Coldplay Bring the Bombast

[but a dream]

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