Toyota Center- Houston, Texas- Tuesday, November 18, 2008

According to The Daily Cougar (The Official University Newspaper of the University of Houston) journalist, Cassandra Malork, “A Coldplay concert is always a memorable one because excellence is expected.” Last night was my first live Coldplay experience but it is safe to say that I can agree with Ms. Malork.

After Aimee, my partner in crime, and I purchased our tour T of choice (In Aimee’s case, a sweatshirt that said ‘COLDPLAY’ across the ass) we climbed to the ‘cheap seat’ section. Nose bleeds or a lawn seat is all the money I ever throw down. In all honesty the seats were pretty good. We sat directly to the side of the stage which was cool as the show opened because we saw the band jamming to “Life In Technicolor” before they lifted the curtain for the crowd to react. Chris Martin was, of course, wearing the new distinctive tour jacket, the one specifically made for the ‘2008 Viva La Vida Tour,’ also the one we saw him in on the cover of SPIN magazine when the album came out.

Starting with an extended instrumental is awesome as it is and the fact that “Life In Technicolor” is the first song on the new album made it even more dramatic. It’s like you just popped in the CD, but no you are listening live!! Ok sorry, I’ll get on with it. The segue into “Violet Hill” was not surprisingly followed by a burst of applause as the rest of the crowd was exposed to what we saw behind the curtain. Next was “Clocks” which had the lights down for every piano segment. The green lasers were funny. You’re not really affected the same way by the lighting when you’re above the lights. I knew we would miss some of the visuals anyway considering we were to the side and couldn’t see what was behind the band. There was, however, several suspended screens and excellent live filming going on which I hope will be released on some kind of DVD. Aimee kept filming the film (lol…sounds redundant) with her camera so I will post live videos once I steal them from her.

“Speed of Sound” played through entirely with the lights down. At this point it was time for some kind of acknowledgement to the crown so Martin said, “Let’s turn some lights on here man, can’t come to Houston, Texas without turning on the lights and sayin’ thank you for having us.” “Speed of Sound” was followed by several Viva songs, including one of my favorites, “42.” Viva is different than the rest. Less lyrics and more sound. They use strings and percussion. It’s really beautiful. A Rush of Blood to the Head has always been my favorite but Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends may be sneaking up to the number one slot in my mind.

If you listen to the lyrics on Viva you hear the usual life, love, and politics in the familiar Coldplay sound, however, in this album, as the title suggests, there is also death. It’s sad. The song “42” says, ‘Those who are dead are not dead/ They’re just living in my head.’ Just the name of the second track, “Cemetaries Of London,” alludes to death. They also get religious with this forth album. “Viva La Vida,” says, ‘I know St. Peter won’t call my name.’ We were supposed to hear less self-consumed stories in this album but I think “Viva La Vida” is completely personal. I gather that he is reflecting on quick fame and the fact that once it’s there it’s there forever. He will always be famous and now he wants to search beyond fame to see what is next for him. What happens after life and after the love that he has been lucky to secure? He is unsure of what will come or if he is on the path to where he thinks he wants to be when the next thing comes. He does all this via biblical references, which gives it a kind of double meaning. Those who take the time to meditate on the lyrics will find the personal message because it lives under the simple lyrics. Let’s hear your thoughts?

On “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” I noticed that Jonny’s guitar had the black and red V[I]VA logo painted on it. Next, Martin started a solo of “The Hardest Part” and then looked in the crowd and found a young kid and said to him/her, “Well, how old are you? About four?” He then mentioned something about appreciating the diversity of the crowd which, if you have read the Houston Chronicle aftermath of the concert, writer Brandon Hernsberger makes a good point regarding this comment. He says that Martin misinterprets age difference as diversity and that the crowd last night was the least diverse he has seen. I said it was a good observation, I didn’t say I gave a shit. I couldn’t care less if the crowd is diverse. Plus the next comment Hernsberger makes is ridiculous and I don’t agree with it at all. He says, “Coldplay appeals only to a certain group of people – those who are privileged enough to not have to make personal connections to art to help them define their position in the world…” Why would Coldplay only apply to those people? Don’t bother to read the article if you haven’t already. It would make any star struck person who, after last night, is momentarily in love with Chris Martin and jealous of Gwenith a little bit defensive and mad at Mr. Hernsberger.

On “Viva La Vida” we all joined in to the Whoa Oooh Ooooh Oooh Ooooh…of course. Then the music cut so that Martin could sing the Whoaaa with a purposely bad vocal so that we could all laugh at him and love him even more because now we think that he is also funny. Then he proceeded to lay on the stage to bask in his fame for a minute because he still enjoys that even though we know now that he is, you know, searching for what comes next.

