From the ShelfPart 6 of 11
Coldplay — A Rush of Blood to the Head: the night I cried at a live show for the first time
I still remember the day In My Place climbed the Billboard chart on MTV — I was in high school, watching on cable TV at home. I picked up the album not long after. A few years later, at FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL '05, I cried at a live show for the first time in my life.
Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002). Released in Japan under the title "Seijaku no Sekai" — World of Silence.
Entry five of the From the Shelf series.
This CD holds, in full, the first night live music ever brought me to tears.
It started with cable TV at my parents' house
I first came across Coldplay in high school.
We had cable TV at home, which meant MTV. What I got obsessed with was following the Billboard chart — checking in every week to see what was catching the world's attention.
That's how "In My Place" found me. The video climbed the chart, and the guitar refrain in the opening bars stopped me dead in front of the screen. A sound that held beauty and rawness at once — something alive. So this is the kind of music the world is making, I thought. That was probably the point where I started seriously chasing music videos from overseas.
I picked up the album not long after — at HMV in Hawks Town, Fukuoka, if memory serves.
"The Scientist" — watch it knowing nothing
There's one video from this album I really want you to see. "The Scientist."
The idea behind the visuals is unlike anything else. For those who haven't seen it, I won't describe what happens. Just watch it once.
Thankfully, the official video is now available in 4K. The video I once watched glued to a TV screen now plays in far sharper quality than it ever did back then. That, honestly, makes me happy.
My first outdoor festival, and the first night I cried
Jumping forward a little: FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL 2005. My first outdoor festival, with friends from music college.
And at Coldplay's set, the tears came.
It had never happened before. I'd been to plenty of live shows, and nothing had moved me to tears — until that night. My first outdoor festival, and the first time live music made me cry. The band was Coldplay. The tears fell so naturally it caught me off guard.
That year, Coldplay were on just before the headliner on the Green Stage — Foo Fighters closed the night. For anyone who only knows the Coldplay that now fills stadiums around the world, the Fuji Rock of that era is hard to picture. But there was something in the air that only existed back then, at that scale. The kind of night that doesn't come back.
My favourite album in the Coldplay catalogue
Among everything Coldplay has released, this is the one I return to most. My favourite.
The way it holds together as a whole, and the way it sets the stage for X&Y (2005). On the way to that record-breaking hit, this is where their sound locked into place. I can't imagine them arriving at X&Y without passing through this one first.
Pick another one off the shelf
That's entry five of the From the Shelf series.
That first outdoor festival, the first night live music made me cry — I still think about it, out of nowhere, from time to time. The era when you could see Coldplay at that scale is over. But pulling this CD off the shelf brings some part of that night back.
Next disc — undecided. I'll open the closet, see what catches my eye, and bring another one out.
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