The NME’s review of the show
This show at Irving Plaza was the final gig of a busy North American run of seven shows in nine days. In addition, there was a huge round of promo – greeting an American press who were just beginning to cotton on that something big might be happening. For any band, that’s intense. For one already beginning to show some deep wear and tear from a rocket-speed ascent, it’s definitely not going to end well.
Historically, British bands head over the Atlantic to “break America” only to find instead, America breaking them. The list of bands is embarrassingly long – all of them doing very, very well in the UK, then finding the geographic scale and the sheer workload required in America completely beyond them. The standard procedure for so many of these British bands before them was simply to quit. It could be dressed up in many ways – rock-star tantrums, deciding that you hate the place, or simply turning and running home. Whatever way you cut it, it amounts to giving up.
It can be somewhat bemusing that Coldplay get criticised for being soft, or for “having it easy”. I can honestly say I’ve never met a band that works harder. Now clearly luck, good tunes and timing all have a huge part to play, but Coldplay grafted. They put the work in and they kept working. Even when it was beginning to turn them inside out.
By New York, the wheels were coming off. Chris couldn’t even talk, let alone sing. The choices were to disappoint the audience or give it a shot – and with the help of “Maria from Connecticut” who got out of the crowd to sing in place of Chris’s blown vocal chords, they got a show done.
Maria’s career is said to be doing well.
R42
