Coldplay - Live 2003
Coldplay went from nothing to one of the biggest bands in the world, due to their hit single "Yellow". Coldplay's latest album has sold phenomenal numbers and their underrated first album is also quite popular. Coldplay's DVD includes most of the best tracks from both albums.
The DVD was filmed at the Horden Pavillion in Sydney, Australia. Not only is the music better than the studio material, but the lighting and stage setup is also amazing. While you can listen to Coldplay's albums, they don't even touch the greatness of this DVD. In the DVD, you can see the emotion of the band and the chemistry between the band and the audience. In the concert, the band are no less important than the audience. This is one of the best music DVDs I have ever seen.
Web Links
[URL=www.coldplay.com]Coldplay's Official Site[/URL]
[URL=www.maketradefair.com]Make Trade Fair[/URL]
The Band
Chris Martin: Vocals, Guitars and Piano
Jonny Buckland: Guitar and Vocals
Guy Berryman: Bass
Will Champion: Drums and Vocals
The DVD
Politik - The song starts with a synth intro, which I think Chris recorded on an offstage keyboard. Then the hard hitting intro comes in with the 7th and minor chords and Will bashing the hell out of the drums. The verse is based enitrely around two chords, C7 and Fm. The lights in this part are brilliant, but you have to see them to understand what I am talking about. Towards the end, in the bridge there is a beautiful chord progression consisting of four chords. This point is very emotional and my favourite part of the DVD. That short progression is in my top musical moments ever and my favourite thing that Coldplay has ever done. The emotion in this song reminds me why Coldplay are so popular. Chris goes nuts during this song and it looks like he is about to fall off his piano stool and it looks like he is hitting his head on the piano. At one point it also looks like he is crying. The outro is good as well.
5/5
God Put a Smile Upon Your Face - After the last song, Chris announces this one. It's pretty similar to the album version, acoustic guitar intro and that cool little electric riff. Great song...probably the darkest sounding Coldplay track. Chris does come strange dancing in the song and Will bashes his drums very hard. Guy and Jonny just sort grove along to the song. Guy is the least outgoing member of the band and is fairly shy and reserved on stage. The song works very well and the crowd love it. Lots of cheering from them. When it gets towards the end, Chris yells and the band totally rock out. Good stuff.
4/5
A Rush Of Blood To The Head - The song starts with Jonny doing some slide work by himself. His playing isn't really that of a virtuoso, as Justin Hawkins said of him (negatively I might add) "He wouldn't cut the mustard in Whitesnake". I am positive that he wouldn't, but his playing is extremely tasteful, quite reminiscent of The Edge from U2. Chris plays acoustic for this track and sings it extremely well. I don't really see the big deal with this song, I don't think it's all that great, but the chorus is good. It's one of those ones you could hear from Rome. The lyrics are deep and really good and Chris sings them very passionately. A few people from the crowd get out their lighters and go along with the song. I don't understand why they put this song so early in the setlist though, it kinda sounds strange after "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face". The outro is the bset part, methinks.
3.4/5
Daylight - I'm not really a fan of this song either. The song starts with some slide work, drums and. Chris does some nice piano work and the crowd like the song. The lighting is amazing as well. Other than that though, I haven't really found much to like about this track and I often skip it.
3/5
Trouble - Chris is funny at the start of the song when he talks to the crowd. Then he starts the song, but stops a few bars in to tell the crowd to sing during the choruses. This song was one of the best tracks of "Parachutes" and is even better on here. Chris does everything very well and Will and Jonny play very tastefully. The chorus is the awesome and Chris sings it with his eyes closed most of the time. My only gripe is that most of the video is edited to be black and white. In the bridge, Chris gets the audience to sing it. It gives me chills everytime.
4.8/5
One I Love - This is a guitar rock track, another off "Parachutes". Chris rocks out on it while playing his Rickenbacker (guitar). Most of the crowd enjoy the song, and it works well between the band members. The crowd starts clapping and getting involved. Not bad.
3.9/5
Don't Panic - The first song off Parachutes. The guitars in here are good, but the best thing about the song is the harmonies between Chris and Jonny/Will. Jonny also plays some harmonica in the song, which is very cool. His guitar parts are awesome. If you live in Australia, then this is the song off the Channel Ten ad. The song overall is very nice, but not one of the best. It could be a bit longer too.
3.9/5
Shiver - The best part of this song is the intro...amazing stuff. Then you have a call and response between Chris' vocals and Jonny playing awesome guitar licks. The main riff to the song is a really nice one too, with slides and stuff. Chris sings the song with passion as well, which is good. The song seems to be a little slower than on the album version, but it doesn't really drag or anything. One of the highlights of "Parachutes" and it's even better on Live 2003. The lights are pretty nice and the crowd gets into it a lot. The like the intro like me.
4.9/5
See You Soon - This is the best song on the DVD, in my opinion. The problem is that the video is in black & white. Not a big deal, but it still matters. Chris plays most of the song solo, it's a nice acoustic ballad. The guitar technique is awesome, and the melody is heavenly. Chris sings it well. The crowd aren't too involved in the song, but if I was in the crowd, I would probably just be standing there with my jaw dropped. Towards the end, Jonny comes in with feedback with an E-bow (an electronic bow for the guitar that vibrates the strings with electromagnetic pulses) and a brass slide. The result: The best song Coldplay have ever written and played. Brilliant lyrics and Chris really gets into it towards the end. Like I said, it's the best thing on the DVD and it's worth buying the DVD just for this song. It's not on any of their albums, so I hope to see it on the next album. Hopefully it will do justice to the amazing live version.
