Review: Coldplay show why they don't need Beyonce in Glendale

It's Tuesday night in Glendale, and the Coldplay show is building to a rousing climax.

Having sent out a haunting yet spirited cover of "Heroes" to "David and Prince and anyone we're missing," Chris Martin is lying on the stage at the conclusion of "Viva La Vida," the chart-topping triumph that remains the U.K. rockers' biggest U.S. hit. Then, his bandmates kick into the spirited funk groove of "Adventure of a Lifetime," and suddenly, Martin is singing and dancing as giant balloons are released into the crowd. The momentum is undeniable.

And that's when Martin brings the whole thing to a grinding halt after getting a few of the words wrong.

"One mistake is excusable," Martin explains. "But I made three mistakes on one verse."

He wants to try again. So he gamely retraces his steps, lying down in the spot where he'd ended that moving performance of "Viva La Vida" and casually singing the last few words before leading his bandmates in a properly sequenced version of the lyrics to "Adventure of a Lifetime."

Brilliantly played and endearingly goofy

It's all brilliantly played and endearingly goofy, the sort of moment that in many ways defines the man's appeal. He's the Bono next door, a charismatic everyman whose grandest gestures couldn't feel more utterly sincere. He is a rock star, but he doesn't play one on TV or stage. The effect more human than that.

He's funny, too. After thanking the crowd for "coming through the traffic and the heat and the ticket prices and the lines and the drink prices," he tells them, "I know you guys have been having a hot summer. And I'm starting to worry about that ski resort I invested in just down the road."

And then he introduces to Oscar, a kid in the audience holding a sign that says it's his first concert and his birthday.

I can't tell you the number of entertainers I've seen bring a child on stage. It's always cute enough, I guess. But Martin's interactions with the kid he plucks out of the crowd to sit beside him at the keyboard as he sings a stripped-down "Everglow" is priceless, telling Oscar it would be OK if he abandons ship before the song is through. "I know it's weird that an old man is singing to you, next to you, with sweat all over him," he says. "And I understand why you look a little, you know, terrified." Then he tells the fans, "This is from me and Oscar. We sing together all the time."

"Everglow" is one of three songs Martin and his bandmates perform on a small stage in the middle of the venue, following an understated "Always in My Head" and the breezy yacht-rock vibe of "Magic."

And before the night is through, they take the small stage in the middle of the venue to another level – and I do mean that quite literally – going deeper in the audience to play an even smaller stage, where Martin tells the crowd, "Right now, we're gonna play some old songs," starting with a fan request, made via video, for "Shiver," their first single from their first full-length release. It's really nice, as are "Don't Panic," also from their first release, and "Til Kingdom Come," a bluegrass-flavored hidden track from "X&Y."

It's after "Shiver" that Martin addresses the history he shares with the three men on that tiny stage, two weeks shy of their 20th anniversary – "as some of you may have read on Wikipedia," he quips.

"It's strange, we don't sing that song very often," he says. "And maybe songs are a little like smells in terms of when I was singing that it brought back a lot of funny memories of when we used to play on stages this size the whole time, in front of very much fewer people. And so in the first place, I want to thank you for being patient and being kind to us over all those years and letting us go and play to so many of you. One of the reasons we've come out to this little stage is to remind us of where we came from and remind us to not take all the glitz and glamour and all that for granted."

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Decent overview of Coldplay's catalog

It's a refreshingly intimate detour. Then, it's back to the main stage for a sweet "Amazing Day" and "A Sky Full of Stars," which is suitably atmospheric until it kicks into a throbbing club beat, and the audience is showered with star-shaped confetti -- providing an actual sky full of stars, albeit more colorful stars than the ones outside. The concert ends with streamers exploding at the end of "Up & Up" from "A Head Full of Dreams," which brings the total of songs they perform from their latest release to seven of 11.

And that still leaves plenty of time for a decent overview of Coldplay's catalog, including such obvious highlights as "Yellow," "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall," a very soulful reading of "The Scientist" (which begins with just Martin alone on piano and ends in a big group sing with "the choir of Phoenix," as he calls the fans) and "Paradise." And this is all before they even make it to that little second stage. Before the night is through, they also make their way through "Clocks," which is brilliant, and "Fix You," my pick for the concert's emotional centerpiece.

As much as a Coldplay performance can thrive on a moment as intimate as "Fix You," they bring their share of spectacle to the proceedings – multiple stages, an extensive laser lights, some pyro, a ton of confetti (on the first song, even!), a video screen that looks a little like a cartoon thought balloon against a wall of beaded curtains, and wristbands they distribute to the audience, so they can program yet another light show in the crowd. It's all very colorful, from the bracelets to the curtain to the multi-colored butterflies that flit across the screen.

Martin promises the fans, "All I can tell you is we’re gonna play the best concert that we’ve ever played. That’s all I can tell you." And they certainly seem to be doing all they can to pull that off.

It helps that Martin is an energetic presence from the time he hits the stage with "A Head Full of Dreams." It seems like he's constantly running and jumping and twirling and otherwise throwing himself into the music. Even when he sits at the piano, which is often, he's constantly moving.

It's never been a one-man show

But it's never been a one-man show. Jonny Buckland's guitar work isn't flashy but it elevates the songs, at times recalling what the Edge was doing on those early U2 records. And the rhythm section of bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion provide the necessary drive when songs like "Yellow" kick in. Martin jokes at one point about Coldplay's soft-rock reputation. But there are plenty of moments that rock in Tuesday's concert, thanks to Buckland, Berryman and Champion's propulsive command of the beat.

And they aren't afraid to take it to the club, where they sound right at home. In fact, when "Paradise" kicks into the Tiesto remix, bringing the opening run of songs to a pulsating laser-filled climax, I can't help but wonder how much better halftime would have gone for Coldplay had the NFL just left them to their own devices on Super Bowl Sunday.

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Setlist

A Head Full of Dreams

Yellow

Every Teardrop is a Waterfall

The Scientist

Birds

Paradise

B stage

Always in My Head

Magic

Everglow

A stage

Clocks

Midnight

Charlie Brown

Hymn for the Weekend

Fix You

Heroes (David Bowie tribute)

Viva La Vida

Adventure of a Lifetime

C stage

Shiver

Don't Panic

Til Kingdom Come

A stage

Amazing Day

A Sky Full of Stars

Up & Up