They climbed half way up the arena to met the guitars that were there waiting for them and sang “The Scientist.” Martin mentioned that we were the strongest bunch of tacklers that they have had as they do the climb every show. And that it posed a problem because he and his band mates aren’t the strongest of guys. Then he had to mention something about good looks compensating for the lack of strength. It was just one of those friendly banters that you know he says to every crowd. Martin played the harmonica. Then they did “Death Will Never Conquer” and Will, the drummer, sang.

A techno mixed version of “Viva La Vida” played while they made their way back to the main stage to play “Politik.” When the encore came they did the predicted “Yellow” and left the stage with a simple “Bye!” from Martin. Lastly, when track ten on Viva doesn’t end and if you wait a minute you find that it starts up again just like “Reign of Love” and “Chinese Sleep Chant;” that song is called “The Escapist.” That song was played for the exitlude. All in all, it was a great show. An experience I will one day tell my children about. Stay tuned for Aimee’s live footage…

Setlist:

1. Life In Technicolor
2. Violet Hill
3. Clocks
4. In My Place
5. Speed Of Sound
6. Cemeteries Of London
7. Chinese Sleep Chant
8. 42
9. Fix You
10. Strawberry Swing
11. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
12. Talk
13. The Hardest Part
14. Postcards From Far Away (piano)
15. Viva La Vida
16. Lost!
17. The Scientist
18. Death Will Never Conquer
19. Viva La Vida
20. Politik
21. Lovers In Japan
22. Death And All His Friends

Encore:

23. Yellow
24. The Escapist

And now I will leave you with the latest video “Lovers in Japan.” By the way, the old school TV looking contraption that magnifies Martin’s hands as he plays the piano in this video, they brought that on-stage with them. And yes, the confetti did fall during this song at the show! Too bad I wasn’t anywhere near the line of fire. I wanted a piece of Coldplay-confetti for my scrapbook! Okay, I sound obsessed. I guess I won’t deny it.

Lovers In Japan @ Yahoo! Video

Well, if you’re interested in seeing a band who’s lead singer does not articulate one word, therefore, you cannot understand a single thing he says, I would suggest going to see a group called Dear and the Headlights. They did a ballad towards the end of their set which was disastrous considering the words to a ballad are most important. However, the music was good and if you visit their purevolume page you can understand what he (Ian Metzger) is saying. He just has to work on his live performance I guess. Is there anyone out there who went and agrees with me? There was really only about thirty people there I would say. Anyway, the album out now is called Drunk Like Bible Times and their full-length debut from 2007 is called Small Steps, Heavy Hooves.

And the real reason for attending Tuesday night was to hear Steel Train, a group I saw open for The Hush Sound a few months back. I had met the guys and bought their album Trampoline. They started with “Firecracker” and completely rocked it out. Expecially frontman Jack Antonoff who was giving an up on his tippy-toes, neck-vein popping performance. They did my favorite song “Dakota” which surprisingly had a weaker vocal but a nice guitar solo. They played a new song called “Soldier In The Army” that will be on the next record. It was good. Watch out for these guys, the new album will be out SOON. They’re still in the peachy rising to fame stage and are so excited that I suspect things to happen rapidly.

They did one off their first album called “Road Song.” I remember this one from the last time I saw them. This song is about making it onto a national tour. Evident in the lyrics, “…send your dad a note, you made it kid, you’re on the road.” This is also the one where the crowd joins in for “…my steel train is gonna ride on ’til the end!”

They only waited a second after the set and came back on for a two-song encore. The last song was “A Magazine” which has a little Beatles “A Day in the Life” rip off in it as it has a whirling build up, a substantial pause, and then a similar piano re-entrance. It’s a great song!

Have a listen to this little performance of “Road Song.” This is how they always perform it.

1. Firecracker
2. Kill Monsters in the Rain
3. Alone on the Sea
4. Dakota
5. Soldier in the Army
6. School is for Losers
7. Road Song
8. I Feel Wierd
9. Black Eye

Encore

1. Women I Belong To
2. A Magazine

Brace yourself, I have two concert reviews for ya’ on this beautiful Friday. Actually, it’s only 65 degrees in Houston today. Chilly!

On Tuesday night I saw The Ting Tings at the new House of Blues in Houston. First of all, I got in for free! I was waiting in line around 8pm to purchase my ticket as the opening band was playing. The girl in front of me turned and said, “I have an extra ticket would you like it?” I later read in the Houston Press that they were offering free first-come-first-serve tickets at the HOB box office until 6pm and I didn’t feel special or lucky anymore. Anyway, the opening band was a local Houston band called The Watermarks. The only song I caught was called “Shut Down.” Then they ended with a little Janis—“Peace Of My Heart.”

And so began the LONG equipment set-up for The Ting Tings. The last thing they brought out was the huge bass drum that I knew would be used for “Shut Up and Let Me Go.” They had spelled out The Ting Tings on the drum with what looked like black electrical tape. Katie White took the stage wearing a huge wide-neck sleeveless top falling off her shoulders and belted at the waist. She had black shine leggings and black patent leather mid-calf wrinkled boots with huge silver studs along the rim. I loved the outfit. I will now probably try to copy it.

