MANSFIELD - Coldplay brought their Viva la Vida tour to the Comcast Center Monday night and showed why they are probably the hottest act in music today, writes The Sun Chronicle.
Lead singer Chris Martin was in full control throughout the show and played the audience like one of the finely tuned strings on his guitar. The Brit quartet stormed through a strong sampling of their huge CD "Viva la Vida" as well as many of the hits from their relatively brief career. They rocked the main stage, held court from a side stage, and even went to the back of the lawn section of the venue for three numbers.
After they were done, no one could have possibly felt cheated on a gorgeous August night with a brilliant orange moon keeping watch overhead. It was all reminiscent of Bono, The Edge and company as they ascended to the height of their career and conquered the music world.
The show kicked off with the standing room only section in front of the stage swaying to the strains of the "Blue Danube Waltz," which many of the fans seemed to know would soon usher in Coldplay. The band took the stage and launched into the incredibly catchy "Life in Technicolor," the first track from the "Viva la Vida" CD.
From there, it was a quick transition into the equally foot-tapping "Clocks" as multicolored laser lights shot over the audience. The band played in front of a huge tapestry with the revolutionary "Viva la Vida" CD cover and several giant white globes hanging overhead.
After "Clocks," Martin belted out "In My Place" as he danced and jumped across the stage in his ragtag soldier's outfit, looking almost like a marionette. Then it was onto "Yellow," a huge hit for the band made all the more memorable by the scores of large yellow balloons that somehow emerged from the Comcast Center audience and bounced their way across the sea of hands.
Playing four hits right off the bat, Coldplay obviously wanted to get the audience immediately into delerium, and succeeded. They went on to perform an incredible version of "42" from "Viva la Vida" with black and white silk screens adding a nice effect. Martin turned "Fix You" into a sing-along, letting the audience sing much of the enduring hit, then performed a stirring rendition of "Perfect Day."
On the tiny side stage, Coldplay performed the hit "Talk" then Martin went into a relatively sedate piano solo before returning to the stage and launching into the title track from "Viva la Vida" with the audience shouting out the chorus without cue.
Martin tossed multicolored sticks into the crowd as he pulsated through "Lost!" - another big hit from "Viva la Vida" - then Coldplay made their way through the audience and to the back of the lawn where they performed "Green Eyes," a number written and sung by the drummer Will (the name of which I did not catch), and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." The gesture to the late pop superstar was touching, though it was pretty obvious from the start that Chris Martin is no Jacko. He did get points for his falsetto, though.
Source: The Sun Chronicle
More photos from Coldplay's set at All Points West festival, Liberty State Park, New Jersey (2nd August 2009):
Pictures by Jamd
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