Coldplay - the gig

Must improve my reviewing techniques (not that there is much to add to what people have already said about Coldplay) but after my shoddy Star Wars review, I think there is definitely room for improvement, so here goes:

Coldplay must be approaching the peak of their powers right now. The third album has finally won me over. I was to be honest a little apprehensive over the last two albums, although the track "Warning Sign", which could so easily encompass everything I hate about whining soft rock and all the other mini-Coldplay/Travis style bands there are out there at the moment, is probably one of my favourite songs. They have just completed Glastonbury, are beginning a world tour, and are about to do Live8 - whatever your feelings on the latter, I'd rather have a cosy chat with Chris Martin on making trade fair than Bono clicking his fingers to make poverty history...

The gig itself was good and almost great - I say almost because the songs almost lend themselves to stadium great-ness (but not quite - they are often too soft - although has to be said the better stuff was the new stuff) and the technical side of things was almost right, except the weather (thunder and lightening accompanied by the odd severe cloudburst of rain) seemed to be wreaking havoc with a few bits of equipment, including the end of show fireworks which were practically non-existant. But the music, and that's what counts, was what we had come to listen to and the crowd got what they wanted... Also, as front men go, Mr Martin does the job, wiggling his hips (at times, a cross between Mick Jagger and Jim Morrison), joking with the audience (at one point, getting a song completely wrong and stopping play, with hilarious concequences!) and keeping the crowd going ... Highlights included opener Square One, Yellow, Warning Sign, Everything's not Lost, everything else from album X&Y with In my place, The Scientist and closer Fix you thrown in for good measure

(Also of note, support band Interpol were also very good - despite the weather, which they got the brunt of, and also that no-one was really there to see them - I actually thought they were better live than on record)

Definitely the highlight of our week, and as it was at Crystal Palace, five minutes walk from home at the end...