Coldplay's June 5 show was consistent with shows on their last tour, which also stopped at Verizon Wireless Music Center, writes nuvo.net.
Just like in 2005, the platinum-selling British group used tricks to win the crowd, dropping big yellow balloons filled with confetti during the rendition of their first hit, "Yellow." This time around they used not just one, but two auxiliary stages - one in the upper pavilion and the other on the lawn - to give the sold-out amphitheater a sense of intimacy.
Several tracks from their most acclaimed and best-selling release to date, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, graced the set list, notably "Violet Hill," "Lost" and the title cut. The quartet wore the garb - relics from Sgt. Pepper's closet - that has become synonymous with the album.
Coldplay also used globes that descended from the ceiling and projected everything from psychedelic imagery to live band shots, with quick cuts and '80s band a-ha-style stop-action animation. The video element brings Coldplay closer than ever to Pink Floyd's visual superiority.
Frontman Chris Martin executed his customary half-skip around the stage and two catwalks. He rarely sat still at his piano, either, unless the band was playing one of its more meditative numbers. Martin struck the right balance between engaging the audience and not getting on its nerves, however. During one impromptu jam on the lawn stage, he riffed, "Singing in some places is good, in others great. Especially when you're playing the Hoosier state." At another point he orchestrated a cell phone wave.
Coldplay have also shown their aptitude for bringing along great and/or complementary special guests. In 2005 it was the Technicolor fuzz of Black Mountain. This time it was the lovelorn pop-rock of Snow Patrol, who headlined their own concert two summers ago at The Lawn.
Unlike Coldplay, Snow Patrol only performed two songs off their new album, A Hundred Million Suns: the pixie-dust propulsion of "If There's a Rocket Tie Me To It" and the fist-pumping thump of "Crack the Shutters." Otherwise the Irish group's older recordings were better represented, and still enough to get many out of their seats. Opening act Howling Bells commenced the proceedings with a darkly danceable and hypnotic brand of rock. Think a Cure vibe without the mope.
Article: http://www.nuvo.net
Coldplay at Verizon Wireless Music Center, Indianapolis, IN (5 June 2009):
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