They started with “We Walk” and she played her compact keyboard. I guess that’s what it was. Although, it very well could have been something fabulous that I know nothing about as I lack instrumental knowledge. Both she and drummer Jules De Martino are great musicians. They play several instruments and their stuff includes a lot of percussion. When they did “Traffic Light” Katie said, ‘…and this is what it’s like when The Ting Tings do a slow song.” When it came time for the encore Jules came back onstage with his camera recording the crowd saying he had a lot of friends back in the UK that he wanted us to say hello to.

To put my British vocabulary to use, all in all I thought the performance was brilliant! It was very high-energy and the drum beats and repeated lyrics make the songs very catchy.

1. We Walk
2. Great DJ
3. Fruit Machine
4. Keep Your Head
5. Traffic Light
6. Be The One
7. We Started Nothing
8. Shut Up And Let Me Go

Encore
1. Impacilla Carpisung
2. That’s Not My Name

Have a listen to “Traffic Light”

Last night I went back to the HOB to see Sara Bareilles and Marc Broussard. I have seen Sara before at the Parrish in Austin, TX but I had never seen Mr. Broussard. I showed up when the opening band was performing as I always do. I did not get a free ticket this time and it was a little pricy for my taste. Usually my shows cost $12 to $18. This one was $25. Anyway, it was worth it.

Raining Jane was the name of the opening act. I walked in on what they later described as the Jam Session they like to call “Brown Town” which is a celebration of their ethnicity. One of the girls in the group was Persian. Then they sang ‘a little ditty about first love’ called “Papercut.” The lyrics were cute and the harmonizing was cute. It was altogether a cute song. They made me want to show up on time to every concert I go to because, while I hate waiting, I also hate to miss being introduced to something great. They co-wrote “A Beautiful Mess” with Jason Mraz and a version of it is available on iTunes. Their EP is called Paper Nest. They ended with a song called “Pinball.” All these songs can be found on their MySpace page if you follow the link above.

Marc Broussard followed Raining Jane and started with “Rocksteady” from the album Carencro. His first album on Atlantic Records, third full-length altogether, is called Keep Coming Back and was released on September 16, 2008. When he played “Another Night Alone” he told us that this was his favorite song off the new album. I bought his new LP and listened again when I got home last night. I love his pop-funk-blues mix of sound.

1. Rocksteady
2. The Wanderer
3. Real Good Thing
4. Another Night Alone
5. Home
6. Gavin’s Song
7. Going Home

Have a listen to “Home”

Sara B. came on-stage wearing a black pencil shirt and a white blouse looking like a business woman. Her lead guitar player wore a D.A.R.E tee-shirt. She started with my favorite song, “Vegas.” The whole night I knew what was coming next because I stood right near the sound equipment where the crew had a copy of the setlist. They included a little funk guitar when they performed “Morningside.” Then she did a song called “Love On The Rocks” and had a band member playing organ to her piano.

She then asked for a moment of our time to explain the ‘Vote for Eve’ buttons she had displayed on her merch table. Apparently she supports a non-profit whose sales proceeds go to the National Eating Disorders Association and by voting you may help Eve win $10,000 for her cause.

“Between The Lines,” she explained, is about always missing love. For instance, not being ready to love when someone loves you, or being in love with someone when they have just found someone else. Her song “August Moon” is about being cheated on by her high school boyfriend.

When she sang “Little Voices” she ended with ‘I used to rule the world, seas would rise when I gave the word’—yeah, she threw in a little two-line Coldplay teaser. Strobe lights flashed during “Come Round Soon” and I thought to myself, ‘as if I’m not already immersed by the music alone.’ She ended the song with, ‘I kissed a girl and I liked it.’ Okay, now she was just having fun. I could have done without the Katy Perry cameo. She sang “Love Song” exactly the way it is on the album which I thought was nice. Why change something everyone already loves as it is? She ended the set with “Many The Miles” and Marc Broussard joined her on-stage and they made it the little we-sing-you-repeat crowd interactive number of the night.

The encore came and she brought Raining Jane on-stage with her and they did “Sullivan Street.” She had been on tour with Counting Crows and that is her favorite Counting Crows song so she chose to include it in the encore. Then she finished with a solo of “Gravity.” It was a neat way to end the show. She just belted out this beautiful ballad while everyone stood still and silent listening, including all other band members and opening acts that I could see were standing just inside the stage curtain.

Have a listen to “Fairytale”

1. Vegas
2. Bottle It Up
3. Morningside
4. Love On The Rocks
5. Between The Lines
6. Fairytale
7. Feel It All
8. August Moon
9. Little Voice
10. City
11. Come Round Soon
12. Love Song
13. Many The Miles

Encore
1. Sullivan Street (Counting Crows cover)
2. Gravity