WOOOOOOWWWW...

and tonight another concert in Cologne....

WOOOOOWWW other lucky people like you will hear the new songs live...

I want a concert in Italy!!!!

Tonight in Cologne, tomorrow in Rome? :wink3:

mmmmhhhhh....

Rome, I don't think it can be possible...

there are already a lot of people in Rome right now....You know....:cry:

But maybe in Milan...or Padova or Venice! (where I live...)

:o You live in Venice? Wow

Oslo! Oslo! Come on Coldplay! :cool:

...no..I live in Padova (you know Giotto..S. Antonio?)...30 minutes far from Venice

Amsterdam is way cooler :smoking: :wink3: :lol:

You're right and in Holland people are so open-minded!!!

You are the future I think.

But Venice is so magical... :blush:

I don't smoke hasj by the way (some people think that everyone in Holland light up one, if you know what I mean).

Venice is beautiful, although I've never been there, but I'm going to Rome this summer :cool:

I know I know...I'm not among those people

I don't smoke either..don't worry ;)

:D

OK, here's my gig review.

Enjoy!

 

Yesterday night turned out to be an unforgettable one, which I’m not going to forget any time soon. Just imagine, being able to see one of your favourite bands perform only 1-2 metres in front of you.

It’s a really great feeling, I can tell you. Ofcourse, I’m talking about the secret Coldplay showcase in the Netherlands.

 

I was one of approximately 300 other lucky fans (+ 200 VIP's) who were on the event's guestlist yesterday, by winning a contest through this fansite. Others won tickets through radio station 3FM, news paper Spits! and TV/radio network BNN.

 

All the fans received e-mails from EMI/3FM/BNN, which granted them access to several ferry boats arranged for the event. Inside, we were handed V.I.P. armbraces which granted us exclusive access to the secret showcase (yes, it was all very secure).

The boats took us to a hotel bar, somewhere in the centre of Amsterdam. There, we were allowed to have some free drinks. After approximately half an hour, some people from the organisation guided us to the secret location, not far away from the hotel.

The secret location turned out to be one of Amsterdam's most famous concert halls, de Melkweg.

Nobody was allowed to bring recording material, camera's or even simple mobile phones, so I had to hand in mine until the gig was over.

Obviously, I rushed myself right in front of the stage so I wouldn't miss a thing. There was no security between the audience and the stage, except for a small space for a TV Camera Crew member to move around whilst filming. We were told that the entire gig was going to be recorded for radio/TV broadcast. Unfortunately the TV/radio network are not allowed to air the gig before Coldplay's new album X & Y is released. The airing date is set for sunday June 5th. The album will be released in the Netherlands 2 days earlier.

 

At 21:15 CET approx., the lights went out and intro music started playing. The crowd started cheering as the band entered the stage. First Guy and Will, then Jonny and finally Chris.

They kicked off with new album opener Square One, which featured Chris standing in the shadows next to his piano singing the lyrics "You're in control, is there anywhere you wanna go? You're in control, is there anything you wanna know? The future's for discovering. The space in which you travel in.". After this intro of the song, Chris walked forward to sit down behind his piano and played along with the rest of the band. The song ended with Chris playing the acoustic guitar. After this brilliant opening, the band continued with the more familiar piano-anthem Politik, which received a huge deal of applause. That's a great way to start a Coldplay gig, with these two songs. At one point, I noticed a TV camera filming me in close-up. (Wicked!... Can't wait to see it!)

Next up was Speed Of Sound, the upcoming first single off X&Y. It's another song featuring Chris on the piano. Some lyircs of the chorus: "... all that noise, all that sound. All those pieces that I have found. And the earth is gone flying at the speed of sound to show how it all began..." It's a guaranteed hit single, I can assure you. Meanwhile, Chris really sweated all over the place. OK, it was pretty warm inside the concert hall, but damn.. this man was literally leaking.

Crowd pleaser God Put A Smile Upon Your Face was played, followed by the rarely played AROFTTH track Warning Sign (which is too bad, because it's a really great song).

