TORONTO - Exactly a year after Coldplay played the first of two sold-out shows at the Air Canada Centre, the Brit pop-rock outfit returned to Toronto for a show at Rogers Centre on Thursday night in front of over 45,000 fans.

On a stage dominated by glowing orb lights, the band - frontman Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion - appeared in shadows initially as they kicked off the concert with the stirring instrumental, Life In Technicolor, the first song from their multi-platinum, Grammy winning fourth album, 2008's Viva La Vida.

"Everybody okay?" asked the always charming Martin mid-song, before finishing Violet Hill with: "If you love me, let me play Tor-on-to!"

Frankly, it was hard to see the four musicians, even during the next song, Clocks, despite Martin rocking back and forth on his piano stool, the presence of four large video screens, two on each side of the stage, and green laser lights.

Thankfully, that problem was corrected as the two-hour-and-15-minute show progressed.

"Let's turn the lights on - that's a lot of people," said Martin as he hopped around the stage during the opening of In My Place and ran between two catwalks stretched out into the audience for the duration of the song before collapsing on his back.

From there, the show improved visually as dozens of yellow balloons were released onto the floor heralding the beginning of the band's 2000 breakthrough hit, Yellow, which saw the crowd singing along, especially at Martin's request.

"Consider this your Canadian Idol audition ... Even if you're in row 706 and you're only here because of your girlfriend," he joked.

Those orb-like lights finally fully lit-up during Glass Of Water, from the band's post-Viva EP, Prospekt's March, and the Viva tracks, Cemeteries Of London and 42.

"Let's do that last note together - try to take the roof off," said Martin as 42 wound down.

Just think of him as democratic Pied Piper of Rock.

Otherwise, Buckland's guitar playing added the much needed harder edge to songs like In My Place, Yellow, Fix You, Lost!, Death And All His Friends, while Champion's thundering drums held down the bottom end nicely, particularly during crowd favourites Viva La Vida, Lost!, Politik, Lovers In Japan (complete with multi-coloured, butterfly-shaped confetti) and The Scientist.

Less successful was when the band gathered together at the end of one of the catwalks for a sped-up version of God Put A Smile Upon Your Face that never really quite worked.

Much better was when the group wandered through the crowd to a smaller b-stage on the floor to perform effective acoustic versions of Green Eyes, Death Will Never Conquer (with Champion - who turned 31 on Friday - on lead vocals), and a cover of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean.

"I don't know what else is happening on a Thursday night in Toronto but thanks for giving us your Thursday night," said Martin, as he settled in to play a piano version of The Hardest Part, on the catwalk earlier in the show. "All the garbage, all the stuff you have to get through, to get to us."

He then mocked his own long haircut saying after a year and a half on the road, he'd forgotten to cut it.

"It's only when you see it on four 50-foot screens, in front of 50,000 people," said Martin adding: "Even the hairdressers are on strike in Toronto."