A formal apology to Coldplay - love from Melbourne

I went to see Coldplay last night. Admittedly, they are not my favourite act, but those guys have enough passion and talent to get even the most lack-lustre audience on their feet… or so I thought...

I have been to a lot of concerts in my life, and the crowd last night at Rod Laver Arena was possibly the worst I have ever been a member of. There were no fights (that I saw), no drunken abuse, no boo-ing, no hecklers and no bad behaviour at all as far as I could see. But, there was no passion, no audience participation. Wait, let me correct that. The audience cheered uncontrollably only a couple of times, and that was for the hit singles the band played.

My view of a concert is that you go for the band, not for a single you heard. A band like Coldplay need the audience to be involved. Love them or hate them Chris Martin and the guys are passionate and great at what they do. A band that loves what they do, needs an audience that also loves what they do, and shows it.

If you are only going to hear “Yellow” or some other top ten single, then you’ve missed the point. Buy the DVD and stay home, as the crowd last night interacted with the band barely more than they would have to the TV.

Blank staring faces met the passionate banter Chris shared with the audience. I half expected someone to yell out “just play Yellow”. I loved the concert, but I was ashamed to be a Melbournian concert goer. I was embarrassed that Coldplay would go home and remember the crowd from 2nd July 2006, and wonder what they had done wrong.

A couple of girls in standing room gave it a go. They danced, screamed and cheered. They loved every song, every word, but it wasn’t enough to get the crowd behind them.

There were many mums and dads, parents and kids, mullets, and various other unlikely types. It was a totally top-40 crowd. I think they were more suited to Milli Vanilli, a fake crowd for a fake band. Or maybe Barnes or Farnham – bogans and nanas.

I feel sorry for Coldplay, as they could really go off with a good crowd, but boys, success has a price. If you love the music, maybe hope they spring some secretive small and intimate gigs next time

I am going to stick to small venues and smaller acts from now on where you can talk to the band, and you are surrounded by likeminded passionate fans.