Coldplay @ the 02 Arena[LIVE]

Monday 15th December 2008

You get good value for money at Coldplay gigs, by the looks of it. Not only do you get to see the band themselves leap from classic to classic led by mad musical professor Chris Martin, you get Simon Pegg laughing his way through a harmonica solo, huge balloons spurting confetti, thousands and thousands of butterfly-shaped paper pieces dropped from the dizzy heights of the 02 arena... and even a brief Take That cover. Such is the spontaneity of these concerts, I’d be tempted to say – apart from the fact that there is little difference between this setlist and the song listing of every single other show that’s been played on Coldplay’s current ‘Viva la Vida’ tour. But we’ll pass over that!

First support comes from a bouncy Eugene Francies Jnr and co, who even attempted to win friends by chucking free badges and t-shirts into those he bribed down stage-side. Despite dodgy dance steps from his two girl backing singers, the Junior’s ensemble were nicely makeshift and raucous. A stark contrast to second support act Jon Hopkins, whose creepy electronic vibes and terrifying screen of cartoon visuals were a bit of a shock to the system and an unsettling lead-up to the band themselves. Coldplay are big fans of Hopkins’ work though, even using a remix of his track “Light Through the Veins” to boost their single ‘Viva la Vida’ and guest producing the new album itself – so don’t diss!

I think it’s almost comforting to see such a well-received group. Their live presence has been tried and tested and you know it’s going to be a polished and memorable set. That said, once the initial hype had died down and each member had settled into their instruments via opening song “Life in Technicolor”, there were a couple of shaky moments which were brilliant to hear, such as Chris syncopating a note just a tad too far, or the occasional bum piano glitch. To many this could seem like such a pointless criticism, and you’re probably wondering why I brought up these tiny, tiny little errors at all, but I think it’s important to recognise that when backed into a corner and forced to prove their musicality without the aid of outrageous world-peace stances and celebrity sensationalism, Coldplay are like every other unit out there, all aiming to write us quality songs and make us great memories. Having never seen Coldplay live before I was concerned that they would have got just that little bit too perfect, stuck in a rut of performing old-school hits and becoming vividly stale. However, although the golden oldies such as “Yellow” and “Clocks” were recognisably yanked from years gone by, the all-seated crowd loved a good singalong and Martin barely had to sing a note to carry his choonz. There’s cute little live gems hidden amongst your dad’s faves too – a dishevelled and slightly stunned Simon Pegg (of all people!) is spiked from the audience and thrust a harmonica to perform a lo-fi version of A Rush of Blood to the Head album track “Green Eyes”, drummer Will steals the arena for “Death Will Never Conquer”, Hopkins leaps back onstage to join in odd techno versions of “Talk” and “God Put A Smile Upon Your Face” and as previously mentioned Chris launches into a barely-there rendition of Take That’s “Back for Good” after a gut-wrenching “The Scientist”. The singer quite literally jumps from song to song in a blind and sweet kind of euphoria, and for a split second I can understand why Martin claims he’s so delighted with his music that he finds it hard to sleep at night. Dripping onstage and giggling absent-mindedly, he genuinely looks chuffed to be with us and does his best to engage with the crowd. It makes a change not to have to coax miserable shoegazers from their dream-worlds and instead just revel in the attention from such an iconic frontman.

Coldplay are like Marmite, for sure. Spread too far and just too tangy? Or to be eaten in such ridiculous quantities that they just make your belly ache? Just because your parents can name-drop a few of their chart-busters doesn’t mean you should ignore their material out of pure indignance. Thankfully after hearing the band for real (and despite Transport for London’s epic cock-ups contributing to my long and slow journey back to Chelmsford) I think I can safely say that there is still a place in my heart, and in the industry’s empty and ruthless chest cavities, for Coldplay. Maybe they occupy a cosy niche and aren’t that outrageous after all, but their older albums have stood the test of time, their newer albums have cut the mustard and if you haven’t seen them live yet, you’re probably – no, definitely - missing out.