Family & Friends - 13th June- Wembley Arena, London

Setlist

Life In Technicolor Violet Hill Clocks Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love Trouble 42 In My Place Yes God Put A Smile On Your Face Strawberry Swing Yellow If Death Will Ever Conquer Me Politik Lost Fix You Viva La Vida

Crowd- under 500

Review

Chris Martin compared the Coldplay live comeback to a pre-season friendly last night. The singer told the crowd of friends and family at London’s Wembley Arena that getting back on stage was like a trip to the football with his dad when he was a nipper. He said: “Excuse us for this embarrassing shambles of a rehearsal. This reminds me of when my dad, who is 107, took me to Torquay for a pre-season game against Liverpool — and they were absolutely shit. We see this as a pre-season and we’ll be on it when the season starts. Luckily none of you have spent a blind penny.” In typically modest fashion, Chris was only telling half the story. Coldplay were brilliant as they made their return to the stage in front of an almost empty venue. When it comes to seeing live shows, this job lands some great tickets. But one of the best I’ve ever had was last night’s. Within 30 seconds the audience were smiling as single Violet Hill kicked in with a video montage playing in the background. World leaders including George Bush and Tony Blair had been edited to dance along to the song. Next song Clocks kicked in and the crowd were on their feet. The band showed off their wealth with six fancy video orbs, hanging from the ceiling which cost the band a jaw-dropping £900,000. Chris performed his trademark lyric-changing to suit the gig, poking fun at relatives and pals who had turned up to see them on free tickets. And his wife, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, sang along while standing in front of the lighting desk. Normally you would say the crowd got their money’s worth but even if tickets were £100 each it would have been a snip. The band moved from the main stage to a tiny platform in the middle of the arena and were almost elbowing each other off stage as they played. They made plenty of mistakes but that was the whole point of the exercise. By the time they have perfected it the show will be unmissable. It’s brilliant to have one of Britain’s best live bands back.

Photos