Professor Yeti

Until recently, whenever somebody asked me if I liked Coldplay (and, living in England, this happens more than you would think), I wasn’t quite sure what to say. The band’s first album, Parachutes, didn’t budge from my Discman for most of 2001. I loved how the mellow, low-fi tracks all seemed to float along, climaxing and then settling again with the refraining chorus of “Everything’s Not Lost,” the album’s final track. This was the type of sound I looked for in a band.

Therefore, I was initially quite disappointed by their follow-up album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. Although there were remnants of the mellow sound that characterized Parachutes, it was obvious that Coldplay was heading in a different audial direction. The band sounded more produced, like they had written the album with anthems in mind. Tracks like “In My Place” and “Clocks” were too obvious, trying hard to recapture the feel of the surprise hit single that catapulted them to stardom, “Yellow.” The album eventually grew on me, though, especially once I got used to the band’s more mainstream sound.

Unfortunately, I was unable to accept the band’s latest sound change in their most recent album, X&Y. Gone was the low-fi sound that had dominated their first album and appeared occasionally on their second. This third album was an over-produced, lyrical mess that resembled a band desperately trying to sound like U2. To me, the singles “Speed of Sound” and “Talk” were bland and boring, while “Fix You,” although a decent anthem, further justified Coldplay’s critics who said the band relied too much on a quiet-loud-quiet song pattern. No matter how hard I tried, I could not listen to X&Y in one sitting-it was too dull. The sound that had initially drew me to the band was now completely gone, and I was ready to add Coldplay to that list of “Bands I Used To Listen To” (other members of said list embarrassingly include Matchbox 20 and Hootie).

Coldplay was spared that terrible fate, however, after I saw the band live at London’s Earl’s Court Arena this past December. I had heard that Coldplay put on a decent live show and was eager to see if my faith in the band could be renewed. I was not disappointed; the show was phenomenal.

In recent interviews, lead singer Chris Martin commented that following the release of X&Y and a massive stadium-venue summer tour, the band decided to knuckle down and focus heavily on its live performances, attempting to make them more entertaining and intimate (a difficult task, seeing as how they were still going to be playing 20,000-seat venues). “More entertaining” must translate to “more cool, flashy stuff” as one of the first things I noticed when I arrived at the Arena was that the band had obviously invested a lot of money in technology. The stage was completely covered with lighting equipment, and a gigantic video screen that spanned the stage served as the backdrop. When the show started, the band exploded onstage with “Square One,” a song off X&Y that normally I’m not a fan of. However, as the strobes flashed and the video screen displayed a hypnotic backdrop that resembled the screensaver on my Mac, I couldn’t help but be taken in; the music that sounded so dull on CD was coming alive.

Throughout the show, the band made excellent use of the technology around them. The massive video screen was used in full as well as divided up into sections and was particularly effective when it displayed backdrops that pulsed to the rhythm of the music. Additionally, for many of the songs, the lasers, lights, and strobes were all sync-ed to the music, an effect which worked wonders on the previously-dull numbers “Speed of Sound” and “Talk.” For “Yellow,” the Arena was bathed in yellow light, as giant yellow balloons stuffed with gold glitter were dropped on the audience. Corny as it may sound, seeing the yellow balloons burst into showers of shiny, gold paper while hearing the song that shot Coldplay to stardom was actually quite moving (sadly, though, the moment is not quite as emotional when watched on playback on my camera phone).

There’s no question that the lighting and backdrop effects played a major role in making the music more entertaining. But where the band really succeeded was with intimacy. Earl’s Court is not at all a small venue, but somehow through their sheer energy and general humble British attitudes, the band members connected with the audience in a way I’ve never experienced before at a large show; they were just so . . . well, nice. Chris Martin leapt around the stage (and eventually, the entire Arena) in a gazelle-like manner; the band joked around after messing up the opening chords to “Shiver”; and they played a surprisingly beautiful acoustic version of Madonna’s “Hung Up,” as Madge herself was in the audience that night. And that cover was played during what was, in my opinion, the highlight of the night — the band’s 15-minute acoustic set. As the band members moved down to the very edge of the front of the stage, the video screen and high-tech lighting were shut off and were replaced by two spotlights. The simple, low-fi versions of “+” and “Green Eyes” were perfect, and I was carried back to the sound that had attracted me to the band in the first place.

I haven’t tried listening to X&Y again, post concert. But, if I did, I’m sure I still wouldn’t be able to get through it in one sitting. Instead, I’ll be focusing on the previous albums, naively hoping that Coldplay’s fourth is a return to their original sound. No matter what the outcome of that next album is, though, I’ll definitely be buying tickets for that tour, and if you’re a fan (or an almost-ex-fan like I was), then you should be sure to do the same. Just try to see them in London, if you can. They like London. They said so in their witty banter.

Jesse Alter (jesse@professoryeti.com) lives in Kensington. Chris, Gwyneth, and Apple, on the other hand, live in Hampstead. So far, the parties have not met.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 15th, 2006 at 11:10 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.