VANCOUVER -- Icy weather and a rare Vancouver snowstorm greeted Coldplay's arrival Thursday for the Brit buzz band's first-ever gig on North American soil. But inside the hallowed Commodore Ballroom, the climate was almost balmy, as the overheated crowd squeezed into the seriously sold-out venue. Given the fact that the band has only one album under its belt, ticket-buyers knew not to expect a marathon set of Springsteen proportions. Luckily for Coldplay, the quartet's sole long-player, "Parachutes", goes deep both early and often, with memorable, highly melodic and occasionally mesmerizing tales of faith, hope and devotion. With Coldplay's mostly down-tempo repertoire, the ballroom's sprung dance floor wouldn't be getting much of a workout, either. Still, the energy was palpable as the fresh-faced members of Coldplay made their entrance -- in jeans, T-shirts and, in the case of singer Chris Martin, a humble, buttoned shirt -- against a backdrop that had the look of crushed velvet on brick. "Canada, Canada, Canada," mumbled Martin, as he finished strumming the quiet notes of the set-opening "Spies". On the evening's next song, "Trouble," he quickly made use of the electric piano that was pushed up behind him on the bare-bones stage, which was decorated only by the globe that graces the cover of "Parachutes", resting atop Guy Berryman's bass cabinet. Guitarist Jonny Buckland's sunburst Fender Mustang then kicked in with the soaring, stadium-sized riff of "Shiver", which Martin dedicated to "Celine Dion, Alanis Morissette and all the sexy Canadian women out there." Throughout the entire set, Buckland's guitar sounds caressed Martin's high, fragile voice with the kind of cascading, echo-y textures with which The Edge made a name for himself back in the day. Coldplay thankfully came close to duplicating the sonic wonders of "Parachutes". Lulled by a mid-set string of mellow tunes (and the band's stay-where-you-are stage presence), the crowd exploded eight songs in when Martin began strumming the opening notes to Coldplay's hit, "Yellow". The song ended with the group bathed in (yup) a bright yellow hue, and the crowd happily singing "Yellow"'s closing refrain, without any on-stage prompting at all. Four songs later it was all over, and Coldplay turned its attention to the drive to Seattle and the other cities on its short, 10-date tour. The trek makes its other Canadian stop on Feb. 20 for a sold-out show in Toronto. Set List Here's the complete set list for Coldplay's first North American concert: Spies Trouble Shiver High Speed Don't Panic Animals Sparks Yellow Everything's Not Lost Encore We Never Change In My Place (new song) You Only Live Twice