After a surprise show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles Friday night, Coldplay performed five new songs from their third album, X&Y (due June 7th), at the Sounds Eclectic Evening festival Saturday at the Universal Amphitheater. The British rockers -- who were first aired in the U.S. on KCRW, the event's sponsoring station -- headlined a bill that included Paul Buchanan of the Blue Nile in a rare solo appearance, cabaret provocateur Nellie McKay, unannounced crooner Joseph Arthur, and Mexican rockers Cafe Tacuba. Coldplay's headlining set was especially anticipated after the festival was delayed from last November.

Wearing black outfits (pianist/singer Chris Martin joked, "Maybe next time we'll be better dressed"), the foursome went straight into the new material, opening with "Square One," a rock number that started with dark, heavy keys before settling into an up-tempo groove not out of place next to "Clocks."

Of the other new songs performed during the hour-long set, two were ballads, and two were more rocking numbers. The latter pair included the hook-laden "White Shadows" in which Martin sang "When I was a young boy" before a guitar-heavy finale.

Coldplay, of course, also played the hits. When the band played "Yellow" the crowd sang the opening verse. During "Clocks," Martin had fun performing portions of the song backwards. The set included "Politik" and a lovely "Sparks." He introduced "What If," a new piano ballad that closed the proper set by saying, "Check this out . . . this is fucking good."

Over the shouts of fans who'd been waiting months for Coldplay to return, Martin remained gracious. "It's incredibly gratifying," he said. "Thank you for coming out and seeing Coldplay after so long."

Notes by Steve Baltin (Posted Mar 14, 2005)

Track Details:

1. Square One (5.21)
2. In My Place (3.53)
3. White Shadows (6.05)
4. The Scientist (5.33)
5. Daylight (6.29)
6. Sparks (4.06)
7. A Message (4.45)
8. Clocks (6.27)
9. What If (6.17)
10. Politik (5.41)
11. Speed Of Sound (5.12)
12. Yellow (5.07

Sourced from MP3 (don't usually do this, but the music is great)