[5-Jul-2012] Coldplay @ Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

[Tash]

Photoset: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/homepage/161532946.html

[notlost92]

 

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That's MY PHOTO!

 

what the hell?! :veryangry2:

[marauder8112]

Okay so I got these tickets at 7:30. An hour and a half before they went on. I had tickets for Friday but was upset I was not going last night. So I said what the heck let me look online and see if I can find some nice tickets. I found two tickets right in from on the X stage in the middle of the arena. Best concert I have seen. They were amazing from start to end and didn't mess up at all except food durin clocks when it looked like Johnny's pants were falling down and Chris was laughing at him, I pick up on small things like that. This was my 7th time seeing them in Philadelphia and it was by far the best. We even have pit tickets at Camden and hear we're better especially after just getting them after the show started at 7.

 

I bought the set list was great but wish they could have added politik or lost. Maybe they will change it up tonight.

 

After the show we met Phil Harvey, I shook his hand and introduced my girlfriend and I and he kindly handed us a set list, we tried to meet the back but no luck :(. Maybe he'll see us again tomorrow and we can live our dream of having the priveledge to meet the guys who make music that is at the foundation of my life and my relationship

with my future wife.

 

Best night of my life... Actually it'll be two nights!!!

 

[Tash]

Coldplay at Wells Fargo Center

 

 

Last night at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, the music that was playing on the venue’s sound system in between acts was nondescript. That is, until there was a noticeable increase in the volume when Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” began pumping buoyantly through the PA system. The song got most of the excited sold-out crowd there to see Coldplay for the first of a two night stand on their feet. Seconds after the song ended, Chris Martin and company came out on stage, jubilantly opening with “Mylo Xyloto,” followed by “Hurts Like Heaven.” Then they started to play their hits; there’s a lot of them. And that’s when the confetti came, and lots of that too. Many bands wait to set the confetti canons off at the end of their shows working towards the standard emotional climax where the band plays “the hit single.” Not Coldplay. It was clear from the moment they played “In My Place,” “Lovers In Japan,” and “Yellow,” early in the show, that the band was there to give the audience their money’s worth. Coldplay proceeded to pump confetti and beach balls into the crowd and combined with a colorful and vibrant light show put on a fantastic, high energy show.

 

Early in its career Coldplay was a mediocre live band with a increasing catalogue of hits. Throughout 12 years of touring however, they’ve become an impressive stadium band with a lasting and very sing-alongable body of work. Over those years music critics have not written so kindly about the band. For almost two hours last night, it was the fans, and not the critics that mattered. Chris Martin and the band played the crowd one hit song after another. When the band returned for their encore, they appeared not on the gigantic stage, but on a makeshift stage in the back of the arena right in the middle of a section of the crowd; an impressive feat. The band played several songs on that stage before running across the floor of the stadium back to the stage where they ended with “Fix You,” and “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall.” Coldplay perform again tonight at the Wells Fargo Center.

 

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[Tash]

That's MY PHOTO!

 

what the hell?! :veryangry2:

 

I didn't know it wasn't her photo, sorry! Did you also post it somewhere? I can change the link if that's the case...

 

edit: I already found it, you posted it in this thread!

[Tash]

 

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[Tash]

 

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[fuzzbinn]

First Coldplay concert. Drove for a few hours to get here, after trying to make it to one for literally years. SO. BLOWN. AWAY.

Had some high up, behind stage seats. Didn't even remotely care. So insanely good.

 

Seriously, one of the best experiences ever.

[Tash]

 

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[Tash]

 

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[Tash]

 

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[Tash]

 

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[Tash]

Coldplay, with Robyn, at the Wells Fargo Center

 

It was tough to tell whether you were at a theme park or a pop concert at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday, where Coldplay were playing the first of back to back nights at the South Philadelphia sports arena.

 

The Chris Martin-led British quartet were up on stage – and in the crowd - playing music focused on their candy-colored fifth album, Mylo Xyloto (2011), mixed in with ingratiating hits from throughout their dozen year career.

 

But the show was as much about the exploding bursts of color filling up the room as it was the soaring melodic soft-rock being brought to life by pianist-guitarist-singer Martin and his bandmates Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion.

 

The hardest, most startling moment of the evening came before the concert began – Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” banging out of the sound system in marked contrast to the far more soothing sounds that would follow. The band took the stage to a recording of the “Back To The Future” theme, then began with the Mylo title track and the cheerfully bummed candy-colored “Hurts Like Heaven,” in which Martin sang: “You use your heart as a weapon / And it hurts like heaven.”

