Charli XCX replaces Frank Ocean for European shows

17 August 2012 6:00 pm

Singer to open at upcoming dates following Frank Ocean's withdrawal

 

Following Frank Ocean's recent withdrawal from his support slot on Coldplay's European tour, we're pleased to report that Charli XCX will now be opening at those shows, apart from Paris on 2 Sept. Marina and the Diamonds remains on the bill for all of the dates, as previously announced.

 

Click to read our interview with Charli XCX following her recent North American support dates with the band.

 

Anchorman

Just listened to Charli's music. I like it, should be a good opening act :dance:

Roadie #42 - Blog #182

13 August 2012 5:01 pm

Roadie #42 and the forgotten passport...

 

The “Day Sheet” is an element of touring life that you folks may not be familiar with. It is, I’ve come to learn though, the most vital document of the day. The day sheet is written by tour manager Marguerite and outlines every key piece of information for the upcoming day: the times that everything is happening, flight details, additional press and promo - just generally any and all vital information to get everyone through the next 24 hours.

 

 

Across the entire touring industry, the Tour Manager’s refrain, to almost all questions, is of course “read your day sheet”. Marguerite has had a gentle dig at me of late for never reading all the way to the bottom. (I mean really, once you know what time you’ve got to be up and out of the hotel, you can just follow everyone else after that…)

 

I generally do read the day sheet fully (honest - I do, I really do!). I think I just like asking stupid questions. I’ve been trying to be a good tour-citizen lately though, by reading it thoroughly and not asking about things I already know the answers to.

 

The day sheet for our second St Paul show comes through with a strong warning about the flight over there from our Chicago base. “Mr Barack Obama is coming to town this weekend, so there are some restrictions in place for his visit that affect us. We’ll have actual TSA Agents do our screening planeside + will be more strict than usual. So if possible, limit your carry ons”.

 

I make it this far through the day sheet and look down at my day to day rucksack. My rucksack contains at least one of virtually every gadget known to man, plus a telephone exchange of cables, chargers, adapters and all the other security-worrying crap that might ever be required to make them work. On a regular day, it can take them only slightly less time to go through all my stuff than the flight itself takes. On a fine-tooth-comb day, I could be holding up the entire travel party by bringing all this along.

 

 

I resolve to prove my reading-of-the-day-sheet by heeding the warning and reducing my hand luggage to the absolute minimum. What do I actually *need* to get a day done? I pull out my laptop, my power supply and my headphones and put them in a plastic Walgreens bag, leaving my rucksack full of crap on my hotel room desk. As we arrive at the terminal, band assistant EJ and soundman Dan Green begin to lightly rib me about my new luggage. “Nice laptop bag - have you been to the Apple Store today?”

 

“Nope, I read the day sheet - laugh it up, but I’m gonna be through security in 30 seconds flat”.

 

 

We’re ushered into a side room for screening and sure enough, the elite squad are in full effect. With Airforce One bringing the President to town just across the tarmac, these folks aren’t messing around. They have black uniforms on, with the TSA logo on each sleeve. They also do not smile. At all. Most worryingly though, each of them snaps on a pair of rubber gloves as we enter.

 

I proudly place my “extreme minimalist” hand luggage on the inspection table - and then it happens.

 

Dan Green, ahead of me in the line, produces his passport for the man with the clipboard. It’s the classic blood-runs-cold moment from the dream where you find yourself completely naked in front of the whole school.

 

My passport. My passport - that lives in my rucksack. My rucksack that is at the hotel. The hotel that is a good 45 minutes away.

 

 

“Without identification, you will not be flying today, Sir”.

 

This is not good. In fact, we’re so far from good that you can’t even *see* good from here.

 

The pilot is summoned and there’s a brief conversation conducted almost entirely in very official acronyms. Apparently there is a way that we might be able to resolve this.

 

I’m told that I’ll be taken to a small side office where someone on the telephone will give me a 20 questions quiz about where my passport and I have been in the last few months. If my answers match their records, I’m allowed on the plane. Given that I’ve done entire days on tour thinking we’re in Italy - only to discover that we’re actually in Switzerland, my confidence is not spectacularly high.

 

As I get past the first few questions, tour manager Marguerite arrives with the band. She clocks the situation and gives me a questioning look through the door.

 

“I’ve really fucked up, Mags”, I begin. “I’ve come without my passport. I am so, so sorry”.

 

Mags calmly produces her laptop with scans of my passport and proceeds to know the answer to every question about which city we flew in and out of on what date in the past three months. I’m playing the dopey apologetic Englishman and Mags is doing the supremely organised, polite and efficient California tour manager. Well, I say we’re playing roles…

 

The TSA fellas seem to have thawed. They genuinely seem to be on our side now and doing everything they can to try to help us.

