Review: Coldplay soars, although Levi’s Stadium feels like an airport
Last week, the world-class soft-rockers Coldplay brought a nearly sold-out show to the final weeknight concert to be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. With a local ordinance setting a weeknight curfew at 10pm, many artists, such as Ed Sheeran, have cancelled or outright refused to schedule shows at the stadium, leaving officials to deem the Coldplay concert the end of the debate. By the time they started, stopped, and restarted “Charlie Brown” from 2011’s Mylo Xyloto, it was 10:02pm. The band ended up performing ten more songs for a total of 22, stretching the performance nearly to 11pm [...]
At Opening Night, Super Bowl 50 players, fans prefer Beyonce to Coldplay
Super Bowl 50 Media Day (photo: Jon Bauer) Super Bowl Media Day, this year known as "Opening Night," can best be described as organized cacophony. At the center of attention are the two NFL teams vying for the title during the most-watched television event of the year. But it's also a gathering of thousands of journalists, bloggers, YouTubers, television actors, and weird personalities. Even crown-clad Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach walked the blue carpet at SAP Center, interviewing players from both sides. There was a dancing leprechaun, several spandex bodysuit-clad gentlemen, a TV puppeteer/interviewer from Mexico City, a lady in a giant football costume, [...]
Review: Coldplay @ HP Pavilion, 4/27/12
There is nothing subtle about Coldplay. Every move is exaggerated. From frontman Chris Martin’s strut and “someone take a picture while I’m in mid-air” jumps, to Will Champion’s animistic assault on his drum set, to the confetti cannons that dropped a small forest on the HP Pavilion crowd Friday night, it was clear Coldplay wanted to give their fans the most extravagant show possible. And for a majority of the show, it worked wonderfully. When a few over-the-top moments distracted from the band’s performance, it didn’t. Coldplay long ago stopped listening to critics who accused them of making over-the-top, grandiose [...]