Pop Music

BY RICK MASSIMO
Journal Pop Music Writer

MANSFIELD, Mass. - So it seems Coldplay sweats after all.

If you hadn't seen the kazillion-selling British band before Monday night at the Comcast Center (raises hand), it seemed worth wondering about. Their hooks are as big as the sheds and arenas they play in, and the choruses beg for sing-alongs, but on record they seem more suited for a chilly British winter or a crisp New England fall than a sweaty outdoor rock 'n' roll party.

Well, there's still a bit of that quality, but for most of the nearly two-hour show Monday night, the band (plus, it sounded like, a backstage musician or two) brought the poundage to their clean, crisp anthems.

While singer and pianist Chris Martin did his manic-marionette routine, he peppered his patter with relatively clever pandering to the Massachusetts crowd. And guitarist Jon Buckland was a secret weapon, grinding away on sing-along ballads such as the breakthrough single "Yellow" and "Glass of Water," while bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion brought real muscle to even the clinical single "Clocks."

Even so, and with such stagy touches as a giant yellow balloon drop during "Yellow" there's a limit to how many straight-ahead anthems and wordless chant-along hooks you can listen to in one sitting, and by the time "Fix You" came around, it was time for something else. While "Strawberry Swing" hinted at a change of rhythmic direction, the real change-up came when the band strode to a tiny second stage halfway up the stage-left aisle for a technophied version of "Talk," complete with electronic percussion and guitar squiggles, before Martin went into "The Hardest Part" alone at the piano.

That cleansed the palate for the hit "Viva La Vida," complete with an outsized percussion kit for Champion, and "Lost."

Then they really went for it, heading all the way up to the lawn for an acoustic trio of "Green Eyes," the new "Death Will Not Conquer" (sung by Champion) and a full, respectable version of "Billie Jean" before returning to the main stage to tear into "Politik," and a U2-like "Lovers in Japan" (while butterfly-shaped confetti was shot at the audience). A hushed "The Scientist" and a joyful "Life in Technicolor" were the encores.

There's an uncertainty at the core of a lot of Coldplay's material, and a lot of it starts in the middle, emotionally speaking -- so while it's anthemic stuff, you're not going to see a lot of Coldplay lyrics spray-painted on a lot of walls. But in a live setting, with the kind of volume that Martin and the band generated Monday night, it can still be affecting.

The British band Elbow preceded Coldplay, and the initial effect, intended or not, was to make Coldplay seem like The Ramones. Though the opening horn blasts of "Starlings" were impressive, the keening voice of singer Guy Garvey was full of pomp, which worked better on anthemic rock stomps such as "Station Approach" and the closing "One Day Like This" than non-events such as "The Seldom Seen Kid."

The young British roots-rock trio Kitty, Daisy & Lewis opened the show with an impressive display of switching instruments (guitar, piano, snare drum, ukulele, glockenspiel and harmonica all made an appearance) and keeping faithful to rockabilly and swing and jump blues. And with the help of guest trumpeter Tan Tan, they even managed a decent run through some first-wave ska.) With their parents accompanying them on upright bass and guitar, the highlights were Lewis Durham's Elvis-like take on "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and several long Kitty Lewis harmonica solos.

rmassimo @ projo.com / (401) 277-7206

 Tags  Coldplay Comcast Center concert review

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