5/5
Everything's Not Lost - My favourite song off "Parachutes". The live version, like all the songs on here is even better than the album version. Chris plays piano and it sounds different to all of Coldplay's other songs. After each verse, Jonny does this beautiful/simple 3 note guitar riff. In the bridge, Chris plays it solo for a while and then Jonny comes in with that amazing riff. Chris gets really into it in the bridge and Will plays drums very well. The chords with the whole band in this part are amazing. Then it drops back to just Chris for the outro. The band extend the song at the end with and instrumental, and Chris asks the crowd to sing along with him as loud as they can. This gives me so much chills. The only thing I don't like about the song is that Chris tells the crowd that they (Coldplay) won't be in Australia for a while. With the crowd involved, the song goes off! Jonny does some amazing improvised guitar work that fits perfectly with the piano part. Again, the band drop off one by one until just Chris is left to do the outro. This song proves that songs don't need to be complex to be amazing. Nice lighting too. The crowd are clapping and cheering in the end. I'm clapping and cheering right along with them.
5/5
Moses - Another new one. The song is similar to "One I Love". The best part is Jonny's intro riff. The song is pretty cool, but it's extremely similar to "One I Love", the only real difference is the riff and lyrics. The crowd take it well but don't really get too involved. The vocals in the chorus are very nice, but other than that, there's nothing extremely memorable. The end of the song is cool, a bit like the end of "God Put A Smile On Your Face". Good song.
4.1/5
Yellow - While "See You Soon" is the best song on the album, if I was at the concert, "Yellow" would have been the best part. This is tied with "See You Soon" for the best song of DVD. The way they have it arranged it just brilliant. At the start Chris tells everyone to stand up, and if they do he will buy them all ice cream. This is during a synth and electronics intro. Chris sings some high stuff during this. Then it all drops out and that four chord acoustic guitar progression comes in. During this, the stage is totally black. Then Chris does some "yep!", "come on!" type stuff. The distorted thing then comes in and the whole auditorium is illuminated with Yellow lights. Chris is jumping all over the place. You would never think of "Yellow" as the type of song people would mosh to, but the crowd go crazy in here. Epic is the word that I'd use to describe it. Everyone knows this song, and that just makes it even more special. It's one of those songs that either makes you really happy or really sad. The rest of the song continues the same as the album version, but with more emotion and it rocks harder. This is the first song where Chris doesn't play an instrument. So good. The crowd go insane at the end of the song. Amazing.
5/5
[url]http://www.lyptonvillage.org/shutte...dplay-thumb.jpg[/url]
A capture of the stage during "Yellow"
The Scientist - A good song, but very overrated. The song is emotional and stuff, but just the same as the album version. The technical stuff isn't too flashy, but the crowd get really into it. Jonny's distorted guitar at the end is cool. The chord progression has an extra suspended chord in it which works well. I like this song, but I don't think it's all that great...I think Chris tries to sound a bit like Thom Yorke at the end too. This is also the end of the concert but they come back for encores because the crowd love them.
4.2/5
Clocks - The other Coldplay song that everyone knows. I'm not going to do much of an analysis of the song, because everyone has heard it. If you haven't, download it . The song is brilliant though, the riff and the bassline are great. The lighting is awesome, there is this big green beam of light across the crowd and it looks awesome. There is an extended bit at the end of the song which is really cool. The other good thing about this song is the drumming, Will does some awesome stuff with his cymbals. Listen to it during, "home, home where I wanted to go" part. Great stuff. Great song.
5/5
In My Place - This was the first single off "A Rush Of Blood To The Head". The other song where Chris doesn't have any instruments. The big "YEAH!" at the start of the chorus is awesome, with Chris and the crowd singing it. The riff for this is song is darn good. Good song and it's one of the high points of the album.
4.8/5
Amsterdam - This is the second last song. Before he starts, Chris tells the crowd to eat more chocolate, listen to more Coldplay and to visit maketradefair.com (an organisation out to stop child labour in sweatshops). The verses of the song aren't so good, but the chorus is really good. The piano melody is nice as well. Will's vocal harmonies are awesome too. It's a nice track. The bridge is the best part of the song, with an awesome piano part and then guitar feedback from Jonny. The song is awesome once the whole band come in.
4/5
Life Is For Living - Another piano driven track. The piano part is awesome, Chris does most of the song himself, but when the rest of the band come in is when it's at it's best. By himself, Chris is very good, bordering on excellent. With the rest of Coldplay, they are totally amazing. The song works so well together, and a lot of the crowd get their lighters out. Brilliantly done. Chris then thanks the audience and makes a quick exit with the rest of the band awesome.
This album also includes a CD, which has the best songs of the DVD on it, about 12 of them
The Tour Diary
The tour diary is a movie which shows the band on their travels and goes all through their tour. It has a few interviews with the band, shows their shows at places like Red Rocks Theater in Denver and the Hollywood Bowl. It also shows some of their soundchecks, where they do a punkish version of the song "Trouble". The diary shows the band being silly and mucking around with each other, which is often very funny. It also shows them being the great friends that they are. It shows what would happen before you go to a Coldplay concert. Things like soundchecks and pre show rituals The best part is at the end when they finish their show at Red Rocks and they all get in a big group hug and bow. It kinda reminds me of the Pearl Jam "Touring Band" DVD where Eddie Vedder brings a kid up on stage and runs around with him on his shoulders. I think the point of the tour diary is to show you that Coldplay are just normal people. It does it's job well, the only bad thing is that it is all in black & white.
The DVD is well worth buying. Get this before any other Coldplay album. It's a relatively cheap DVD, it cost me the same price as a standard new album ($20 AU). The difference is that it includes a dvd AND a cd. This is the best music DVD I own and the best one I've ever seen.
Musically: 5/5
Visually: 5/5
Extras: 4/5, the tour diary is good, but they could have included more extras
FINAL RATING: a well deserved 5/5
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