totally going to town on the huge symbol with his left hand an the big timpani drum with his right.

The jumbo tron during '42'

Although the hits are great, one of my personal favorite tracks on the new album is 42, named so because its Chris Martin and Will's favorite number. I seem to be drawn to songs that have significant transitioning sections (like Radiohead's Paranoid Android and Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out). 42 started out like Chris Martin was in a 1920's black and white silent film...really helped convey the sad/lonely intro. Then, the rock started and never let up:




Strawberry Swing is one of the songs Chris and I kept trying to figure out. It sounds a little folksy with Brian Eno's hand clapping intro but then with the African tribal beets and the Asian guitar effects we're like "what's going on here?". That song could've been a hot tranny mess, but even without being able to put our fingers on 'why', somehow its genius.

Honestly though, I kinda zoned out during Lost. Its not a bad song, but not one of my favorites. I appreciate that they tried something new, but just am not a huge fan of the direction they took. It certainly was a crowd pleaser with the tons of confetti that kept bursting out over the floor section, but I was more mesmerized by the glow in the dark flecks. Also by that time I was probably trying not to wet my pants because I had been holding it in the entire show!

Cool laser show during Clocks and Chinese Sleep Chant

The other new song I don't really care for live is Chinese Sleep Chant. I think it adds a great contrasting element to the album following Yes (another fave of mine), but it doesn't really translate well live. I think they just needed another song that could use the crazy green lasers besides Clocks.

Speaking of...after they knocked out a few old standards, Cemeteries of London totally woke us up. We were all 'singing lalalalalalalalaiy!" See a little clip of the ending here:




Death and All His Friends I think was the most surprisingly awesome song for us. It starts off so unassuming but by the end, its rocking your face off. I remember Chris leaning over saying "wow this is so much better than I thought it would be".

Still, out of the whole night, I can narrow it down to two moments that I certainly didn't expect and absolutely loved.

(1) The band moves out to the edge of one of the catwalks and all of a sudden the floor turns into a white-lit dance floor. Will starts banging a beat on the v-drums and then we realize they are doing a totally kick-ass dance remix version of God Put a Smile on Your Face...which happens to be one of my all time favorite Coldplay songs. But wait, it gets better. They then transitioned into the Jacques lu Cont version of Talk, which is a song I still can't get enough of. Once I clued in, I whipped out my camera again...so here you can see a bit of the dance party, although the video doesn't do it justice:




(2) We didn't expect much action for the nose-bleed seats we were in...but we got a special treat at the end of the main set. As the confetti was settling from Lost, the 4 guys just strolled off the stage, walking through a barricaded sidewalk in the floor section but still getting patted down the entire way, and we're thinking "where the heck are they going in the back of the arena?" Then, they make an abrupt right and start climbing the stairs right towards us. Ok now we're really confused what's going on. They end up stopping at a makeshift stage just below the rail a few rows in front of us to do their change-up acoustic set. They started off with The Scientist which was pretty cool since it didn't sound exactly like the burnt out radio version. Then Will took over vocals for the secret track Death Will Never Conquer. Kway and I managed to make our way to a better view point and I got a decent video...

The spot lights following them up the stairs.

My view of the jumbo tron just before they started The Scientist

All in all...totally worth the mid-week, same-day drive. And I think it really made Chris' 29th birthday special. Thanks boys for a great show!

Set List:
1. Life In Technicolor 2. Violet Hill 3. Clocks 4. In My Place 5. Speed Of Sound 6. Cemeteries Of London 7. Chinese Sleep Chant 8. 42 9. Fix You 10. Strawberry Swing 11. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face/Talk 13. The Hardest Part 14. Postcards From Far Away 15. Viva La Vida 16. Lost! 17. The Scientist 18. Death Will Never Conquer
Encore:
Politik, Lovers In Japan, Death And All His Friends
Encore 2: Yellow