Hot Concert, Coldplay

Although some critics deem this quartet, composed of guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and singer Chris Martin, able to excel only in making stadium yawn-alongs, Coldplay’s fifth studio effort was an immense success. A crowd of 70,000 people from all able-bodied walks of life attended the Thursday evening Coldplay Concert at The Hague, Malieveld. The eponymous tour of their most recent album, Mylo Xyloto, offered a generous mix of alternative rock, catchy pop and soulful ballads built on universal themes of love, adventure and the personal journey. Many of their songs featured uncomplicated and often bare lyrics, which instead of making for a boring song, invited audiences to extrapolate and generate meanings from the music. No longer was a pop song enjoyable only due to its auditory appeal. Instead, anyone can insert his or her own personal experiences in ways that make the song more significant for the listener. The band also has provided soundtracks for the important themes of the intimate human experience, such as falling in love (“Yellow”), losing something valuable (“Up in Flames”), and the yearning of pleasure and contentment (“Paradise”). Coldplay’s poetic lyrics appealed to many mainstream audiences and the melodies of their ballads were powerfully simple, loaded with tremendous emotional quality and characterized by expressive, draw-out notes that could have easily become cringe-worthy wailing if vocalists less talented than the band’s lead singer Chris Martin attempted to perform them.

From a technical standpoint the production was as impressive as it was stimulating. Coldplay went in with a bang, opening to “Mylo Xyloto”, a fast-paced and energetic crowd-pleaser that matched the fanfare of the special effects.  Fans, handed glow-up wristbands at the door that were electronically controlled to light up at strategic times, comprised a sea of lights that made them a part of the evening’s pageantry. Within moments of the start of the show, confetti rained down, dozens of graffiti-decorated beach balls bounced through the crowd, and multi-pronged lasers of red, green and blue pierced the dry ice above fans’ heads. At several moments throughout the evening, perfectly timed fireworks displays afforded by the outdoor venue lit the air to punctuate the musical climaxes and heighten the energy of the performance. High-tech video editing brought attention to the five circular screens that displayed perpetually alternating half-second sequences of the musicians, who wore informal street clothes splattered with fluorescent paints in the shades shared by their album cover, their instruments, the microphone handle, the stage floor, and the animated visualizers on the jumbotron. The visual themes and animations of the concert, which were interspersed on the screens in between live stage shots, could be called a multi-colored abstraction that blended street art, cartoons, and bright angular shapes.  As kitschy as it had the potential to be, it enhanced the performance by distinguishing Coldplay’s branding and providing an interesting visual experience alongside a primarily auditory experience. At €70 a ticket, I was delighted to be offered more than one medium of art.

                   Fortunately the between-song chatter was kept to a minimum so the show flew by in a brief one hundred minutes. Chris Martin’s heartfelt vocals in “Up in Flames” was a terrific union of talent and solid song writing. The lyrics of the chorus “Up in flames, Up in Flames, Up in Flames, we have slowly gone”, describe a heavy and painful separation or loss. His ability to hold a note until it evaporated from his chest, coupled with his conviction-laden, highly emotionally invested performance was breathtaking. For quick-paced songs, however, Martin transformed. He seamlessly transitioned from soul-baring contemplation into a radical performance mood of microphone-gripping, zoned-in intensity that only veteran rock stars have mastered. His stage moves reflected heroic body language, such as his far-forward lean into his microphone and flailing runs up and down the runway, landing on both knees as he lowered his back to the floor while exhaling, microphone to lips, the last syllable from  “Violet Hill”. His showmanship matched his vocal talent, which boasted an enormous range. His falsetto particularly impressed me because instead of sounding breathy or weak, he managed to fluidly manipulate his voice to sound like he had honed several vocal registers. The drummer, Will Champion, played an essential role in generating the addictive beats that made audiences automatically bob their heads and mindlessly yet joyously wave their hands in the air. He appeared as if he was having the time of his life (as many percussionists do) so merely watching him perform was a worthy sight to behold. The chest-thumping bass lines, such as in “Paradise””and “Hurts like Heaven”, were a highly memorable and worthwhile aspect of the show.

Absorbing the ambiance of my first live outdoor concert, I noticed most attendees appeared between the ages of fifteen and forty-five, but once the concert began, the silhouettes of children’s upper bodies perched on their fathers’ shoulders gradually appeared into view. Among many positive factors, the family-friendly atmosphere, over-the-top (literally) pyrotechnics and good onstage talent made for a remarkable evening that I openly recommend for anyone interested in high-quality musicianship for all ages.