After much anticipation Coldplay kicked off their Viva la Vida tour of Australia at Perth Burswood Dome on Friday 27th Feb and I was one of the estimated 17,000 at the show.

I took the easy option of public transport to get to the concert and caught the train from Mandurah to the Burswood arriving in time to see the two support acts Decoder Ring - excellent and Mercury Rev - very loud. Being early I had time to check out the merchandise van and get a couple of tour souvenirs. I found it surprising that they only had one of these vans around the front of the complex, if you had a ticket that required entry through doors C or D (around the back) you may not have been aware they had souvenirs for sale.

The lights dimmed Coldplay are behind a screen waving sparklers then launched into Life in Technicolor. I was sitting on the side of the stage so could see the band and didn't get the full effect of the lighting and the band being behind the screen but could see them dressed in their French Revolution outfits.

With the screen gone they launched into Violet Hill and then In My Place and Clocks. This was followed by a crowd favourite Yellow with the added fun of large yellow balloons being thrown into the crowd that were filled with confetti. Working through the songs from their latest album Viva la Vida the band moved around the stage end set up in different locations giving a great performance to all areas of the crowd. They even moved from the stage into the seats among the crowd where they had a small stage set up and played a "busking" set.

They worked through a twenty song setlist including crowd favourites Fix You, The Hardest Part, Speed of Sound and Talk before being wooed back by the crowds Ohhhh's for two encores. The encores included The Scientist, Life in Technicolor II and Lovers in Japan where the crowd was showered with masses of butterfly confetti that danced and hung in the humid atmosphere of the Dome, while Chris Martin walked around with a Japanese parasol.

The show was full of energy with the talented Chris Martin playing piano, guitar and harmonica in between running around the stage and down the catwalks on both sides of the stage. The four member band put on an old fashioned concert with the main feature being the music and some added special effects like laser effects on the walls, projected images on screens and balls that hung from the ceiling.

With a total of 26 songs they gave a fantastic performance full of energy and managed to involve all the crowd whether you were seated right up the back or standing in front of the stage as we all sang along to rocking anthems and soft ballads.

© 2009 Frances McLean