14 November 2008: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN, USA
From WikiColdplay
Contents |
Setlist
- Life In Technicolor
- Violet Hill
- Clocks
- In My Place
- Glass Of Water
- Speed Of Sound
- Cemeteries Of London
- Chinese Sleep Chant
- 42
- Fix You
- Strawberry Swing
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)
- Talk (techno remix)
- The Hardest Part
- Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)
- Viva La Vida
- Lost!
- The Scientist (acoustic)
- Death Will Never Conquer (acoustic - Will singing)
- Viva La Vida (remix interlude)
First Encore - Politik
- Lovers In Japan
- Death And All His Friends
Second Encore - Yellow
- The Escapist (outro)
Photos
Photos from this show can be found at Coldplaying.com in the Gallery thread for St Paul. http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/1550
Videos
Videos from this show can be found in the first post of the Coldplaying forum live thread for this show at http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44939
Discussion
All post-show discussion for this show at the forum thread: http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44939
Fan Reviews
All fan reviews have been submitted to us by the members of Coldplaying.com[1], unless stated otherwise.
hey all, just got home and finished editing my photos from the show, i was rather close (7th row on the floor) and so i got a few really cool/weird pictures of chris and johnny rocking out together and stuff, including a picture of when i thought chris was passed out before launching right into "Lost?".
The setlist is correct, although the coolest part of the show for me was when they came back on for their first encore and launched right into "Politik", that song is one of my favorites but just the way the did it where no one was expecting it anyways was the coolest feeling in the world.
But the best song of the night for me for some reason was "The Escapist" because live the song transitions soooo much better then I could have ever imagined, and it totally sounds horribly bad on the record compared to a live setting.
They played "Chinese Sleep Chant" as well, which was a incredibly treat and they also did a very, very cool techno version of "Viva La Vida" on the speakers inbetween their "in the crowd" acoustic section. If anyone knows more about that part and where I can find that techno version please let me know, I loved it, along with the 5 minutes straight of cell phones that litup the entire place. it was beautiful.
So for a first Coldplay show, it was the best show I have ever been to. Cant wait until the next U.S. tour or next album!
[Say Hello 87]
I know I promised a review the minute I got home, but my head is killing me, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow! I only just got in, the concert was by far the most amazing show I've ever been to. I was really far back, like two rows away from the very back of the floor, but I was on the end of my row and the boys ran RIGHT past me and up the stairs directly next to me for their acoustic set, I was just a few steps away basically, so I've got an incredible video of The Scientist for you all tomorrow
[ZapShazam]
I just got back home and it was such an amazing show. the fans were terrific and the band deffinetly noticed. im like 99 percent sure they didnt play Yes but they did play hardest part so that was cool. Amazing show and Amazing crowd i dont think ill ever forget this night
[tritt09lakeville]
I sincerely hope that nobody showed up expecting to see a rage against the machine show. This was a perfectly organized set, and anyone who disagrees isn't a fan of the band. They came out playing older songs that fans knew - so you can't bash them with the typical "they only played the new stuff". Some of the songs were boring, but they are boring songs - let me clarify - Great songs, just not dancing type songs. They played to the entire crowd, moved around the stage, played all the hits, and finished with the encore song of all encore songs, the reason anyone first started listening to coldplay: yellow. I felt thoroughly entertained, and I find it hard to believe that anyone who even kinda-sorta likes this band can say that it was less than satisfactory. as for the acoustics, xcel is great, and the sound was perfect.
[charles mann]
I thought starting the show with four hits, beginning with "Violet Hill," then moving right into "Clocks" started the show off on a great start. I'll admit that songs 5-7 slowed it down, and "Fix You" is a pretty ballad, but also kept the crowd in check. The show did definitely pick up at the finish... but that opening four songs was sharper. Very good concert.
[ChrisV]
I will share the story of the setlist. My g/f and I had this planned that after the show she would go to Guys area and I would go to Jonnys and start asking for setlists, but it was crowded. I told her to go back to the sound engineer's area and ask, she said she didn't think that would work because people would already be there, but I told her that not many people know that there is one there. I came up to no avail, security were dicks and kicked us out, but to my joyous suprise my g/f calls me and says "I got one!". Half stunned I walked back to meet up with her and sure enough, she said she was the only one standing there and they guy gave one right to her. On it, the setlist states they may play Glass of Water "before or after yellow" and that Dubliners/Prospects March was SUPPOSE to be played, however they were not. (Glass of Water was NOT played). So I was disappointed in that but nonetheless thrilled that I got a setlist!
