Coldplayaz - Sydney's Double Whammy

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Coldplayaz - Sydney's Double Whammy

June 28th 2006 14:38

The Sydney Entertainment Centre

Picture it - it's 3am on a Tuesday. Circular Quay is almost silent as Francesco Totti lines up a soccer ball to take the penalty shot against Australia. I stand there, Aussie scarf donned, while all the while going through the incredibly annoying trial of trying to decide who I actually go for. Seven hours earlier, things were quite the opposite. Down George Street, in the Sydney Entertainment Centre, the biggest band in the world was readying to perform front of a packed arena.

Youth Group warm up the crowd

But first, the supporting act - Youth Group, the Australian indie band with that country twist whose fame relies solely on their cover of the 80s Alphaville hit, Forever Young. From their debut album, "Skeleton Jar," I had some knowledge of their musical style and, while it wasn't too bad, I expected some entertainment. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they were pretty boring, and, apart from Forever Young, they weren't very welcome from the crowd, possibly the only sign that they are destined to be a one-hit wonder.

But, a an hour and a half later, the lights dimmed, and the anticipation grew. Coldplay were here. The familiar sound of the organ of Square One slowly faded in, and the huge background screebegan to count down toward the chorus, all the while in time with the music.

Background of Numbers

Chris Martin began to sing, seemingly alone amongst nothing but the backdrop of numbers, before the rest of the instruments came in, revealing the other members of the band. Towards the chorus of the song, the numbers in the background got ever-closer to zero and, as the song reached its crescendo, the background instantly changed from the countdown to growing coloured squares in sync with both the music and huge lights. Thus began the Coldplay concert.

An excited Chris Martin quickly moved to the piano to begin Politik, very similar to the album version. The third song, Yellow, was aptly dedicated to the night's soccer match, and Martin even altered a song lyric to show their support for the Australian team, gaining great applause from the crowd. In the middle of the song, yellow balloons appeared from the ceiling, the crowd punching it into the air before they finally made it to the stage, where Martin popped them to unleash golden glitter.

The succeeding three songs followed a similar setup, with awe-inspiring visuals, but not much in the way of differing from the originals. That is of course, until Don't Panic which featured guitarist John Buckland singing an inaudible but nevertheless interesting verse. After White Shadows and The Scientist, the band moved toward the centre of the stage for what appeared to be an acoustic set, with John Buckland and Chris Martin on guitar, drummer Will Champion on keyboard and bassist Guy Berryman on harmonica. In this state they played Til Kingdom Come, the closing track of their album "X & Y," and a song which Chris Martin dedicated to Johnny Cash during the Austin City Limits version of this song. Thus it was fitting that the song moved straight into the well-known Johnny Cash song, Ring of Fire, also part of the Austin City Limits set. The song got the crowd singing and satiated those expecting some crazy cover from the band (in the past they have covered Kylie Minogue and Oasis, among others).

A raving concert

As the lights dimmed once again, the band moved back to their positions, and sang Clocks, again in the same style as the Austin City Limits set, complete with opening drum roll and quickening drum-and-piano portion at the end. The song was most memorable for the visuals - a definitely impacting movement of flashing lights, and lasers that made it feel more like a rave than a concert. The lasers finally came to an end, before the band moved into Talk, in which Martin cleverly coaxed the audience into a standing applause as the band moved off the stage.

Nevertheless, the crowd remained standing for at least five minutes, clapping all the while until Coldplay returned for a rather short encore of Swallowed in the Sea, In My Place - in which Martin moved through the crowd, touching screaming teenagers and inwardly excited middle-aged alike - before coming to a close with Fix You. The song was a fitting end to an extremely good concert and, despite the lack of favourites like Amsterdam and Shiver, it was something to truly behold. I had always wondered what could be so exhilirating about Coldplay concerts, but now I totally understand. Unfortunately, now all I have are the pictures, videos and mere memories of the concert until Snow Patrol's concert next month.

Full Set List:

Square One
Politik
Yellow
Speed of Sound
God Put A Smile on Your Face
What if?
Don't Panic
White Shadows
The Scientist
Til Kingdom Come
Ring of Fire
Clocks
Talk
Swallowed in the Sea
In My Place
Fix You

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