Background
Overall, Coldplay's concerts during this period showcased its progression as a bona fide live act. The band began playing more shows in arenas and amphitheatres, moving away from the club venues that dominated earlier tours. Shows also had more elaborate stage and lighting effects. For example, strobe lighting for the song "Daylight" featured the image of a rotating sun superimposed over the stage. Taking a cue from U2's Elevation Tour and Nine Inch Nails' Fragility Tour, Coldplay also adopted a series of back screens that displayed video footage of each band member simultaneously. Other highlights included: *Lead singer Chris Martin sang with Ron Sexsmith on the track, "Gold in Them Hills" during the headline set. *An ambient, instrumental introduction before the start of "Politik" for every show. This can particularly be heard on the Coldplay Live 2003, Live 2003 DVD. ''Note: Not the same as the Brian Eno introduction sometimes used before this intro.'' *Guitarist Jonny Buckland regularly played a harmonica solo on the track "Don't Panic". He tossed the harmonica into the crowd after the solo's completion. Buckland also performed an original electric guitar introduction for the track. *The aforementioned back screens were unfurled mid-concert, usually during the beginning of "One I Love". *At some shows, Martin sang lyrics after inhaling from a helium balloon. *Martin usually wore a Make Trade Fair T-shirt during 2002 shows to promote the Oxfam campaign. Make Trade Fair booths were present at venues, where concert-goers could sign petitions and learn about the campaign's objectives. *An specially created, ambient introduction for "Yellow", featuring a dark and gloomy tone. Martin sings the lyrics, "Your skin... Oh-oh-oh..." during the introduction, which afterwards leads to the regular start of the song.Opening acts
Most of the tour included at least one Opening act, supporting act on each concert, with English singer Richard Hawley opening all performances held between 19 and 28 June 2002. Except for the show at Rome's Valle Giulia (which had the Music), all dates from 30 June to 12 July included 1 Giant Leap. For the second North American leg, Coldplay invited Northern Irish band Ash (band), Ash, while the third European run featured Idlewild (band), Idlewild. In 2003, Ron Sexsmith opened for the band from 21 January to 9 February. He was succeeded by the Music starting from 24 February. As Coldplay returned to Europe for a fourth leg, Feeder (band), Feeder was chosen as their support and Ian McCulloch (singer), Ian McCulloch additionally guested in the United Kingdom. The last North American run counted with Eisley, who were joined by Damien Rice on 25 May, and Sexsmith between 27 May and 13 June. During the tour's final months, Coldplay went to Asia, Oceania and Latin America: the first two continents had Betchadupa, while Mexico featured Jumbo (band), Jumbo.Concert synopsis
The 2002 shows contained a rough 50/50 split in material from ''Parachutes (Coldplay album), Parachutes'' and ''A Rush of Blood to the Head''. The official tour in 2003 focused on songs from the second album, as well as many unreleased tracks. For example, the future ''Coldplay Live 2003, Live 2003'' song "Moses (Coldplay song), Moses" and "Fix You" B-side "Pour Me" were introduced during the tour. Other new songs included future ''X&Y'' b-sides, "Gravity (Embrace song), Gravity" & "Proof", "Your World Turns Upside Down", which would later become a completely different song called "The World Turned Upside Down" as another b-side to "Fix You", and an unreleased piano ballad called "A Ladder to the Sun". Coldplay also made a habit of covering other artists on the tour, often as Conclusion (music), outros to their own songs. Covers ranged from a tongue-in-cheek excerpt of Avril Lavigne's "Sk8er Boi" to the Louis Armstrong classic "What a Wonderful World". Coldplay also regularly covered Echo & the Bunnymen's "Lips Like Sugar" in its entirety, in homage to Ian McCulloch (singer), Ian McCulloch's role as a mentor during the recording of ''A Rush of Blood to the Head''. The Introduction (music), musical introduction to the concert featured selections from Brian Eno's ''Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks''.Commercial performance
According to report from ''Pollstar'', the concerts held during 2003 around the world have sold 341,201 tickets in total. The North American shows from said year have grossed $8.6 million from 306,917 tickets sold in 42 reported dates in total. In total, the tour grossed $27,594,458 from 879,050 tickets in 121 reported dates.Set list
This set list was taken from the band's 22 July 2003 concert in Sydney, Australia. It does not represent all shows throughout the tour. #"Politik" #"God Put a Smile upon Your Face" #"A Rush of Blood to the Head" #"Daylight" #"Trouble (Coldplay song), Trouble" #"One I Love" #"Don't Panic (Coldplay song), Don't Panic" #"Shiver (Coldplay song), Shiver" #"See You Soon" #"Everything's Not Lost" #"Moses (Coldplay song), Moses" #"Yellow (Coldplay song), Yellow" #"The Scientist (song), The Scientist" #"What a Wonderful World" (Louis Armstrong cover) ;Encore #Tour dates
Cancelled shows
Boxscore
Personnel
Credits taken from the band's official tour book, which was sold exclusively on merchandise booths and their online store. ;Performing members * Chris Martin – lead vocals, piano, rhythm guitar * Jonny Buckland – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards * Guy Berryman – bass, backing vocals, keyboards, percussion * Will Champion – drums, backing vocals, percussion ;Main crew * Brian Leitch – lighting designer * Chris Woods – monitor engineer * Craig Hope – backline technician * Dan Green – FoH engineer * Derek Fudge – production manager * Dave Holmes – US band manager * Jeff Dray – tour manager * Dana White – Dave Holmes assistant * Miller – gadget technician * Nick Whitehouse – visual technician * Sean Buttery – backline technician * Shari Webber – production assistant * Thomas Golseth – tour accountant * Tony Smith – VDOSC technician * Vicki Taylor – band assistant * Rocky Hudson – security * Matt McGinn – backline technician * Holly Tickett – Estelle Wilkinson assistant * Estelle Wilkinson – band manager * Steve Strange – Europe/World agent * Marty Diamond – US agent ;Additional US crew * Chris Conti * David Favoritta * Pat Thompson * Bryan Kiger * John Taylor * Jim Lee * Steve Capozza * Glen Jones * Sam Philips * Eric Wagner * Scotty Daum * Jerry Martin * Dave Cheek ;Additional European crew * Ben Holdsworth * Ivan Ellison * Jim Allison * Tom James * Alan Yates * Stewart Kennet * Aaron Hopkins * Nick Davids * Al McCauly * Jerry Milichip * Eddie Monk * Jim Thompson * Ian Heath * Graham Dietricht * John Burgess * Matt Clarke * Steven Connelly * Ken Needham ;Suppliers * Andy Lovell, Mike Llewellyn – EFM Management * Tour Tech – PA * Siyan – lights * Fly by Nite – trucks * SilverGrey – buses * Alistage – stage * Pitstop – barrier * XL Video – video * Lasergrafix – laser * Depot – rehearsals * John Henry's – storage * Matt Snowball Music – anything at any time * Heidi Varah, Pauline Austin, Ben Albertson – catering * Merchandising for Life – merchandise ;Tour book * Giles Greenwood, Joe Hosp – design * Kevin Westenberg – photography * Edwin Ingram – photographic printing * Matt Wilson Labs – B&WSee also
* List of Coldplay live performances * List of highest-grossing live music artistsNotes
References
External links