Jacob Collier’s reharmonised piano covers have become a staple of his live shows - in fact, he released a whole album of them back in 2022 - but when Chris Martin made a surprise appearance on Collier’s rework of Fix You at a recent show at London’s O2 Arena, the Coldplay frontman cheekily suggested that he should rein it in a bit.
Seated at a Rhodes piano, the first verse and chorus are all Jacob, but already, he’s jazzing things up a bit. And then the big reveal: up steps Martin from the front of the stage.
But what’s this? Chris is immediately in for a bit of a surprise himself, as Collier quickly executes an upwards key change, drawing a raised eyebrow from Martin and an admission that “I’m not that good… I’m the worst musician in this room!”
“Did you change to E?” he enquires. A nod from Collier confirms that that’s precisely what he’s done. “Shit, OK,” says Chris, “typical Jacob”.
Undeterred, Martin starts to sing the second verse as Collier plays an increasingly complex accompaniment, but suddenly, Chris has had enough. “Stick to our chords,” he quips, drawing laughter from the audience and causing him to briefly lose his place.
It all works out in the end, though. Collier is soon on his feet, creating and conducting one of his famous multi-layered audience choirs, leaving Martin to play the Rhodes and sing Fix You’s outro.
The correct melody, of course.
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