The title track off the new album, X&Y, was up next. That was a really big moment for the die-hard fans in the audience, because the band had never played this track live before... Ever! Like most new tracks, again it featured Chris on the piano. Some lyrics of the chorus: "You and me drifting on tidal waves, you and me floating in outer space..." It was a nice track, with a beautiful instrumental outro. Sounded promising for the new album.

Next up was Yellow, which had something special planned for the band. One of the boardmembers of coldplayfans.nl had prepared a surprise by cutting out big yellow paper hearts for fellow boardmembers, which were handed out in the hotel bar earlier. When the song kicked off, more than 50 people raised the hearts way up in the air, which took the band (and TV crew) by surprise. I bet it looks very nice when we get to see it back when aired on TV in 2 months time. After the song, Chris thanked the audience for this nice gesture.

Next, another brand new song called Low was played for the first time ever. Surprisingly, it sounded nothing like the other new tracks. As a matter of fact, it sounded much more like earlier singles (Shiver, Yellow), and featured heavy guitar riffs.. even played by Chris. Definite contender for a future single, and bound to be a live favourite within years to come.

The Scientist was beautiful as ever, although I think Chris forgot some of lyrics at some point. One thing's for sure.. He did mess up the next song played; another brand new never-before-played tune called Til Kingdom Comes, which is rumoured to be a hidden track on the upcoming album. It's an all-acoustic song, played by Chris and backed by Jonny. It sounded really nice, much like 'Green Eyes' on AROFTTH. Some lyrics: "... For you I'd wait til kingdom come. Oh, I don't know what I've become".

Clocks was next, but we've all heard that one.

The pre-encore setlist ended with new song What If, which featured Chris on piano. Another favourite of mine. Some quality guitar riffs from Jonny here, and a great chaotic outro.

Some lyrics of the chorus: Oooh, that's right. Let's take a break, try to put it aside. Oooh, that's right. I can't ignore it if you won't even try....

After about 2 minutes, the band returned to the stage for a short encore. Obviously, the band had to play In My Place, which remains to be one of my all-time favourite Coldplay songs. Chris did his usual funny dance routine again. Another new new track, A Message, was played next. It kicked off with Chris on the acoustic, backed by Jonny on guitar. Guy and Will joined in later on.

The gig ended with another surprise. The band had decided to end this magical night in Amsterdam, with... Amsterdam, which was actually born and written over 4 years ago in the same building.

Unfortunately, Chris really f*cked it up by forgetting the words to the song at least three, if not even four(!) times. He even kinda cut the song short in the last seconds. I'm pretty sure it will be cut out of the TV footage later on, because it was a bit embarrassing for the band. I didn't mind it that much though. It's funny to see such a great band mess up a beautiful song like this.

 

All in all the night was magical. One never to forget.

I'm pretty sure I will probably never get the chance to see Coldplay in such a small venue ever again, especially since they have decided to only play big venues (stadiums) this summer.

I'm still pretty gutted that I wasn't allowed to bring a camera, because I could've made some really great pictures way up front.

 

I thank everybody involved for this opportunity. If it wasn't for coldplayfans.nl, EMI, BNN & 3FM, I would've missed out of this wonderful night. So thanks to all. Really.

:o

I wish I was there :cry:

P.s. I nicked these pictures from the 3FM and BNN websites.

Awesome reviews, guys. Thanks a ton for the pics and summary!

 

So the songs nobody has heard yet include: Twisted Logic, Swallowed in the Sea, and The Hardest Part.

 

And I'm sure all three of these will be great as well!

Of course :smug:

Wow! I read it holding my breath!!!

Thanks for the wonderful description...

Now I really want to see them live!!!

Not bad at all to post that two times :P

:lol: :lol:

Edited :smug:

:lol:

Sounds mad wicked. Thanks for the great review! Hearing about all this is killer on the all this waiting...i'm more impatient than ever now!

omg great stuff! one question, was low acoustic or electric based?

RadioMad,

 

Was 'X & Y' a particularly long song as rumored?

 

Thanks for the review :D

omg great stuff! one question' date=' was low acoustic or electric based?[/quote']

 

Elekkkkkkkkkktrikkkk!!! :cool: