25-Jul-08: Philadelphia - Wachovia Center - Tickets, Preview, Meetups, Review/Photos

[professa95]

where did you get the setlist anyway?

[busybeeburns]

Hey Philly!

 

Job well done! Thanks much for helping Oxfam America reach out to Coldplay fans at the Wachovia Center.

 

And we're glad many of you got to meet Pete, Oxfam's touring staff person.

 

In case you didn't see, Pete kept his promise and gave a nice shoutout to Coldplaying.com on Oxfam's Coldplay Tour blog:

 

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/

 

And special thanks to Jonah Delso and his band, who rocked an Oxfam America shirt on stage during their opening set.

 

For more info on how you can help our local volunteer group, the Philadelphia Oxfam Action Corps, check their blog here.

 

great job all round! :D Is someone from Canada updating the blog while they're away from the US? :)

[Jbella76]

where did you get the setlist anyway?

 

Hi Professa. I left during during "Lovers in Japan" to see if I could get a glimpse of the guys leaving. I did. They were with a police escort so didn't stop. So I sent them off by holding my sign, smiling and waving goodbye as they drove by. :)

 

After they left, I decided pretty last minute to go back in!!! Thousands were rushing out as I was making my way back in. I went down and told a little lie. I said I had forgotten my phone. Another man told me to leave but instead of turning around where I entered, I walked across the floor towards the catwalk near Jonny's side and made my way to the lower level. I saw Matt, Jonny's guitar tech on stage and yelled his name twice but he didn't look up. I thought he was ignoring me and felt pretty dumb so I turned around to go. then I hear someone calling outand I turned around and Matt was climbing from the floor and hanging from the lower level railing and handed me the setlist. He said "here you go" and then jumped down. :D

[Oxfam America]

great job all round! :D Is someone from Canada updating the blog while they're away from the US? :)

 

Pete is actually travelling with Coldplay to every single date around the world, and will be updating all along the way!

 

[icedude2010]

Pete is actually travelling with Coldplay to every single date around the world, and will be updating all along the way!

 

 

Pete is da man

[Beatle Ed]

Philly Concert thoughts...

 

I was at the Philly concert with my teenage daughter. We both had seen Coldplay in Philly the last time they were here (couple of years ago???). In fact, we were pretty much in the same seats, all the way straight back in Section 216. We saw both opening acts, and enjoyed both. I thought the first act's middle songs were very good, very Coldplay-like. We both really enjoyed Santogold. It was good to hear something different, and they rocked. I'm surprised by the couple of very negative posts I read here regarding Santogold.

 

Loved Life in Technicolor, Clocks, Viva La Vida, Yellow, and Politik.

Loved how the crowd practically took over lead vocals for Chris for most of the concert, especially early.

 

Didn't like the rendition of Chinese Sleep Chant or God Put A Smile on Your Face, especially the latter.

 

I thought Chris lost his voice a bit after Viva La Vida, and eventually regained strength later.

 

It was a great concert. We really enjoyed it. It was great seeing the best band that's out there nowadays.

[Mimixxx]

Coldplay Hot, Openers Not

 

Saturday night I didn’t sit in for Coldplay’s delayed visit to Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center. I stood. The entire time. Coldplay’s brand of rock, which escalates from melodic to anthemic, was perfect for enthusing a crowd eager to hear some good music. I was eager to hear Coldplay from the moment I got the tickets. I got online within the first minutes and still landed back in section 213.

 

But when I tell you that I heard perhaps the worst set of opening acts I’ve ever witnessed in my concert-going repertoire, I do not exaggerate. So let’s get the bad vibes out of the way before we talk about the main event.

 

Opening the show was 93.3 WMMR-contest-winner Jonah Delso and his band. I knew from the introduction we were in for a little bit of an ego-trip as he said “I’m Jonah Delso, and this is my band.” Isn’t that how Genesis split up? “I’m Phil Collins, and this is my band,” and then off goes Peter Gabriel? Poor chaps. Or maybe they were lucky in the sense that we can’t tie their names to this performance. Anyway, the way this garage band got up on such a grand stage was through a video they sent in to WMMR. The video was voted (from online poll) into the top three of those submitted, and then Coldplay picked the winner. I have not seen the field Mr. Delso was competing with, so I can’t make a full analysis there. What I will say is that they put out more destructive feedback than a bad psychiatrist convention. The lyrics were dull and uninspired pop/rock. The band was musically okay, but Delso was not. It was formulaic, and maybe Coldplay picked them because they had a piano? Not my question to answer.

