Concert Review: Coldplay Twisted Logic Tour Singapore 10 July 2006

It was a sold-out show on 10 July 2006, as Coldplay played to a 10,000 strong crowd at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The sheer number of people meant that we had to queue up for 30 minutes before we could get into the stadium.

By the time Coldplay took the stage, it was 9pm - one hour behind schedule. But they were greeted by a gorgeous sight as the stadium was packed to the brim. Even the $170 free-standing area was completely filled, which very rarely happens.

As the house lights went off, the giant LED screen behind the stage lighted up with 4 digits counting down to the start of the show, perhaps a nod to Singaporeans' obesession with anything associated with 4 digits.

As the timer struck "0000", Coldplay launched into their opening number, Square One, which happens to be the opening track to their X&Y album too. This was followed rapidly by Politik (from their second album), which showcased a harder-rocking side of Coldplay seldom seen.

However, for some strange reason they decided to play their biggest hit, Yellow, next. It came way too early and most of us were taken aback. By default, you should always play your breakthrough hit at the end of the concert, as a rousing finale. It brought the show to a premature climax, and the concert did suffer from a slight lull after that.

As VW pointed out, the show was quite gimmicky and the point was proven when several large yellow ballons were brought out to the audience during the performance of Yellow. It was a nice surprise and it upped the ante, but it would have been even better as a finale stunt.

With three albums under their belt, Coldplay had enough hits to go around and they performed most of their singles as well as the newer stuff, which I wasn't too familiar with yet. They did not perform Don't Panic and Shiver though, which was quite a big disappointment.

There was also an acoustic segment where they did a country-style song about "waiting very long for your favourite artiste to come perform", the artiste in question being Backstreet Boys. Weird. Even weirder was their cover of a Johnny Cash song, whom frontman Chris Martin cited as one of their biggest influences. The acoustic segment slowed down the show considerably and it didn't really gel with the rest of the show.

However, full marks must be given for the very professional use of lights and video. The lighting was timed with precision to the songs and they added mood and excitement to the performance. The graphics and video images on the screen were also very inventive and well choreographed. The songs also flowed seamlessly into each other, where there was less than 10 seconds of lull each time between songs. After all, like Chris Martin said, they had over a hundred chances to prepare for this show, having been on the road since 15 June 2005.

He also described ours as "the best Monday audience" he has ever seen. I wonder if he really meant this. Doesn't every performer say something like this whenever they perform? I think they're being polite when they say it, but I guess it's important for the audience to feel loved as well.

By the time Coldplay left the stage for the first time, they have already performed most of their hits, including The Scientist, God Put A Smile On Your Face, Trouble (acoustic version), Clocks, Speed Of Sound and Talk.

They returned after 3 minutes and performed 3 more numbers. Chris Martin then sprinted down the aisle to the back of the stadium during In My Place and sang the rest of the song there, much to our delight, cos that's where we were at.

The finale of the concert was Fix You, which is beginning to grow on me. It was my favourite song of the night as well.

The concert ended at 10:30pm. For $120, I would say it was quite worth it, mainly because of the high production values of the show. Coldplay's songs aren't the most head-banging and heavy, so we didn't really get to jump like madmen. The crowd was quite good and the sound was good too, though it was a little hard to catch Chris Martin's lyrics at times.

Again, like VW said, the show was quite gimmicky and all the lights and videos might have distracted the audience from the songs themselves. It is true, but I think it's also part of the package and it completes the experience. It is unlike the Oasis concert, which was totaly no-frills, and it allowed us to immerse completely to the music and artistry of the band itself.

But since we paid good money for this, I feel that the effort was commendable and it was quite a high-budget production, so I'm satisfied with it. Coldplay stuck quite close to the script and didn't make many changes, if at all, to the arrangement of the songs. Some variations would have been nice.

In all, it was a good show and I enjoyed it. Would have been a shame if I didn't manage to catch them at the height of their fame and power. So if you weren't there, too bad! But you can visit my webshots album for some pics from the show. I also managed to record a video of their In My Place performance, so ask me if you want it.

For now, I shall go listen to Fix You, which is quite a haunting song...

Lights will guide you home
and ignite your bones
I will try to fix you