 

By that time, confetti in the shape of birds, hearts and butterflies was already being shot up in the sky and raining down on the sold out crowd. For the next song, “In My Place,” one of four songs from their time tested 2002 A Rush Of Blood To The Head, scores of beach balls descended from the rafters.

 

And all of this visual entertainment was on top of an ongoing laser and light show that utilized five round video screens with one placed behind the band on stage and four more hung through the arena.

 

Not to mention the woven recyclable “Xylobands” given to concertgoers as they entered. The wirelessly controlled wristbands lit up in a rainbow of colors timed to the music in intervals throughout the evening. (Presumably, the bracelets were handed out as visual aids in a forthcoming concert movie, as they were emblazoned with the Twitter hashtag #Coldplayfilm.) No need to hold up a cellphone or a lighter: Coldplay’s got your covered!

 

Oh, and how about the music? It was pleasant, and perky, and at times, like Martin’s biceps, surprisingly muscular. Coldplay proudly cops to the “soft-rock” designation, and the Brit-band never measures up to, say U2’s epic grandeur or Radiohead’s epic artiness. But the Bian Eno produced band's steady stream of hits from “The Scientist” to “Viva La Vida” to Mylo’s kaleidoscopic “Paradise” do pack enough sinew to fill up an enormodome without ever sounding sonically thin.

 

Not thin, but often slight. It seems silly to hate or even strongly dislike Coldplay, but it’s perfectly rational to be disappointed in them. A lot of that has to do with the lyrics, which often don’t stand up to scrutiny, even as you find yourself singing along to insipid moon-June-spoon lines like “Lights will guide you home / And ignite your bones” and thousands did, a cappella, on the evening’s penultimate piano ballad, “Fix You.”

 

But while Coldplay fail to be great, or threatening, or all that challenging, they do succeed in being entertaining. And like it or not, likable. They played a three song stripped down segment at the front of a runway that extended into the middle of the floor, with one of those tune being “Princess of China,” a duet with a version of Rihanna on a video screen whose tribal chant hook was distressingly reminiscent of Atlanta Braves’ fans doing the Tomahawk chop.

 

And to top that, the first two songs of the foursome’s encore were performed on a makeshift stage in the midst of the crowd in the back of the hall. One of them was Mylo’s acoustic Coldplay fight song “Us Against The World,” which Martin, then wearing a pink shirt introduced by drolly quipping: “That’s the kind of band we are. The kind of band that wears a pink shirt and sings a song at the back of the room.”

 

There were two opening acts, Wolf Gang and Swedish dance pop star Robyn, who was scheduled to later do a DJ set at Voyeur in Center City later in the evening. Robyn came on stage wearing a giant blue kimono – or was it a raincoat – which she then took off to reveal a shiny silver and blue skin tight outfit that made her look like a refugee from a ‘70s superhero comic book.

 

Backed by two drummers and two keyboard players, she served up 40 minutes of dance floor directed alt-pop. Marred by a muddled vocal mix, songs like “Dancing On My Own” and “Don’t F------- Tell Me What To Do,” were nonetheless robotically aerobic enough to get even the most prone to be immobile bodies moving while delivering a personal statement while she’s at it. And her presence on the bill demonstrated another nice thing about Coldplay: They’ve got good taste.

 

Some obstrcuted view seats remain for Friday night's show.

 

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[Hurts Like Heaven]

I went to that concert last night, and I can honestly say it was the greatest concert Coldplay has ever done, and I enjoyed it immensely, even though I had to cope with the 30-minute escape from the parking lot. As far as the setlist, the concert had the best version IMO of Major Minus, and I was pretty excited that they played Warning Sign, and kind of surprised too about that and Lovers in Japan. Note: Chris Martin had lots of fun changing the lyrics of the songs, particularly Lovers in Japan (American Sun), GPaSUYF, and Viva la Vida, (shattered windows and the bass & drums, keep up, bass & drums!)

 

Overall, I loved it, though Princess of China was a bit of a surprise to me, and I enjoyed Wolf Gang's performance a lot too.

 

:D

[notlost92]

I didn't know it wasn't her photo, sorry! Did you also post it somewhere? I can change the link if that's the case...

 

edit: I already found it, you posted it in this thread!