 

After that rather iffy experience, and a small break with the lights on, I and the thousands of others left in the arena saw a group of white shirt, black pants individuals walk out. It was something like the Robert Palmer backup girls from “Addicted to Love,” but throw in some Clockwork Orange. I was interested, very much so. Techno, club, trance maybe? Bring it on! It turned out to be Philadelphian Santi White, better known as Santogold. Another bad start let loose, as she sang the whole first song apparently without monitor support. Her strained wailing (which her set confided to be her style) was so off-key I think maybe–just maybe–my ears actually cried. Every song’s completion was followed by earnest hope that her trance-hop punk self would trot off stage. She even made the audience aware of the monitor’s problem, which just gets me going to no end. As a performer (of a different type admittedly), rule number one is that if the audience doesn’t know it’s a problem, you don’t let them know there’s a problem. If Delso had an ego, Santogold made him look tame. You know it’s bad when an opener tells you “It’s my job to pump you up.” Mission from-thereon-out thoroughly unaccomplished. I know my entire section was mock-clapping for her followed by calls of “What?” and “Get off, where’s my Coldplay!”

 

That unpleasantness out of our systems, Coldplay took stage at 9:30 p.m. Glory of glories, it was finally here. The concert was originally scheduled for late June, but they had to postpone. Later front man Chris Martin would make a joke of the delay, noting that the band had mandatory nose job appointments. The stage was interesting from the moment I walked into the arena. Giant white spheres hanging in the rafters, intelligent lighting on lightweight (soon to be moving) frames. Double curtains and front screening. Those Western European bands really know how to throw a concert (reference: U2, Muse).

 

The album cover from Viva La Vida dropped (Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People) and the concert got rolling. The instrumental “Living in Technicolor” rolled right into the new album’s first single “Violet Hill.” Instantly, Martin owned the crowd; they eagerly anticipating every note and sang along with the passion perhaps only Philadelphia fans can offer. Martin made note several times through the concert that our singing blew him away, and frequently he shoved his mic away and let the crowd take a chorus. It was particularly fun to hear the crowd, and I joined in on “The Scientist.”

 

Laser lights adorned the arena starting with Clocks, perhaps their biggest hit from their album A Rush of Blood to the Head. The band then took their set to different performance settings. Down the stage left runway was a lit disco-esque platform at which they performed a couple songs. They also did a song on the other runway.

 

After the majority of their set was completed they suddenly ran off stage, down the hockey boards and into the first floor concourse. The audience abuzz (and many drunken fans sloppily sprinting for the concourse), Coldplay re-emerged in section 106 and performed a set from the entrance space which included “The Scientist” as well as “Death Will Never Conquer.” Acoustically, “The Scientist” worked wonderfully. Until this point I was very happy with the performances, but I did want a little more change from how we’ve heard it from the studio albums. This was the right injection at the right time of some new flavor.

The band then headed back to the stage while a rather political video played to the recorded tune of “Talk.” It included the jab Bill O’Reilly took at Martin and the band on his show. Is there anyone the man doesn’t take a hit at? Oh yeah…the President. Following the video, which played on those neat little hanging spheres that doubled as both live and recorded rotating projector screens, the band uncorked a rendition of “Politik” that made sense following the video.

 

The concert finished covering all of the hits, past and present, as well as the majority of the new album. Encores consisted of “Green Eyes” and “The Dubliners,” which rocked the crowd to the very end. I will tell you I’ve been to many big concerts. I was on the field for The Police last summer in Citizens’ Bank Park. I was front row for The Who in Washington, DC. This was the most pumped I have ever felt a surrounding audience. It was non-stop singing and pure fun brought on by amazing spectacles of performance with a little humor interspersed from Martin and the gang.

