Coldplay

With an overcast sky, the lights of the Bay Bridge and the city of Berkeley as a backdrop, Coldplay took the stage in front of what was the largest crowd they've ever headlined for. The sold-out audience of the Greek Theatre was instantly hypnotized by what was a stellar performance that no one in attendance will soon forget.
Kicking off the show, the foursome jumped right in with stunning renditions of "Politik," the first track off of their new record, A Rush Of Blood to the Head, along with "Shiver" and "Spies" off their 2000 full-length debut album Parachutes.
In a brief repeat performance of a piece of the MTV2 $2 Bill show back in early August, frontman Chris Martin broke into Nelly's "Hot In Herre" towards the end of "Everything's Not Lost." Following up with their second US single, "Trouble," Chris Martin joked about that song being a little indie hit, saying "if we could only get American Idol's Kelly Clarkson to sing the song, then one day it would make it a huge success."
Martin, along with guitarist Jonny Buckland performed a gorgeous, scaled-down acoustic version of "Green Eyes." Martin introduced the song with the joking prediction that the band would soon "split-up," leaving just him and Buckland as the sole original members and that they'd be stuck playing shows in Las Vegas forever with a regular gig down at the Hard Rock Café playing "Yellow" for tourists.
Jumping from piano to guitar between songs, Martin closed the set with "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face," "Yellow" (during which the crowd was bathed in yellow light), "The Scientist" and a flawless performance of "A Rush Of Blood To The Head."
A simply amazing version of "Clocks" kicked off the band's encore. With intricate piano composition, brilliant lyricism and Martin repeating "maketradefair.com" over and over towards the end of the song, I don't think that there was anyone left seated as they moved right into the current single "In My Place." Closing the epic show with a short rendition of the Otis Redding classic "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay," Martin gave a heartfelt thanks to the Bay Area audience. Simply amazing.

- Words and photo by Bill Fishkin

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