Toronto review 7: Coldplay arrives with dark, fluid show (plus amazing Coldwave shot)

It was a rare alchemy that made last night's concert at the mammoth Rogers Centre a ticket to good to pass up as Elbow, the Mercury Prize-winning British critical darlings, and Coldplay, the Grammy-winning heir to the title of "world biggest band" joined forces in Toronto, writes The National Post.

Before the big bands, the night was begun by the young British rockabilly trio Kitty Daisy & Lewis, who were hand selected by Coldplay's Chris Martin for the tour. Playing on the massive stage, the group - fronted by a trio of teenage siblings - did their best to warm up the slowly filing-in crowd. The reception was polite, if not quizzical. As Elbow readied to take the stage, three massive video screen behind the stage turned on, and it was clear that the production level was about to go up a notch. Elbow is smart-rock: big, epic lullabies and devastatingly-orchestrated complex Mancunian rock set to Guy Garvey's biting lyrics. One could only wonder how all that would translate to the caverns of the Rogers Centre.

Starting off with Starling, the first track from their Mercury-winning album Seldom Seen Kid, singer Garvey lifted a trumpet and helped blast out the opening staccatos of the song before taking the mic. The band confidently whipped through a too-short set featuring songs such as Everything Has Changed (introduced by Garvey with: "This song is about the day after falling in love. Which I highly recommend if you've never tried it."), the chant-inducing Station Approach (a "song about our hometown, but you can borrow it whenever you like"), at full stride during Ground For Divorce and the lovely closer "One Day Like This".

The mix was perfect, allowing the stadium to swell with Garvey's warm voice. There were indeed only two things wrong with their set: a bit of audience indifference and the notion that it should have run a full hour longer. This was an opening act, but swap Toronto for anywhere in the UK, and Elbow could have filled the arena themselves. But this arena was full for the main act. Coldplay has been functioning as the heir apparent to U2 ever since their first world tour, although, that seems to suit Chris Martin and company just fine. With each tour they hone their show, upping the spectacle and stage presence.

After hyping up the crowd with a combination of U2's Magnificent, Jay-Z's I Just Wanna Love You, and Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz (presumably a salute to Coldplay's friends and influences), the lights lowered, the trio of screens fired back up, and a large giant orb descended from the roof of the arena.

In darkness, the band – Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman – took the stage and opened with the instrumental "Life in Technicolour" and by the time they started the first verse of Violet Hill, the audience was singing along. After asking for some lights, Martin surveyed the almost 50,000 strong and remarked "that's a lot of people" before launching into In My Place. The band has clearly perfected the routine of the tour, now into its second year. With the opening chords of their first-ever hit, Yellow, a hundred or so giant yellow balloons were tossed and dropped into the crowd. As the song progressed, Martin encouraged some crowd interaction, asking everyone to sing along "even if you are here because of your girlfriend".

After a few songs from last year's Grammy-winning Viva La Vida, the quartet played the mesmerizing 49. And it was here where it was clear just how orchestrated the video team was. With the songs quiet piano opening, the screens displayed Martin singing in black and white with dramatic filters, and through a pin-hole camera effect. As the song exploded, the edits become chopping, then transitioned into full colour. The unsung video team acted from then on like an invisible band member - adding another layer to the show.

In the first stage shift of the night, all four members came to the stage-left extension for sped-up, self-remixed and slightly sinister versions of God Put a Smile Upon Your Face and Talk. Martin then cued the "Michael Bolton" segment of the show, where he joked about his need for a haircut and thanked the audience for coming through the traffic and the garbage to see them play before launching into Hardest Part and then bringing the crowd to frenzy with the thundering Viva la Vida and Lost!.

As the song wrapped, a sudden tide of movement down the aisles and from security towards a wooden platform near the bottom of the field below my seat in section 130. Then it immediately made sense as the band sprinted off stage and ran through a secured field- level aisle and onto the platform.

Source: National Post

More pictures of Coldplay at Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON (30th July 2009):