 

While I maintain The Police and The Who delivered just a bit of a better concert for me as a band, the energy that I felt just blew me away. It put it into that echelon of concert-going. And in my book, that’s great company. The exciting fact for me is that Viva La Vida is the beginning of a new Coldplay, as the older three albums were part of a “trilogy” as Martin has detailed. With what has happened thus far, Coldplay has nowhere to go but up.

—Doug Phelan

 

http://chevronsays.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/coldplay-hot-openers-not/

[CRYSTAL]

there are lots of good videos from every one on youtube from this show.

[clockpolitiks]

did anyone get some good pics of the signs being held up? I saw a few, but only a couple signs were up.

[TWoSteP_79]

I've been lurking for a bit, but I just wanted to thank everyone for posting their pictures and videos. Really helping with my withdrawl. I brought my digital camera and was able to take some decent shots. The only one real close was when Chris came over to the left side. What cameras are you guys using cause they're amazing. Hopefully by the Orlando show, i'll know how to use my camera.

[robins32]

i think the very ending of the concert sucked, what the hell song is that to end on? and i was pissed only 1 song off of parachutes, and of course its Yellow, of which i've heard a million times, beat into the ground.

[airieslady]

i think the very ending of the concert sucked, what the hell song is that to end on? and i was pissed only 1 song off of parachutes, and of course its Yellow, of which i've heard a million times, beat into the ground.

 

 

I have only seen the videos, but would have to agree with you on ending song... at least leave the crowd with a known song. Not saying "What the Hell is that?" I hope they might decide to change the last song to better one... or at least by November here in Florida. Yeh, come back out with Amsterdam, Pour Me, One I Love, Spies, Life Is For Living.. yeh anything other than that one. Agree.

[robins32]

I have only seen the videos, but would have to agree with you on ending song... at least leave the crowd with a known song. Not saying "What the Hell is that?" I hope they might decide to change the last song to better one... or at least by November here in Florida. Yeh, come back out with Amsterdam, Pour Me, One I Love, Spies, Life Is For Living.. yeh anything other than that one. Agree.

 

 

THANK YOU VOICE OF REASON, its odd that almost no one else has mentioned this and has instead gushed over the concert...which was still very good but the best fans are the most critical....

[Texasluvsjonny]

They are known for playing unreleased material in encores. Did it on the Rush tour. But most people enjoy the fact that they get to hear something new, not bitch about it. Guess you two aren't in that group.

[Jenjie]

Coldplay's palate pleasers charm Wachovia crowd

 

The world's most palatable rock-and-roll band came to the sold-out Wachovia Center in South Philadelphia on Friday, working hard to please.

 

An hour and half spent with Coldplay is like enjoying a light summer meal, spread out on the lawn on a humidity-free late July evening. Chris Martin and his bandmates make for mildly engaging company, and even when they aim lasers to the rafters, the bombast goes down easy. Airy melodies carry the day, and it never threatens to become a hot and sticky situation.

 

At the Wachovia, the British foursome - which includes guitarist Jonny Buckman, bass player Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion - took the stage half-obscured behind a scrim, with Martin strumming an acoustic guitar on "Life in Technicolor," the vaguely exotic instrumental that leads off the band's formula-tweaking fourth album, Viva La Vida Or Death and All His Friends.

 

Then, the curtain came up to reveal the backdrop of Eugene Delacroix's bare-breasted Liberty Leading The People - nudity, at a Coldplay show! - and the arena-sized entertainment began.

 

Sporting the silly blue and red military outfits that signal they're all on the same soft-rock team, the foursome kicked off with "Violet Hill," the dark and stormy first single off the Brian Eno-produced Vida. The rockers then proceeded to march through agreeable past hits like the mass singalong "Yellow" and momentum-gathering "Speed of Sound." They also performed nearly all of Vida, the album that moved more than 700,000 copies in its first week of release.

 

Martin is a high-energy, ingratiating performer whose music is in its comfort zone when he's bouncing on his piano stool on pulsing songs like "Clocks," with verses that can't help but hurry toward anthemic choruses before settling down to share intimate confidences. If you pay too close attention to the lyrics on ballads like "Fix You" and "The Scientist," you might think you had wandered into a Hallmark-card pep rally.

