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Music review, Coldplay at the Vic
By Joshua Klein
Aside from Radiohead, which occupies a unique place in the pop scene as the
current international arbiter of cool, Brit-pop just isn't making much headway
in a U.S. market still saturated with teen pop and hip-hop. Any assessment of
so many other U.K. superstars reads like a qualitative retelling of the
Goldilocks fairy tale. Travis? Too nice. Oasis? They try too hard. Blur and
Pulp? They don't try hard enough. Starsailor? Just try to tell them apart from
everyone else.
But something about Coldplay seems to be just right. The band's debut album
"Parachutes" was a sleeper hit, even landing the band a top-40 hit with
"Yellow," much to the barely disguised envy of Coldplay's peers. Coldplay,
for its part, possessed just the right balance of ambition, talent and
accessibility.
Indeed, Coldplay's upcoming "A Rush of Blood to the Head" picks up right where
"Parachutes" left off. Recorded in the same studio with the same producer,
the album's indelible first single "In My Place" was apparently the only song
left over from the "Parachutes" sessions. Hoping lightning will strike twice,
the band is in the midst of a short preview tour to build anticipation for
album No. 2, and if the reaction at the sold-out Vic Friday night was any
indication, the band's set for a sophomore success.
The setting Friday admittedly skewed the sample. With a camera crew capturing
the set for a livetelevision special, the club's lights were left on and
Coldplay's impossibly charismatic singer Chris Martin was encouraged to play
not just to the Vic audience, but to the viewers at home, too.
No problem. Reminiscent of U2, Echo and the Bunnymen and, of course, Radiohead,
Coldplay's music sounds perfectly suited to catch the ears of millions. The
piano-led "The Scientist" and "Clocks" mingled with the psychedelic-tinged
"Daylight," "Don't Panic" and "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face," the latter
three songs playing up Martin's Bunnymen infatuation. Drummer Will Champion
chimed in with falsetto backing vocals as he pounded away incessantly, while
Jon Buckland brandished a new guitar for nearly every song.
Buckland's minimal leads were key to Coldplay's rousing performance.
Preferring subtle shadings to power-chords and simple rhythmic patterns to
full-blown solos, Buckland provided the counterpoint to Martin's heartfelt
and yearning vocals. When the two meshed, as on the hit "Yellow" and its
sound-alike sequel "In My Place," the melancholy emotional power was
undeniable.
Not everything was so serious. When a technical problem delayed the live
broadcast, Martin played a brief piano medley of Nelly's "Hot in Herre" and
Eminem's "Without Me," showing that he's been studying the mechanics of
hitmaking. He brought an enthusiastic fan up to introduce the propulsive
"Shiver," then later led the band through the giddy Bunnymen nugget "Lips
Like Sugar" (Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch appears on several songs on the
new album).
"This is less like a gig and more like an evening with your grandparents,"
apologized Martin about the odd, casual pacing of the show. But if this show
was only Coldplay in low-key mode, then the band's forthcoming proper tour
should cement them as the stars they so clearly aspire to be.
--
If world power was delineated
not according to wealth or fame
but by musical output,
Suede would be emperors.
Suede is so beautiful they could stop world wars.
--
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