Seeing Coldplay Live

Last week the band Coldplay came into town and played two sold out concerts on July 22nd and 23rd at the United Center. I went to see them perform last Wednesday, July 23rd. I was super excited to see them, because I have heard how great the band is when they perform live, and I had to see it for myself. It definitely turned out to be one of the best concerts I have ever been to, with a few exceptions. At exactly 7:30 p.m. the concert began, and I was glad to see that it started on time, until I saw who the opening act was. The show started with a very strange performance, to say the least. It was a "D.J." who was not good at all. Every single one of his songs sounded exactly the same, and it didn't even look like he was trying. I put the word D.J. in quotes, because all that entire person did was press a few buttons on his laptop to make a few beeps. To make it even worse he brought a very odd video to go along to all of his songs. It was cartoons showing very strange images, and to be honest it freaked me out. I had to leave my seat and go into the hall because I couldn't stand listening to his "music" or looking at the weird videos he made. After that horrendous act I could not wait to see Coldplay and hear some real music, but to my dismay there was another act before Coldplay would come on. A singer named Santogold was on next. I have heard songs by her before and I actually liked them, so I was not too mad that she was the next act. But, she also turned out to be just as bad as the first act. I do not think one person sitting in the audience understood one word she said. Plus she just screamed out all of her songs; I did not hear her sing once. The performance was awful, and if I wasn't so excited to see Coldplay (or paid that much money), I probably would have just left the concert. It was pretty obvious why Coldplay chose such horrible opening acts to start off the concert. Compared to those acts Coldplay seemed like they were the best band in the world. They picked bad opening acts to make themselves look like much better performers, and although this was not needed ( I did not pay 60 dollars to see two bad acts and one good one), this tactic still worked extremely well. Coldplay finally came onto the stage and started off the show with their latest single, "Violet Hill". After just this one song I knew it was worth the wait to see them, because of how great Chris Martin's voice sounded. Every song Coldplay played was no different, the whole band put all their effort into performing each song perfectly, and you could really tell how much work they put into their job. Martin was born to perform, and it was very clear how much he loves to perform for people just by listening to the way he sang every song, or seeing how he danced to all of the songs he sang. You could tell how much fun he and the whole band were having. Just knowing how much Martin loves to perform made me like the concert even more. Coldplay also put on the best light and special effects show I had ever seen at a concert. They did different effects for every song, and it was just great. They had awesome lasers and a huge screen in the background that showed great pictures. On the top of the ceiling they placed huge balls that flashed all different colors and looked great. At one point the whole band lit up the floor of the very tip of the stage, and sat down to play an acoustic set there. All of the effects were very original and creative, and truthfully without them I don't think the show would be half as great as it was. Coldplay decided to tape the two Chicago shows for an upcoming live DVD they plan to make. This of course was pretty exciting, because they probably did some extra special things that they wouldn't normally do at their other concerts. The thing I most remember about the show was them playing my favorite song twice in a row. Right after they played their most popular song, "Yellow" (Which I also love), they played my favorite song off their new CD, "Lost!” It was the best performance of the night so far, and Martin was as energetic as ever when singing that song. When it was over Martin decided to play the song again, so they could get it perfect for the DVD, which made me extremely happy. Coldplay also did one other thing that stood out from the rest of the songs they played at the concert. The whole band left the stage, came up to the second level of the arena, and played an acoustic version of their popular song, "The Scientist", right in the middle of the audience. Although I was seated another level up, it was still great to watch everyone become so excited as Coldplay played inches aways from their seats. They interacted with the audience so well, and that gave me so much respect for them. I just wish they came up and sang right next to my seat! The show ended with the song "Green Eyes", and with lots of butterfly shaped confetti coming down from the ceiling. It was all so wonderful, and I wished that it never ended. They played every single one of their hit songs, which was great because those were basically all the songs I know. I even enjoyed hearing the songs I did not recognize, because of what great performers they were. Even though I hated the opening acts, the whole concert turned out to be amazing, and I would definitely go see Coldplay perform again.