 

sorry, that anger wasn't directed at you in any way, it was directed at her :P she replied to my tweet and told me it was on tumblr, damn it! guess someone came on here and snagged it :angry:

[In a telescope lens]

It was such a stroke of luck, it was insane. We were in the very back of the floor, so not bad, but it kinda sucked because we're short and we wanted to see :P

 

But basically we had gone up to the upper levels and just wandered around the concourse, and Amy was jokingly like "maybe if we hang around upstairs they'll upgrade us!" and we laughed about it... But then, as we were going back down the escalator to go back to our seats, we noticed someone waiting for us, and she was wearing roadie clothes. We'd all made our own t-shirts to wear to the concert, so she'd noticed those. And she walked right up to us and said "those are great shirts, did you make them?" and we IMMEDIATELY knew what was going on. But we stayed calm (relatively :P) and launched into how we made the shirts, and then she asked if we were big fans, and we started exclaiming about Coldplaying, and how we'd met on the forum years ago, and how we were finally seeing them together.

 

And then she asked us where our seats were, and we thought "uh-oh, they're not crappy enough to get upgraded!" but she looked at them and then said "would you guys completely freak out if I gave you third row seats?" and we SCREAMED BLOODY MURDER and she told us to keep it quiet, and I hugged her and started crying, and then she took our old tickets and told us to enjoy the show!! And then she told us that we were REALLY lucky and she was glad that she'd run into us, because she normally only goes upstairs and our original seats were downstairs.

 

but the funniest part was right afterwards, a group of girls who had heard us scream ran up to us and were like "what did you win?!" and we were like "oh, nothing..." and then ran off, haha :P

 

but I dubbed the upgrade rows the "I can't believe my goddamn luck" rows because everyone who got upgraded just sat there in shock for like the first 20 minutes they were there :lol: Marisa, Amy, and I just couldn't stop hugging each other and freaking out :D

 

I saw the roadie's name on her walkie talkie, but in all of the chaos I forgot it! I think it started with a C... Christine, or something. She was really nice though!

This is how we got upgraded :D I STILL can't believe it :freak::freak::freak:!!!

 

Last night feels like SUCH a dream.

 

I don't really have any words to describe it but the boys were PERFECT. They put on such an amazing show. And I'm really glad they're still doing some confetti during LIJ :wacky: the song live just wouldn't feel right without it. I really loved the "mellow yellow intro" version of Yellow, it was beautiful. The crowd was wonderful and energetic and the xylobands were honestly BREATHTAKING. Also the MX symbol inflatables that were around the venue during Don't Let It Break Your Heart were awesome!! This review sucks but Coldplay was literally perfect they put on an amazing amazing amazing show.

 

I'll post my pictures as soon as I upload them :)

[Tash]

Coldplay wows Wells Fargo Center in a big way

 

Coldplay is big.

 

Not just in popularity, though it is popular. Not just in stature, though it’s also very well-regarded.

 

Coldplay’s music also is big – grand and sweeping and epic, it’s made for arenas and stadiums.

 

 

So who would expect the British band to present its music in anything but a big way?

 

It did, Thursday at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia (it returns at 7 p.m. today, July 6), in one of the best concerts I’ve seen this year.

 

For 95 minutes, the band lit up the stadium -- literally (each audience member got a wristband that lit up and pulsated to the music during the show) and figuratively, with soundscapes uplifting and transcendent, but also with a show that was overwhelming in its sheer audacity.

 

Not since the heyday of U2 has music had such scope.

 

 

Opening with the amazing swirl of “Hurts Like Heaven” – energetic and eager but warm at the same time – the band in the first four songs and 17 minutes twice shot off cannons that buried the center in a snowstorm of confetti, dropped huge balloons on the crowd, billowed smoke from the stage and had front man/singer Chris Martin run the expanse of the stage and well as the walkway that jutted into the crowd.

 

“We’re going to give you the best f-----g concert we ever gave in our lives!” Martin told the audience after the second song, “In My Place.” And the crowd already belonged to him.

 

But it was far more than just show. “The Scientist,” with Martin alone on piano in a spotlight, was easily as captivating – his voice soaring to another place, with the near-sellout crowd loudly singing along. “I do believe we have the best fans in the world,” he said.

 

For the band’s breakthrough hit, “Yellow,” Martin hunched way over at his keyboard as the song built from a hum. Then he picked up a guitar and began to strum to huge screams, and contorted his face in emphasis as he sang. It was as dramatic as any song the whole night.

