from NYTimes

 

He’s Humble, and Proud of It

By KELEFA SANNEH

Published: September 7, 2005

Chris Martin was onstage at Madison Square Garden, humbly explaining how honored he was that his little band, Coldplay, had filled up such a big venue. “We can’t rely on fireworks and smoke and mirrors,” he said, although by “can’t” he seemed to mean “don’t need to.” Which undermined the humility more than a little.

 

He boldly -- — although not, perhaps, prudently -- — continued, “If we looked like Mariah Carey, we’d sell 25 times as many records, which would be a lot.” And the crowd was left to puzzle out the details on its own. (Would that mean all four members had to look the same? Or would one become the kinky-haired singer from the “Vision of Love” video, while another wore the cool airbrushed tank -top from the cover of the “Rainbow” album?)

 

Mr. Martin noted, too, that if the band resembled Ms. Carey, “We could date people who looked like Tom Cruise.” As everyone in the arena surely knew, he is married to Gwyneth Paltrow, and it wasn’t quite clear if he considered the hypothetical trade-off a step up or a step down.

 

During Tuesday night’s concert, Mr. Martin showed off all the things he does so well: he can belt out a soaring rock ballad; he can turn piano-playing into a form of aerobic exercise; he can lead a sing-along as if he were born to do it. But the brief, disastrous Carey-Cruise monologue also illustrated the thing he does least well: he’s terrible at feigning humility.

 

That wouldn’t be a problem for a more old-fashioned rock star, or for a more theatrical one; for an unashamed show-off with freaky hair or freaky makeup or freaky clothes. But Mr. Martin aspires to be a newer, smaller character. He wants to take over the world by being humble and unassuming, and Tuesday night’s concert was dominated by the tension between his contradictory ambitions.

 

Not surprisingly, many of the best moments came from the band’s nervy breakthrough album, “A Rush of Blood to the Head” (Capitol), which found playful ways to balance swagger and swoon. There was a thunderous version of “Clocks,” which starts with crashing piano and drums but eventually dies down, as if Mr. Martin were shrinking from his own racket. “Home, home, where I wanted to go,” he murmured, and there’s something lovely about hearing all that sound and fury giving way to such a modest wish.

 

The new Coldplay album is “X&Y” (Capitol), and it’s less graceful than its predecessor: the songs sound more labored, although many of them soar, regardless. The concert began with “Speed of Sound,” the album’s sleek lead single, and the band performed it while silhouetted against a huge, monochromatic video screen; they looked like four refugees from an iPod commercial.

 

“X&Y” has been a commercial success in America, although its songs aren’t yet -- — and may never become -- — as ubiquitous as those from “A Rush of Blood.” And a few hours earlier, the band members had probably received some bad news, although it wasn’t mentioned onstage. The winner of Britain’s Prize for music had been announced in London on Tuesday night, and “X&Y” lost out to a long shot: the new one by Antony and the Johnsons, a brilliant New York-based act with far fewer fans. (Although, come to think of it, the gender-scrambling Antony would make a much more alluring Mariah Carey than Mr. Martin would. So perhaps there’s hope.)

 

While “X&Y” isn’t wholly satisfying, this concert was. With hardly any special effects (huge yellow balloons appeared during “Yellow,” and at one point a screen asked everyone to take a flash photograph at once), the band barreled through three albums’ worth of hits, with only a few misses; Mr. Martin’s non-stop hopping and stretching turned just about everything into a rousing sing-along.

 

It’s only fair to note that as pop stars go, Mr. Martin is a pretty effective politician. He has chosen one cause (the fair-trade movement) and stuck by it. True fans can’t ignore it: he almost never appears without MTF (for “Make Trade Fair”) on his body or piano, and the lobby was full of canvassers with clipboards. But it’s easy to forget all that when he makes one of his ill-considered speeches. Before the hit “Scientist,” he intoned, “We’ll play this for everyone on the Gulf Coast.” How did he know? It turns out that’s just what they need.

 

The concert ended with “Fix You,” a quiet ballad that’s one of the best songs on the new album and, maybe not coincidentally, one of the grandest. In fact, it’s downright messianic. “Lights will guide you home/And ignite your bones/And I will try to fix you,” he sang, accompanied by just about everyone in the building. Why bother with false humility, when false promises are so much more seductive?

...what?

 

..I barely read anything about the show. He/She dipped into

a couple tidbits about the show(yellow, fix you, sos) but then

went back to cracking shit about "Mr. Martin".

 

I'm really considering to just become a cook instead of a journalist...

yeah.. I just read this on the official..

 

 

the author obviously isnt a fan and doesn't realize Chris' sense of humor. I thought the chatter was great. I thought the rest of the boys would talk some more.. but it was your usual Chris banter.. I enjoyed it!! Its what makes Chris-Chris!! Him and his bad jokes.. lol the article is rubbish. :)

If you are wondering about why he is called "Mr. Martin," it isn't because the author intended to be stupid, it's because the NYT, for the most part, requires its writers be formal.

 

Otherwise, this seems like an article whose author misunderstands a lot.

If you are wondering about why he is called "Mr. Martin," it isn't because the author intended to be stupid, it's because the NYT, for the most part, requires its writers be formal.

 

Otherwise, this seems like an article whose author misunderstands a lot.

 

Yeah I figured that much after I remembered the lectures from my Journalism 1 class.

...what?

 

..I barely read anything about the show. He/She dipped into

a couple tidbits about the show(yellow, fix you, sos) but then

went back to cracking shit about "Mr. Martin".

 

I'm really considering to just become a cook instead of a journalist...

 

I'd see it the other way round: it's a good reason to become a journalist :)

that's insane...

 

what's wrong with the NY Times? They seem to have a vendetta out against our boys (especially Chris)...

what a waste of time. why did he bother going to the concert? he knew exactly what he was going to write before he watched the gig. absolutly pointless