Coldplay at Manchester leg of Mylo Xyloto tour

Martin’s temper ‘up in flames’ at Manchester leg of Mylo Xyloto tour.

There was confusion with fans as to what had happened to Coldplay frontman’s usual polite demeanour after his repeated foul language at the M.E.N arena on their second date of their 2011 Mylo Xyloto tour. On numerous occasions Martin reacted to his paranoia of the band being, quote, “a shit Radiohead”, by using the ‘f’ word in nearly all of his crowd involvement whenever he wasn’t one hundred per cent happy with a note, a guitar – “this guitar is fucking dreadful”, to which he proceeded to slide it across the stage and demand another from a roadie, or even the placement of his guitar pick. However, he did prove he hadn’t forgotten his well-mannered up bringing with his traditional gracious crowd participation, slowing down into the final two lines of ‘Violet Hill’ and thanking the crowd “for being so patient”. Could this just be due to his energetic and psyched up spirits towards the new tour? Perhaps, it is only the second date after all. Surely he can be forgiven for the odd swear word when performing to a lively crowd of 18,000 fans at a sold out M.E.N.

The band opened with an energetic crowd pleaser, well, one of many, from their fifth studio album, to which saw 18,000 tiny luminous coloured lights erupt in-synch to ‘Hurts like Heaven’, thanks to the radio-controlled wristbands fans were handed on arrival. I am confident to say that I struggled to hold back a tear of emotion just at how incredibly beautiful the sights and sounds appeared to me. And I remain sure that I wasn’t the only one amongst fans, as screams echoed over Johnny Buckley’s final piercing guitar melody of the song.

The opening three songs provided the fans their monies worth within just the first twenty minutes, as did Martin and Buckley’s chemistry on tracks like ‘Lost!’ and ‘God Put a Smile Upon Your Face’. Martin slightly overshadowed the rhythm section of the band giving Buckley praise on a number of occasions, with Will and Guy receiving zilch. They do however have a close bond both in and out of the band, which was made clear through their interaction on stage.

In true Coldplay tradition, Martin continued his obsession with relating a little music legacy to the location of the gig by dedicating ‘Till Kingdom Come’ to The Stone Roses. “That’s such great news isn’t it?” said Martin, and if the crowd weren’t electrified enough already, this topped it.

The strong set list of a mammoth 19 perfectly chosen songs made this tour their best yet for me. An appearance of ‘X&Y’s ‘What If’ and ‘A Rush of Blood To The Head’’s  ‘Daylight’ was a pleasant surprise for fans of their older material; Daylight hadn’t been heard since their 2003 tour. An odd step some would say by a band that have proved they don’t need their older tracks to please crowds, now that they are labelled the ‘biggest band in the world’ by critics and fans alike.

A combination of the stage production, and the atmosphere it created proved for an unforgettable experience for thousands of fans. It is very hard not to admit that it would appear they have earned the biggest band in the world title after this gig.