THEY waited in the pouring rain in their thousands for the band which must surely now be recognised as one of the world's best stadium rock bands writes Nick Jackson

And more than 30,000 fans got their just reward at the last of the Summer Concerts at the Reebok - a starring role in Coldplay's next video for the song Fix You.

It was filmed in two takes during the encore for Monday's gig.

As if by magic, the rain stopped half an hour before Coldplay's arrival on stage - delayed for 15 minutes because of traffic congestion.

But once they hit the stage, fresh from their Live8 triumph in Hyde Park on Saturday, the crowd never seemed to notice the unseasonally chilly night.

Coldplay launched their performance with the brilliant Square One from their latest album, X&Y, followed by the driving Politik from A Rush of Blood to the Head.

It is a measure of the strength of the band's material that they can now play one of their best-known songs, Yellow, as the third in the performance, without relying on it for a crowd pleasing encore.

Chris Martin's voice was awesomely dominant against a backdrop of equally stupendous musicianship, much of which is provided by the singer himself on the piano.

It is the use of the piano and Jon Buckland's chiming guitar sound that provides Coldplay with their trademark ability to transform from quiet lament into soaring crescendo within a split second.

Martin and his cohorts had the crowd in the palm of their hand, even when they paused mid-set for an acoustic tribute to Johnny Cash with drummer Will Champion playing keyboard and bass man Guy Berryman playing harmonica.

The band were confident enough to experiment with some of their older material from debut album Parachutes during this session.

Martin also found it in his heart to change the first line of the hit, The Scientist, to include Bolton.

Instead of singing "Come up to meet you", he sang "Come up to Bolton", which brought a roar of approval from the crowd.

Other stupendous offerings were the latest single Speed of the Sound, Warning Sign, Everything's Not Lost, and Clocks.

But the band saved the best until the encore - the anthemic In My Place, and the magnificent song Fix You, which Coldplay played twice, asking the crowd to go crazy, while the video was being filmed.

And the Bolton crowd didn't disappoint - on the second take they almost sang the entire song for Martin.

Hats off also to Martin for his generosity of spirit in complimenting support bands Morning Runner and Elbow, from Bury, who both played fine performances as the crowd built up during the pouring rain earlier in the evening.

Coldplay are one of those rare bands which can produce music which sounds tailor-made for its role as a sound-track for a generation.