gretchen1619

BusyBeeBurns: Your post is somewhat pathetic, especially where you tell fans who express less-than-positive opinions about the current tour to "stay home." You're basically telling people not to have an opinion. (Or maybe in your world, you would permit us to have an opinion, but just not to express it out loud.) What's wrong with expressing disappointment about a band's song selection, show length, or encore? And what's up with "coldplaying.com" featuring this particular blog on its homepage, but not others? I always assumed that fans were free to express their likes and dislikes on this website. (I'm assuming that's why it's called a "forum.") After all, music is all about the expression of ideas, likes, and dislikes. Why would/should a fan website not encourage that same expression?

That's just it, Tigermilk, Coldplay setlists don't evolve or change, at least not during the same tour. Unlike Dave Matthews Band, for example, that rarely repeats a song two nights in a row, Coldplay doesn't change songs or rotate song order. That's a little strange, right? I also think the production crew is way over its head, at least during the Las Vegas show. Which goes to Tigermilk's point: Why get bogged down in the technicalities of concert, ESPECIALLY if you can't pull it off. While it's admirable to perform so many songs from their new album, wouldn't it have made more sense to wait until they were more comfortable performing them live? If you've seen Coldplay this tour, then there's no way you can assert that the band's performance was polished. No way. (Especially compared to their previous tours.) And if unpolished is acceptable to you, then that's okay, too. But Coldplay can't be considered one of the best bands in the world, in my opinion, until they straighten out their live performances.

Tweak the Setlist Coldplay needs to tweak the setlist. I saw the Las Vegas show, and it was okay. I'm not suggesting they make wholesale changes to the setlist (although it would be cool if they sprinkled in a few more songs from their previous cds). But if they can't (or won't), then at least change the order of the songs. No matter how much you liked the show, you have to admit that it's choppy. (Clocks so close to the beginning doesn't work.) And no matter how much you admire the band's attempt to incorporate so many new songs into the setlist, you have to admit that the last 20 minutes are somewhat anti-climatic. (I love Death & All His Friends and The Escapist, but they simply don't work as encore closers.) Here's a reworked setlist. I've kept every song from their most recent show, except Chinese Sleep Chant (they really shouldn't play this song live). I've added Trouble (from their LA Forum show). And I've kept three new songs as opener, closer, and encore closer. This setlist would work so much better. Tell me you disagree? Pemberton Setlist (7/27/08): 1. Life in Technicolor 2. Violet Hill 3. Clocks 4. In My Place 5. Viva La Vida 6. 42 7. Fix You 8. Chinese Sleep Chant 9. God Put a Smile Upon Your Face 10. Speed of Sound 11. Yellow 12. Lost! 13. The Scientist 14. Death Will Never Conquer 15. Politik 16. Lovers in Japan E3. Death and All His Friends E4. The Escapist (outro) Reworked Setlist: 1. Life in Technicolor 2. Viva La Vida 3. Politik 4. In My Place 5. Lost! 6. Speed of Sound 7. Trouble (7/14/08) 8. God Put a Smile Upon Your Face 9. 42 10. Fix You 11. Death Will Never Conquer 12. Yellow 13. Violet Hill E1. The Scientist E2. Death & All His Friends (The Escapist) E3. Clocks E4. Lovers In Japan P.S. This is just my opinion. I realize that it's the band's perogative to play whatever songs they want in any order they want. This post is simply for the sake of discussion. Let the hazing begin!

I agree. I'm excited to see Coldplay again in November, with 3-4 months of touring under its belt. (And in case I didn't mention it, any Coldplay is better than no Coldplay.) But for a lot fans, $90+ is a lot of money. So when you attend a concert that clearly hasn't been fine-tuned, you have to wonder why a band would schedule a tour so quickly? If you're going to begin a tour so soon after releasing a new album, then maybe you ease your way into the new material. But based on its current setlist, neither Coldplay nor its crew were ready for this tour.

Different Perspective In my opinion, Coldplay began touring its new album too early. Don't get me wrong, I respect the band's decision to perform so many songs from its new album. And I'm not necessarily expecting a "perfect" performance every outing. (In fact, Coldplay's humility is one trait that really draws me to the band.) But during so many points throughout the Las Vegas concert, vocals were completely drowned out by instruments, feedback distorted entire songs, lyrics were missed (how do you forget lyrics to Speed of Sound when you've performed it every night for the past week and throughout a previous tour). I'm not questioning the guys' passion or talent for one second, but the live performance didn't do Coldplay justice. I'm not sure whether this was the same crew that's been with the band on past tours, but the production side of the evening was reflective of a mid-level band. Don't get me wrong, the butterfly confetti during Lovers in Japan, singing two songs from the upper deck, the giant circular video screens- these were all nice touches. (And some of the new songs, especially Lovers in Japan and Death and All His Friends, are quickly becoming some of my all-time favorites.) But if Las Vegas' show was representative of the other four shows performed so far in the tour, then something's not quite right with this show, from an overall production standpoint. Does anyone on the website agree with me, or did I just completely miss it last night?