6 Oct 2008, 09:41
by Vloepk
Fri 3 Oct – Coldplay, Albert Hammond, Jr.
Being a
Coldplay fan since the first album, the last few years felt uneasy for me. Coldplay playing on safe by hitting the ' big emotional' ballad style song (
What If,
Swallowed in the Sea), and succesfull but somewhat outdated formula-like tracks (
Speed of Sound,
Fix You). Luckily, these slight let-downs are concentrated on just one album, so my hopes were high for
Coldplay to 'grow' over this period. It is, after all, in potential still one of the biggest names in the industry, combining really good songs and a global popularity, still best showcased on their second album
A Rush of Blood to the Head.
With
Viva La Vida Coldplay inventively evolved to a next level, but in a comfortingly recognizable way. Chris Martin's voice experimenting further to diversify his sound, unusual instrumentation, with a certain positive creativity, made their last album highly enjoyable. By the time I bought my tickets for this concert, I was not yet fully into
Viva La Vida, but I knew I would by the time they would perform.
Albert Hammond Jr. is not an obvious choice to accompany
Coldplay. Sure, I enjoy although his albums lack a certain constant quality, his songwriting skills are nicely displayed in some of his more wellknown tracks. But the key word here is context. To me, the best way to get into
Albert Hammond Jr. seems a small(er) venue than Ahoy Rotterdam. The largeness of this hall makes the charming rock music echoing into the nothing, and to honest, the style of
Albert Hammond Jr. is not quite fit for a regular Coldplay fan. It is simply too loud. The (lack of) response of the audience to Albert and his band showcased a general disinterest in him, as well that the only reason of this evening is just
Coldplay.
Albert Hammond Jr. deserves much better, altough to my opinion they should not burn their hands on the big arenas filled with fans of gentle pop/rock.
After some curious rapsong and a Wiener waltz (!!) came out of the soundsytem of Ahoy, Coldplay suddenly followed with the beautiful instrumental opening of Viva la Vida,
Life in Technicolor. The stage was still behind a curtain, but the band was visible. With the first tones of
Violet Hill, the stage was fully visible. During the first couple of songs, I was blown away by the visuals. With some kind of live edited video on displays and 'globes', the atmosphere in Ahoy changed with the minute. Especially during the marvellous
Chinese Sleep Chant, the saturated visuals were intensifying the experience. By that time audience favourites as
In My Place and
Clocks have already been played. Coldplay seemed in a good mood, mentioning the succesful concert that was the evening before, and speaking some Dutch words. After
Strawberry Swing, Coldplay moved to a more centrally located small stage to perform stripped versions of
God Put a Smile Upon Your Face,
Talk and
The Hardest Part. The drummer played on an electronic drumkit, which gave a nice lo-fi effect to these songs. It somehow reminded me of the early
The Postal Service.
The strings of
Viva La Vida announced the highlight of the set, the audience went crazy and the 'whooohooohoohooooo's were unstoppable from that moment. It must be said that the sheer quality of this song is just overwhelming live. The track that followed (
Lost!) is one of the weaker songs of the new album, and it did not really impress me live either. But what could, after
Viva La Vida!
After a small pause, the band showed up in the middle of the audience in the back of the venue to play beautiful versions of
The Scientist and the well sung
Death Will Never Conquer. The variation of performing location was a nice addition to the already impressive concert. The finale came after an addictive, but to me (yet) unknown 'tribal' dance remix of Viva La Vida, and started with
Politik. As earlier, the visuals were astounding during this part of the concert. Especially during
Lovers in Japan, I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere created by the music, the performance and everything around. There were even butterflies in the air! The encore was
Yellow, and even to me, being a fan of
Parachutes, it did not feel like a shortcoming to play just this song from their first album. Their discography on this moment is extensive enough to do without, and the experience I and many others had, could not have been better. Coldplay is having a sweet revenge on all critics!
