Just as I had reached the point of despairing that I would not be seeing any gigs while on holiday, the luck of the Irish seemed to smile down on me (we won’t dwell on the Kings of Leon in Dublin while I was in Kerry debacle). Coldplay had originally been booked to play in Belfast on the 18th and as with their Dublin show, the tickets sold out in a matter of minutes. But oh joy of joys for me, they had to change the date to the 23rd and some unlucky feckers couldn’t make it anymore. So, to the poor bastard who had to return his ticket for seat 4, row 4, thanks very much for an awesome Christmas present!
Opening for Coldplay was a band called The High Wire. Very indie-folk. You know – obligatory crusty lead singer with untamed facial hair and cardigan, slightly more edgy guitarist in a Ramones tee and a girl on keyboards with a shiny ponytail and a waistcoat. Very appropriate given that Chris Martin is pretty much the godfather of crusty indie-folk style. They were quite good, and I felt bad for them that the show started 30 minutes earlier than advertised and the arena was essentially empty. Nonetheless, their performance was enthused and I’d say opening for the likes of Coldplay helped soothe the pain for such a relatively new band.
And then, strangely, there was a DJ. Like, as in, a guy, under a spotlight, with his decks and thingies, playing (is that the right word??) what I suppose would be described as trance or dance or something, while really bizarre images flowered on a big screen. Pity I forgot to drop a couple of tabs in the taxi on the way over. Anyway, the guy’s name was Jon Hopkins, and I guess if you like that kind of thing, he was very good. I do not like that kind of thing (in fact it makes me want to peel my skin off) but he was hot so that kind of made it vaguely bearable. The animation was kind of entertaining as well I suppose. I was glad when it was over and honestly, everyone around me seemed a little bemused by the whole turn of events. Ugh. Dance music. Shudder.
Right. Back to things more wonderful. I managed to see Coldplay when I was living in Dublin in 2003 and they were fantastic then, so I was pretty damn excited about the show in Belfast. I was also intrigued because it was an all seated show….which when you consider that I was in seat 4, row 4, will tell you just what a great Christmas present that poor bastard gave me – I was literally within spitting distance of the band. Metaphorically speaking of course, it wouldn’t really do to spit at Coldplay. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing them, you may think what I did pre-2003….they’re a pretty chilled out band and are likely to be boring live. Well, they unequivocally come alive when they take to that stage. Yes, Chris dresses funny and they’re all Oxfam-Fair Trade hippie types, but they know how to blow an audience away. The show started with the auditorium in complete darkness and the stage shielded by a gauzy curtain. The band came on wielding sparklers so all we could see was 4 twinkling lights and their silhouettes. The crowd went wild, the lights came up and the music rolled over us. Phenomenal. Chris Martin is a manic presence, whirling all over the stage and keeping the audience on the crest of a wave of excitement. After the first song he kindly told us we didn’t have to stay seated and the whole place erupted. Fix You was incredible, with Chris at the piano, grinning broadly as we did the singing for him. Yellow got pretty much the same reception, as giant balloons drifted overhead, which Chris took great joy in popping with his guitar to unleash a rain of yellow confetti on the crowd. In fact, there wasn’t a song that wasn’t accompanied by roars of joy and gleeful singing from the audience. And Coldplay are all about pleasing their audience. The stage was constructed with a ramp going into the crowd on each side, and they made sure to play a few songs from those points as well, going so far as to set up a piano at the end of one ramp – practically right next to me - hurrah. Just in case that didn’t bring them close enough to their audience, they disappeared at one stage, only to reappear in the crowd in the stands at the back of the hall, and proceeded to play a few songs from there too. Based on what we could see on the big screen, the people immediately surrounding them looked as if all their Christmases had come at once! The show was full of light and sound and energy, and they played songs from all their albums, as well as an interesting rendition of Take That’s Want You Back and a few verses of Jingle Bells. It was 2 days before Christmas after all. They played for two hours and still the crowd begged for more, as an avalanche of paper butterflies floated over our upturned faces. Frankly, I think they could have played all night, and still we would have cajoled and pleaded for just one more. Without doubt, the best live show I have ever seen.
Eventually we had to drag ourselves away from the euphoria inside the arena. I shared a taxi back to my hotel with a couple who had also travelled from the Republic of Ireland to be at the concert…and to our great delight we were welcomed into the cab by the sweet sounds of Coldplay…smart man, our taxi driver!
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