Coldplay

Coldplay
Live at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton, Tuesday 5th July 2005

Set List ‘Square One’ ‘Politik’ ‘Yellow’ ‘God Put A Smile Upon Your Face’ ‘Speed Of Sound’ ‘Low’ ‘Warning Sign’ ‘Everything’s Not Lost’ ‘White Shadows’ ‘The Scientist’ ‘Till Kingdom Come’ ‘Don’t Panic’ ‘Clocks’ ‘Talk’ ‘What If’
‘In My Place’ ‘Fix You’ played again for a video shoot ‘Fix You’.


You buy your tickets for these events in the hope that it will be a balmy summer night, which will add to the spectacle that is an outdoor summer gig, but what greets you as you drive to the stadium is rain that makes visibility through the car windscreen something of a lottery. Luckily the rain relents as soon as the car pulls up to the car park at the Reebok Stadium.

Coldplay touring the country after the recent release of the rapturously received third album ‘X&Y’ tonight is the second of two gigs held at Bolton Wanderers ground.

They are ably supported by local lads Doves, fresh from supporting Oasis and U2 on their recent stadium gigs they have certainly justified their elevation to the big league and with performances like tonight, it certainly wont be long before they are packing these places out in their own right. The set was a brisk run through the highlights of their three-album career to date and ‘There Goes The Fear’ was a fitting climax to a well-received set by the audience arriving for the main turn.

Fresh from Live 8 at the weekend it was back to the day job for singer Chris Martin and his band; the lobbying is put to one-side, he has an album to promote. Though judging by the charts it seems that he is preaching to the converted.

The new album is a lot more an expansive sound that its predecessors and prior to tonight ‘X&Y’ had left me feeling a little disappointed, but in the live arena, some of these songs seem to have an added dimension when belted out into the back of the arena, even when they slow things down with an intimate acoustic set with ‘Don’t Panic’ and the song written for Johnny Cash ‘Til Kingdom Come’ these more subtler songs work in the vast expanses of a football stadium.

With the bands elevated status it is now apparent that Coldplay now have their own resident guitar hero in Will Champion and on the new tunes such as ‘White Shadows’ and ‘Talk’ his skills are pushed to the limit to great effect.

Coldplay certainly have what it takes to be a stadium band and if U2’s star begins to wain then, it is likely that Coldplay can fill the void, but for the punter I’m still left a little cold by the stadium experience, but it was a good gig and one that justified the price of the ticket.