As Coldplay veered into “Yellow” territory at its sold-out Pepsi Center show Sunday night, celebrating the song that started it all for the English quartet, the band seemed revitalized and strong and, most unexpectedly, understatedly simple.
Previously, the band has played this single awash in obnoxious yellow floodlights, but here they simply rocked it with a straightforward curl of the lip. No gimmicky yellow, no over- the-top trickery, no redundant eye-poking … until the giant, canary-colored balloons dropped from the arena rafters.
Of course Coldplay, one of the most influential (and safe) rock bands today, has to play into the song’s titular glum- rock color. First used as a marketing brand by the then-yellow-themed ABC network, it is an anthem for the band. And the 16,000-plus fans ate up the balloon drop – and everything else the band dished out.
With Coldplay, there are no surprises. The band gives fans exactly what they paid for and little else.
While Sunday’s concert was spot-on technically – with singer Chris Martin and his band in exceptional shape – it was a production of little imagination. Songs sounded the same as their album counterparts. And given the reputation the band has in certain circles as pedestrian peddlers of pabulum, it’s not surprising Coldplay went the safe route.
“This is just the sort of concert you need after losing all your Grammys to U2,” Martin said mid-show, referencing U2’s domination (and Coldplay’s absence) at the recent Grammy Awards.
The group started slow with a “Square One”/”Politik” combination, and after “Yellow” came the fury of “Speed of Sound,” “God Put a Smile On Your Face,” “X&Y” and an excellent “Don’t Panic.”
But even when Coldplay really hits – as it did on “Don’t Panic” and the Johnny Cash tribute “Til Kingdom Come” later in the set – it’s not the kind of concert-defining moment you remember the rest of your life. It’s more like that night you woke your neighbors up by testing the limits of your Bose surround sound with “A Rush of Blood to the Head” at 2 a.m.
The band did surprise, though, with its brazenly tight rhythm section on “Clocks” and “Talk.” And there were times when their instrumental mix is magic. The subtlety of Martin’s piano, which he played about half the time Sunday, and the band’s guitar-fronted wall of sound hits the right tones, and during those moments, there was no question as to Coldplay’s enduring popularity.
Contact pop music critic Ricardo Baca at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
