If you're looking for a big-name band that puts on a fantastic live show, Coldplay's Twisted Logic tour should not be missed.
The opening act, Rilo Kiley, an up-and-coming indie band that fuses pop, rock and a hint of blues, played a solid set featuring songs from their third album, More Adventurous. Multi-talented vocalist Jenny Lewis sung while hopping between guitar, keyboard and harmonica. The band featured an accenting trumpet during "It's a Hit" and "Ripchord." Although Rilo Kiley put on a good show, they suffered opening-band syndrome, as most of the Coldplay crowd had no qualms against walking and talking during the set.
After a 45-minute intermission, the lights dimmed and 20,000 enthusiastic fans instantly jumped to their feet. From the jumbo speakers came the opening chords of "Square One" and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin's distinctive, wide-ranging voice at what seemed like 200 decibels. Martin maintained a superhuman amount of energy and enthusiasm the entire two-hour set, moving across the entire stage and even incorporating dance into the performance. Blazing through songs from all three of their studio albums, the band dropped giant yellow confetti-filled balloons that bounced around the crowd during "Yellow."
Martin interacted with the audience with his crowd-pleasing sense of humor, dedicating "Everything's Not Lost" to people on the back lawn of Raleigh, N.C.'s Alltel Pavilion, those going back to school (because it's a "bummer") and anyone who had ever been rejected by a girl. An entertaining alteration of the first verse included "I went to see a Coldplay concert/And sat so f***ing far away/But don't you worry if that's your story/You can still hear the noise/If you wanted to see a band for their visual attractiveness/Then go and see the Backstreet Boys."
"The Scientist" was interrupted by a coughing fit from Martin, then interrupted again by drummer Will Champion's insistence that he had "f***ed up the song." They proceeded to start over, succeeding on the second attempt. Martin's self-deprecating humor made him seem less of a celebrity and more of an average guy who just happens to perform for thousands.
Acoustic versions of "'Til Kingdom Come" and a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" stood out among the evening's songs and brought the set's electric intensity down by a notch.
After a few bras thrown onstage and a rendition of "Happy Birthday" sung en masse for lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, the band performed "Clocks" and "Talk," rekindling their momentum. The encore was somewhat somber, with "Swallowed by the Sea" (in what I hope was a tribute to Katrina victims), "In My Place" and "Fix You." The crowd streamed out, buzzing and thrilled to have seen an amazing live concert by one of the biggest bands in the world.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