The moral of this tale is that it may be your BEST bet to go to the back of the floor to the sound boards and ask those guys since no one else knows about it.
[bearcat1229]
absolutely amazing show.... iwas on the side of the stage 18 rows up and it was phenomenal. Have to say that personal highlights were thousands of cell phones in the air for the viva remix and the acoustic scientist .... when they broke out the harmonica was enough to make somebody cry. Chris seemed very pleasantly surprised with the crowd, who sang along happily, only stumbling on the for you i bleed myself dry in yellow. he also described wills voice as like that of a tiny angel.... brilliant haha. lost underwhelmed me live but was still amazing....wow. absolutely terrific evening, dont know how ill go months without another concertt...anyone know what he plays on the piano after hardest part?
Viva.
[Aorian]
Last night was the highly-anticipated Coldplay concert and holy cow it did not disappoint. Although the lighting wasn't quite as spectacular as their 2005 show, I enjoyed this performance much more. Coldplay is hands down my favorite band. Maybe I just love them a little bit more now, or I just really love Viva La Vida, or I enjoyed being with Ryan and Jenny more than my previous company. All in all, it was magical and I wished it would never end. Every song was my favorite. Chris Martin really looks like he enjoys himself so much...he seems so happy jumping around on stage. The rest of the band certainly displayed their talents as well. And so did the audience. I get a thrill out of singing Fix You with 17,000 other people. Incredible.
http://erinolson.blogspot.com/2008/11/coldplay-in-st-paul.html
I drove up to the Cities to see Coldplay last night. On the one hand, I’m not sure how much more of that I’ll be doing by myself. It’s a lonely drive up and back, and it’s lonely to sit and wait for the show to start. On the other hand, this was probably the best concert I’ve been to. So I’d hate to miss out on that.
The openers, Sleepercar, started out with a slow harmonica/guitar intro that made me think of Dryve and got me briefly excited. The excitement faded pretty quickly, though. They were OK, but nothing too special. I had been hoping that they would be the same caliber that Dashboard Confessional was when I saw U2, but alas…I also got excited when they finished because they only did 6 songs. I had been thinking they would do 10 because I thought they were the only opener. I obviously didn’t learn anything from the first time I got my hopes up.
There was another opener who wasn’t listed. I don’t even remember his name. He was some electronica DJ kind of guy, and while he did his thing, they showed this weird animation. Watching him, all I could think of was Ross on “Friends” playing his little keyboard. Only this was muchmuchmuchmuch worse. Maybe I just totally didn’t get it, but I thought it was awful. The guys beside me must have thought the same thing - they clapped when the guy’s screen got torn down during the set change.
But finally Coldplay came out. I was at the very top of the Xcel Center, so I had a good view of the overall setup and lighting (which were absolutely outstanding), but it’s hard to get into the show up there. Which, for this show, means it just took a little longer. Like I said, this was just an amazing show. I had called Gabe on the way up and said that I might have preferred the previous CD’s show a little better, and I think that’s still true (I did catch a show from that tour on TV and really liked it). But I can’t complain here. The highlight was definitely “Fix Me” - I think it would have been better as a closing song, but it was worth the price of admission - and their other big songs were handled just as well. They did a couple sets off the main stage, including one right in the middle of the crowd. Not anything super innovative, but very well done. In general, the difference between this show and U2 was that it was obvious that these guys were loving what they were doing. U2 seemed a little preoccupied with choreographing the show, and Coldplay was much looser, which made it more fun. I think the thing that keeps Coldplay from surpassing U2 as a band is their accessibility. The opening DJ and the music that played during the set break came off as a little pretentious. And while I love listening to their music, there aren’t as many hooks or memorable lyrics. But in terms of the shows I’ve seen, Coldplay came out on top.
Media Reviews
Had British foursome Coldplay performed at the Xcel Energy Center in July as originally scheduled, we would have witnessed the band at the beginning stages of a world tour, fueled by nervous energy and excitement.
Instead, the band postponed that July show to allow more time for pre-tour production and stopped by the X on Friday night for a confident and competent performance for a crowd of 16,153.
Ever-affable lead singer Chris Martin apologized for skipping out this summer. "We would have been absolutely s—," he said with a laugh.
Of course, he's full of it. One of the many charges leveled at Coldplay is that they were careerists from the start, shamelessly stealing all the best bits from U2's playbook. And even an under-rehearsed Coldplay concert would trump most of the competition.
