I thought the show was great. They opened with my four favorite songs from Final Straw (you know, the rockers) one after the other, which had me jumping and thrilled. Literally, they played Bags' fave in this order -- #2, #1, #4 and #3. Man, can't beat that!!! And they ended with "Tiny Little Fractures," another great 'non-Coldplay' like song.....
May I reiterate -- this band is NO Coldplay (or Keane)!!! The last song before the encore was great; I've heard it at every show and I love it (I must spend time with 'Songs for Polar Bears' to find it). I was pretty pleasantly surprised because I wasn't expecting so much energy. They definitely rock much more live. Great examples, "Somewhere a Clock is Ticking" and "Same." They had good lights going, as well.
Brennser, I find Lightbody's goofy enjoyment really engaging. He seems to be having a good time, which is so important and not always there with hipster indie or Britpop bands....
I luckily had no assholes around me. There were two funny guys about five people ahead of me, though, who kept doing flippy waving of their hands and arms. Funny moves from a guy in a baseball hat...it was funny that they kept 'interfering' with folks around me trying to take camera phone photos.