Coldplay's Return to Form (-ish)

At tonight's Coldplay show at the Wachovia Center, it'll be one of the first times in a while that we'll be actually looking forward to a band playing mostly new tracks. We have been digging Viva la Vida. After the stuffy snoozefest that was XY, Viva la Viva feels like a breath of fresh air. But wait, the air is not exactly fresh, it's tinged with something slightly psychedelic. It's fitting that the first track is called "Life in Technicolor." It's like the band remembered there were more colors and sounds than "epic" and "orchestral." One reviewer referred to the band as "British art-rockers," and although when we think art rock we think TV on the Radio more than Coldplay, we can't deny that the band seems to be pushing its musical boundaries on this album. Almost every song has an arrangement that signals the band was seeking reinvention rather than resigning itself to a tried and true formula. Viva gets at that creativity that initially drew us to the band.

Don't forget tonight's opener is Philly's own (but now Brooklyn's) Santogold. If you were rockin' Santi White's album well before Bud Light used it in a commercial to try to up the cool factor of alcohol-infused pisswater, enjoy this bonus of catching her performance.

Coldplay (with Santogold)
Wachovia Center (3601 S. Broad Street)
TONIGHT, July 25, 2008, 8PM
SOLD OUT (but try craigslist)

Image via Coldplay's official website.