Pemberton Day 3: Coldplay Joke Their Way Through Headlining Set

As co-producers of the inaugural Pemberton Festival, it was in Coldplay's best interests to see the fest off in style. Once they finally got down to it after Jay-Z's set, it was all smiles, jokes and parodied lyrics, even on the weightier songs (on "Fix You," Chris Martin crooned, "When the festival traffic moves at the slowest pace"). And the band was not content to simply sail through material, presenting a ghostly, dance-beat version of "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face," and even venturing out to a platform stage in the middle of the crowd for an acoustic shot at "The Scientist." Ending on Viva La Vida's "Death and All His Friends," Martin looked out, smiling, and said, "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." And a good evening it was, whether anyone could be classified as ladies or gentlemen by then. Coldplay took a bow, and Pemberton prepared to shrink by 40,000 people.

For more Pemberton Festival coverage, visit rocknrolldiary.com.

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Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

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