Viva la vida

Throughout my years of going to concerts I’ve sat through some less than stellar opening acts (Vanilla Ice; Mandy Moore; Julio Iglesias, Jr.; a life-size Pop Tart that DJ’d). Last night at the Coldplay show in Chicago I endured two of the worst acts I’ve seen in a long time. The first was a guy named Jon Hopkins who I guess is some sort of musical prodigy from London. It basically consisted of him standing up there pushing a few buttons on his MacBook and making this crappy techno music. As an added bonus there was also a screen that showcased some anime that went along with the music. I mean at one point in the cartoon (c’mon, that’s all it is) a girl was crying and then her tears were sweeping people away into a forest of bunnies. In full disclosure, I’ll admit that techno and anime are on my list of things that I just don’t get, along with Raisin Bran, Dancing with the Stars, and nipple rings.

The second act was a woman named Santogold, which I think translates into “hooker with a cheap gold cape.” She brought with her what initially looked to be two female background vocalists. They stood behind microphones but never actually sang. They were more like spastic dancers that at times I thought were having seizures simultaneously. For some songs they would box with what must have been an imaginary friend. On other tracks they were adept at rapidly pushing their boobs in and out towards the crowd. Yes Hasselhoff, America’s definitely got talent.

Finally Coldplay took the stage and even exceeded my expectations. It was an amazing show from beginning to end. Normally when a band plays their new stuff that’s my excuse for a break to buy my t-shirt without a line. But I’ve gotta say that I’ve grown to love the songs from the new CD and in fact I think it’s actually their best overall album. I mean this comes from the guy who’s now on his third copy of A Rush of Blood after wearing out the first two from overplaying. My only slight gripe was the length of the show being only 90 minutes. When I pay almost $100 to be there I expect a concert that lasts longer than the season finale of “The Bachelorette.” That being said Chris Martin and company are the biggest band in the world right now and last night they proved why they deserve the title.

Set List
Life In Technicolor
Violet Hill
Clocks
In My Place
Viva La Vida
Yes
42
Fix You
Strawberry Swing
Chinese Sleep Chant
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
Speed Of Sound
Yellow
Lost!
The Scientist
Death Will Never Conquer

Encore
Politik
Lovers In Japan
Death And All His Friends
The Escapist
Green Eyes