Concert Review: Coldplay at Wells Fargo Center

I finally did it. I finally saw one of my favorite bands in the world, live.

Coldplay started their Mylo Xyloto tour last year, and finally made their way around to the East Coast this summer for the second leg of their US trip, for which I am eternally grateful. As someone who constantly listens to their songs whenever convenient, I hadn't actually seen them in the flesh - until last October when I struck up the courage to sleep outside 30 Rock to see them in the wee hours of the morning on "The Today Show". Even then, as great as it was, the arrangement was not so great and I was painfully made aware of how short I was. Plus, I was carrying blankets from the sleepover and my back hurt.

Last night, I got my second chance to see them at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia with floor seats. The opening acts were decent; Wolf Gang, a British alternative rock band and Robyn, the Swedish recording artist made popular in the US with singles like "Call Your Girlfriend" and "Dancing On My Own". Even though there were plenty of people around me who had no idea who she was, and were just waiting for her to end, she's quite the act. She knows how to have fun on stage, even though her music is a bit too techno-heavy for me. But she's cute.

Before I go into Coldplay, I should note that we were all handed multicolored bracelets as we walked into the stadium, where large LCD screens instructed us to keep them on as they were a part of the show.

Then the lights shut down.

And Jay-z's "99 Problems" came on. What? Don't worry, they had a plan. The band came on while a recording of the "Back to the Future" theme played, followed by the Mylo Xyloto title song.

And cue screaming audience.

(It's been known that Chris Martin is a huge fan of Jay-Z and hip hop, having collaborated with the rapper on a remix of "Lost!" from the Viva La Vida album, as well as "Beach Chair" from Jay-Z's comeback album Kingdom Come.)

With "Mylo Xyloto" playing along, our bracelets came on and started flashing colors. The effect was beautiful, with thousands of bracelets flashing colors around the stadium, giving the appearance of sparkling stars.

With the first hit of the drum and the first strum of the electric guitar, Coldplay flowed seamlessly into their first song of the night, a popular number from the Mylo Xyloto album, "Hurts Like Heaven". It paired awesomely with the flashing bracelets and the rager-like lights and theatrics. Chris Martin doesn't have the strongest voice live, but Coldplay sure knows how to play to their fans. Some time into the song, the ceiling started raining with paper confetti in various shapes taken from the album cover; butterflies, hearts, M's. It didn't matter if you couldn't hear the singing, the confetti and flashing bracelets were enough to stun you.

"Hurts Like Heaven" is probably one of the farther departures from typical Coldplay on their newest album. It starts off with the nice ethereal sound we're so familiar with, but then quickly moves to a bubblegum harmony and a faster tempo than usual. They stated in an interview last year that the album name was to signify nothing and represent a clean state from the past. But Mylo Xyloto sounds more like a mish-mash of all their earlier albums; "Moving to Mars" and "Us Against the World" pays homage to the Parachutes era; "Charlie Brown" and "Paradise" sounds more like Viva La Vida. I could be wrong but it seems that way.

About 2:09 minutes into "Hurts Like Heaven", they've got this really nice, albeit short harmony that sounds like something out of the 70s - if that's even the right era. I can't quite place the sound, but I can listen to this song over and over again just for that short moment. As I was recording the song on my crappy camera during the concert, I stopped right before that part just so I could experience those few seconds live without distraction.

Yes, I feel a little bit nervous.

Among more recent hits like "Paradise", "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall", and the lesser known "Us Against the World", I was pleased to hear older hits like "Warning Sign", "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face", "In My Place" (which I never thought they would play live), and "Violet Hill".

Of course they covered "Fix You", "The Scientist", and "Yellow", probably three of their concert favorites - the audience always ends up screaming out the last verses for them - but I mentioned the former list because I was glad to see those hadn't fallen by the wayside. It's easy to forego them for the more popular tunes merely for theatrical purposes. I mean, had I had it my way, I would have requested every song from every album be played, especially "The Hardest Part". It's got such a simple melody with such simple lyrics, it's recently become my favorite. But alas, the concert cannot go on forever.

"God Put a Smile Upon Your Face" came with a bit of twist when the band started the song in a major key, confusing a lot of people trying to sing along. Really amusing actually, but brilliantly executed and a refreshing sound. But then in came Guy Berryman with the bass and Will Champion with his strong drums, and all of a sudden, the key changed to more familiar, haunting tones and everyone was in their groove again.

"The Scientist" of course got all the attention it deserved and ended with a bit of call and response with Martin and the audience vocalizing near the end.

At one point he stopped and said, "I do believe we have the best fans in the world." Judging by the energy and half-gone vocal chords of almost every audience member, I would say so, yes. Then again, Coldplay knows how to give the fans what they want.

"Us Against the World" came after what seemed like the end of the concert - but of course, the audience wasn't going to have that. There was a bit of confusion and "Where did they go, are they coming back?" as the lights came on and crew members started moving equipment around.

But then Martin popped up somewhere near the middle of the back raised section with a guitar, which I'm sure made everyone in that section piss their pants. After a bit of monologue about wearing a "fucking pink shirt", he started the slow number, joined gradually by Jonny, then Guy, then Will. And somehow, they fit that graffiti-ed piano up there too.

The concert overall was one of the best concerts I've been to. I can't stress enough how much Coldplay knows how to entertain. Along with the confetti came huge balloons floating down from the ceiling, glow-in-the-dark structures placed throughout the audience, and the wonderful runway that the band so generously used so that we could be that much closer to them.

With such an immensely passionate fan base, obsessed with everything Coldplay-related, I wonder what Martin's wife Gwyneth Paltrow thinks on a daily basis of her frontman husband's career. Probably that he better remember to get some groceries on his way back home or he's dead meat.