“Coldplay Live 2012” hit the big screen in 57 countries Tuesday for one night only. Gateway Film Center was among the theaters screening the film, turning Columbus Coldplay fans into cinema concertgoers.
The film is comprised of 16 songs, some of which include current hits “Charlie Brown” and “Paradise” and older fan favorites such as “Yellow” and “Fix You.” The concert portion of the film occasionally took brief intermissions, as each of the band’s four members talked about the featured “Mylo Xyloto Tour,” which singer Chris Martin called Coldplay’s best tour ever.
The film also showcased Coldplay’s desire to involve its audience in the show, whether it be through Martin changing lyrics to a song for a reaction from the crowd, or the band playing an acoustic set in the stands among the fans. Most visibly evident were the wristbands, called “Xylobands,” which were distributed to concertgoers prior to each live show in the tour. The wristbands lit up in concert with the songs, illuminating the crowd in a rainbow fashion.
“It’s about getting everyone involved,” said bassist Guy Berryman during his individual segment in the film. “I think the wristband idea is just a progression of that thought, that everyone can be part of the show.”
While watching the documentary of a tour that prided itself on incorporating the crowd, the Gateway Film Center’s audience of about 30 participated in different ways.
Some quietly sang along with Martin, while others simply enjoyed the cinematography of the film.
“It lacked the hype of a real live concert,” said David Sinclair, a first-year in exploration. “But it was still really exciting. I loved all of the different camera angles. It showed something that you might not see at an actual concert.”
Sinclair also pointed out that the $15 ticket to the film was far more palatable than a ticket to an actual Coldplay concert.
According to Ticketmaster, tickets for Coldplay’s Dec. 30 concert in Brooklyn, N.Y., range from around $100 to more than $700.
Some said they were still willing to shell out the big bucks to see Coldplay live, such as Chris Hong, a second-year graduate student in medicine who attended Tuesday’s screening.
Hong saw the band perform in Boston in July and said he enjoyed reliving some of his favorite moments from that concert while watching the band on screen. He also said he valued the personal interviews from each band member.
“It was cool to get that perspective, because you wouldn’t otherwise think about it,” Hong said.
The “Live 2012” DVD, along with an accompanying live CD of the same name, are scheduled to be released Monday.