 

 

There were other grand gestures, as well.

 

For a three-song set, the entire band moved to the end of the walkway to play “Princess of China” (with Rihanna “singing” her part on a projection screen), “Up in Flames” (textured and layered), and a stunningly stark and echo-y “Warning Signs,” Martin again alone on piano in a spotlight, his piano solo stinging.

 

After returning to the main stage for a soaring “Don’t Let It Break Your Heart,” Martin with a simple “Let’s go!” kicked into a rumbling, rolling “Viva La Veda,” the band’s biggest hit, for which Martin kneeled onto the stage, then ended the song flat on his back as the crowd continued to chant the words.

 

But as good as all that was, the last third of the 20-song show was even better.

 

“Paradise,” the platinum hit from last year, was ethereal – stretched to more than six minutes as the band seemingly didn’t want to stop – and the crowd didn’t want them to.

 

 

And then, after an unexplained three-minute wait, Martin and crew showed up at the back of the arena, on a platform high in the crowd, to perform a very good “Us Against the World.” Martin, wearing a pink T-shirt, quipped, “That’s the kind of band we are, breaking all the rules against wearing pink T-shirts and playing in the back of the room.”

 

And the main part of the show closed with a great and textured “Speed of Sound.”

 

They opened the encore with a powerful “Clocks,” Martin’s “Oooo’s” and “Ahhhh’s” floating over the music. Then a heartbreakingly good “Fix You” – also elongated to more than six minutes; this band knows what to do with its best music – and out with an equally strong “Every Tear is a Waterfall.”

 

It was the kind of concert that will undoubtedly live in the minds of the audience and on their lists of best ever. An incredibly talented group at the top of its game, performing at its highest level.

 

It was something big.

 

Supporting act Robyn also had big spots, but her 10-song, 40-minute was frustratingly uneven.

 

She came out wrapped in what appeared to be a blue Snuggie blanket, singing – or, more precisely, chanting and chirping – songs like and electronic dance music Nikki Minaj, and dancing like she was doing an aerobics routine.

 

But after three songs like that, the set suddenly turned. Her hit “Dancing On My Own” was inexplicably great, as she not only sang it, but was vulnerable and believable. “Indestructible,” also sung more conventionally, also was good.

 

And “Call Your Girlfriend” also was good – infused with emotion.

 

Robyn then also sang “Every Tear is a Waterfall,” remade as a disco/dance song, which also was good. But she closed with “With Every Heartbeat,” falling back on the soulless material that started her set.

 

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[BabyCAP]

Thanks to all the fans for posting the AWESOME pics. Last night was so cool. My .02 - have been to many many shows but never remembered Chris dropping the F bomb as much as last night. He was not being vulgar. He was just pumped for a Fing Good Night!!!!

 

Philly Rocked!

 

Can't wait for Sunday!

[Tash]

 

Why a VLV photo? :wtf:

[In a telescope lens]

Here's my pictures that turned out well

 

[Tash]

Panorama: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia

6 July 2012 7:01 pm

Our latest pre-show crowd panorama from the North American tour

 

Good evening. Here's Roadie #42's marvellous pre-show panorama shot from last night's show at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Click the picture to see the hi-res version. And you can upload your pictures from the show (and check out others') in our Live Archive.

 

 

Click here for more summer 2012 crowd panoramas.

 

Anchorman

[LFDianne]

Here's my pictures that turned out well

 

 

Awesome pics! You were SO close! And you even caught Guy's smile.

[TraceOddity]

My friend was there but had his camera stolen on the train, so I've sent him here to relive the memories. Thanks for posting, everyone, and hi, Edward,lol. ;)

[Tash]

Photoset: http://www.radio1045.com/cc-common/gallery/photos.html?album_id=323962&p=19424438#/0/19424438

[gjohnson]

Thank you Coldplay

 

OMG! Coldplay was amazing tonight. The cynic that I am wanted to doubt the magic of the wristbands as just another flash in a dark sky. But the ministers of spray can soul infused the venue with an energy bound together by those bands that lit up under the band's direction. Lights pulsating to the beat of Charlie Brown melded into a softer sway with Paradise, reminding us that we are a community, willing to work and play together when given the inspiration. Too bad the kindred spirit evaporates in the summer heat. But as Coldplay reminds us, "it's us against the world, and we've just got to stand up to be heard." Amen.