Friday's show unfolded with near-military precision, so much so that the live video feed on the big screens looked like an expertly edited concert DVD. Yet, what the concert lacked in spontaneity it more than made up for in grand gestures, epic songs and stunning staging that approached, but did not surpass, the group's triumphant 2005 stop at the Target Center.
Take, for example, "In My Place," the band's 2002 single. The pleasantly stirring recorded version sounds great on light-rock radio, but in concert, Martin and company transformed it into an audience-participating, world-conquering monster. It's a trick Coldplay pulled over and over again, elevating "Fix You," "Clocks" and "Lovers in Japan" into chilling and thrilling anthems. (The latter even arrived with fancy glow-in-the-dark confetti.)
The band focused on its most recent, fourth album, "Viva La Vida," a disc created with the help of frequent U2 collaborator Brian Eno. And, for the most part, the fresh material sounded terrific live, from the uplifting title track to the mini-suite "42" to the dreamy "Chinese Sleep Chant."
When it came to the older stuff, the band wasn't afraid to mess around with the arrangements, which didn't always work, like a dance-beat driven "God Put a Smile on Your Face" that buried the track's original charms. But an acoustic take on "The Scientist" provided a clear highlight of the evening, even if the band hadn't pulled the nifty trick of playing it in the middle of a bank of seats at the back of the arena.
Still, for all the polish and bluster, at times one could sense the band has shifted into autopilot, an almost inevitable effect of five months of hard touring. Perhaps next time the band hits the road, the Twin Cities will catch them while they're still learning their lines.
http://www.twincities.com/ci_10989920?nclick_check=1
The British group had a lackluster start then found some spirit and ended with truly magical moments.
Coldplay still hasn’t found what it’s looking for. The biggest rock band of the ’00s, the British quartet aspires to be as big as U2.
But the group’s sold-out concert Friday at Xcel Energy Center was like one step forward and two steps back. The show wasn’t as consistently exciting as Coldplay’s first Twin Cities arena concert in 2003 nor as visually dazzling as the group’s 2005 effort.
Friday’s 95-minute concert lacked momentum, urgency and depth. The key culprit was the pacing. For the first 45 minutes, Coldplay subjected 16,153 fans to 10 pretty but stiflingly similar medium-tempo tunes.
The redundancy in tempo, texture and dynamics — not to mention the largely unimaginative light show (playing “Speed of Sound” in the dark was not dramatic, it was dunderheaded) — leaves a listener comfortably numb. But in arenas, we want our rock to be transcendent, cathartic and just plain fun.
When Coldplay started to mix things up, it became clear that Chris Martin and company could be big-time contenders someday.
The turning point was “God Put a Smile upon Your Face,” recast as a throbbing techno tune that was warm and fresh compared to Coldplay’s surfeit of shimmering, sonically pristine songs.
Then left alone on a piano on a runway extending from the stage, Martin apologized for having postponed this concert, originally set for July. (“We would have been absolutely [bleep],” he said. “We weren’t even ready.”). After finally showing some emotion in conversation, he broke into the heartfelt “The Hardest Part,” a straightforward piano pop piece.
Martin, 31, rejoined his bandmates for “Viva La Vida,” this year’s buoyant hit that on Friday was as rousing as a Barack Obama victory song. The singer danced joyously as the band, driven by Will Champion’s pounding timpani, played a simple song (for a change) devoid of Coldplay’s usual atmospherics. The crowd sang along festively — “oh — oh, oh, oh” — like it was a Bon Jovi concert. The perfect followup was “Lost,” with a primal beat that evoked Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk.”
Finally, for two consecutive songs, Coldplay had turned into a rock band with a sense of urgency and excitement, living up to its long-held desire to inspire.
Having completely won over the audience, Coldplay could take even bolder steps. So the four guys literally walked through the crowd, climbed up into the cheap(er) seats in the bowl end of the arena, and sang two acoustic tunes, including the hit “The Scientist.”
After returning to the stage, Coldplay carried on with vigor and vitality. They flexed their rock ’n’ roll muscle on “Politik” (though Martin, who had been blatantly political on past tours, made no political statements this time) and partied on “Lovers in Japan” as day-glo tissue-paper butterflies descended from the rafters, creating a visual spectacle not unlike the Republican National Convention did in the same building earlier this fall.
By then, Coldplay and the thrilled crowd had finally found its magical moment.