 

And although the band's tendency toward grandiosity can't help but come off as U2-lite, Martin's self-deprecating charm diminishes the cloying quotient. "Even objectively, this is a tremendous reception, and we're incredibly grateful," the well-spoken rock star told the crowd.

 

And to prove that Coldplay is a band of the people, the foursome closed the set with two acoustic songs played in the midst of the crowd, including a quite lovely "Death Will Never Conquer," sung by Champion. That interlude went so well that Martin received several fist-bump congratulations from fans. "Don't tell Fox News!" he quipped.

 

Mount Airy-raised Santi White - who has risen to ultimate hipster status as Santogold - warmed up with a half-hour set that did its best to connect with a half-full house. The Brooklyn-based White fronted an eight-member ensemble that expertly navigated the New Wave, dub, reggae and electro-pop textures of her Santogold debut. It wasn't her crowd, but White was greeted warmly enough by the audience, even if she had to shout "Philadelphia!" twice to get a response that "sounds like my hometown."

 

Singer-songwriter Jonah Delso - from Westhampton, Burlington County - won a WMMR-FM (93.3) contest to open the show. Delso did 20 solidly crafted minutes of piano-cushioned pop songs like "Elevator" and "Before I Go Away" that dovetailed nicely with the unfailingly pleasant sounds of the headliner.

 

Dan DeLuca

 

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/music/20080728_Coldplay_s_palate_pleasers_charm_Wachovia_crowd.html

[Jenjie]

Coldplay Bring the Bombast

 

J.I. would like to think we are pretty open minded, and jaded as we might be, we’re not music snobs – if we get drunk and nostalgic enough, we can karaoke “American Pie” from start to finish. So when last minute Coldplay tickets came along, we decided to live in the moment and hopped on a train headed for Philly.

 

You see, we’ve never been big Coldplay fans. We don’t dislike them, per se, and we think they serve as great background music in one of our favorite movies (the deliciously snarky Igby Goes Down). But we never quite got the mass appeal, either.

 

Perennial J.I. fave Santogold opened the show, and after a lackluster SummerStage performance last week, totally redeemed herself. The addition of a full band, as opposed to the DJ and dancers she performed with previously, filled out her sound and her seem more like a real group and less like a hipster karaoke act. Unfortunately, the Coldplay crowd didn’t really seem to get her; she wasn’t booed, but she was met with plenty of shrugs.

 

While Santogold might have been met with ambivalence, Coldplay were met with an outpouring of support from the sold out arena. J.I. has always respected bands that take their job as entertainers and performers seriously; while we’re not big Bon Jovi fans, we admire their respect for their fans and their determination to provide a memorable night. Coldplay, much like a U2, are in the same vein – they bring the bombast, and act like they genuinely want to give the assembled masses a good time. From the opener, “Violet Hill,” to the hits from their previous albums, the band was tight, energetic, and true showmen.

 

We probably won’t be running for the president of the Coldplay fan club any time soon; the songs did begin to blend in to one another, and something still leaves us a little cold. But the show did provide us with a newfound admiration for a band that takes their craft very seriously.

 

http://billboard.blogs.com/jadedinsider/2008/07/coldplay-bring.html

[CRYSTAL]

very good review.:)

[u2rob]

Just finally finished going through and editing the rest of my shots from the show (though it looks like some of them got posted back on page 23). You can find the entire set here:

 

 

Hope you all enjoy! :D

 

 

-Rob

[CRYSTAL]

thankyou so much for the pics rob!:)

[svenky]

tje pics rob is so cute thank you !!

[professa95]

great pics^^^

[ivette_e]

Just finally finished going through and editing the rest of my shots from the show (though it looks like some of them got posted back on page 23). You can find the entire set here:

 

 

Hope you all enjoy! :D

 

 

-Rob

 

omg

 

best pics ever! what camera were u using/ where were you sitting?

 

those shots were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

[maxx0722]

Amazing Pictures!!!

[busybeeburns]

New pics:

 

 

 

 

[CRYSTAL]

that day i know how cute Chris looked,because he ran right in the front of my section!