 

Kelly, Chris’s security chief, walks past the door with a smile slightly wider than his actual face.

 

“Thanks for the day sheet Mags. Good job you put on it ‘you MUST have ID to board the plane’ otherwise anything could have happened”.

 

“I’m not finding this funny just yet, Kelly” I plead.

 

Kelly is still cross with me from the Hollywood Bowl. I put a luminous green sign on his back just before he ran through the crowd to the C-stage. I’d tell you what it said, but then he’d be cross with me all over again. For now, he’s happy that karma has payed me a visit on his behalf.

 

Just as this takes place, a man holding a motorbike helmet rounds the corner. Mags has contacted the hotel manager, who has fished out my passport from the rucksack and had it couriered over with insane speed.

 

The TSA fellas are impressed and the relevant boxes are ticked. I am no longer any kind of threat to the President, or national security in general. An idiot, yes…

 

Mags and I walk across the tarmac, me apologising profusely, carrying my laptop-in-a-plastic-bag at my side. My passport, I’m not allowed to touch again until I’m safely checked in on the flight back home tomorrow.

 

I reach the top of the plane steps and take a deep breath before facing the travel party. Predictably and quite deservedly, there’s a sarcastic round of applause as I make my way up the aisle with my head held low.

 

“The walk of *shame*” comments Chris, shaking his head as I pass his seat.

 

Safety belts fastened. Secure doors and cross-check. Sink into your seat and feel like you could crawl up your own arse with embarrassment? Check.

 

Never a dull moment…

 

R42

 

That was a funny blog and at the same time, i was thinking "aw, poor Roadie!"!

Coldplay to Stand Up To Cancer on 7 Sept

22 August 2012 8:39 pm

Band to play during TV special across US networks

 

Good evening. We're pleased to report that, on 7 September, Coldplay will perform during the star-studded Stand Up To Cancer show which will air at 8pm/7CT on every major US network and cable channel.

 

100% of Stand Up To Cancer's public funding goes directly to cancer research. For more information - or to donate to this extremely worthy cause - please go to http://www.standup2cancer.org.

 

Anchorman

Viva across the UK to mark end of Games

28 August 2012 10:35 am

Hundreds of bandstands to unite in simultaneous rendition of Viva La Vida

 

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE[/ame]

 

Good morning. To mark the end of the London 2012 Games, Coldplay's song Viva La Vida will play out on Sunday, 9 September at hundreds of bandstands across the UK as part of Bandstand Marathon.

 

The band - who will perform at the London 2012 Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony - have endorsed musicians across the UK to play the song. At 2pm, bandstands nationwide, including the Olympic Park Bandstand, will see musicians of all kinds perform their own unique renditions of the song at the same time - a collective moment to mark the end of the London 2012 Games and a fantastic summer of sport and culture.

 

Chris Martin said: ‘It’s a great honour for us to be part of the celebrations for the Paralympic Games and it should be a great moment when the bandstands of Great Britain strike up in unison.’

 

This preview to the Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony later in the evening is part of the nationwide Bandstand Marathon, an event that will see hundreds of outdoor community concerts taking place simultaneously throughout the UK from 1pm – 5pm.

 

To find out where your local participating bandstand is, and for information on other London 2012 Festival events in your region, click here.

 

Anchorman

Panorama: Parken Stadium, Copenhagen

29 August 2012 2:37 pm

Check out Roadie #42's pre-show crowd shot

 

Good afternoon. Here is Roadie #42's pre-show crowd shot from an excellent night in Copenhagen last night, as the Mylo Xyloto Tour arrived back in Europe. Click the image below to see/download the full hi-res version. And please do add your own photos from the show to our Live Archive.

 

 

Anchorman

Live Tumblr blog from Paris on Sunday

31 August 2012 3:26 pm

Join us for a real-time blog throughout the sold out show

 

Good afternoon. On Sunday (2 September) Coldplay head to Paris to play a sold out show to 80,000 people at the Stade de France.

 

To celebrate, we're going along to do a special live blog throughout the band's performance using the Coldplay Tumblr page. Join us there from 8.30pm Paris time (7.30pm London, 2.30pm NYC, click for time where you are), to get photos, gifs, videos, quotes and audio clips from the show, as it happens.

 

Anchorman

Panorama: Olympic Stadium, Stockholm

31 August 2012 5:18 pm

The pre-show crowd shot from a great night in Sweden

 

Good afternoon. Here's Roadie #42's shot of the very up-for-it crowd before last night's show in Stockholm. Click the image below to see/download the full hi-res version. And, as always, please do add your own photos from the show to our Live Archive.

 

 

Click here for lots more summer 2012 crowd panoramas.

 

Anchorman

Live Tumblr blog from Paris on Sunday

31 August 2012 3:26 pm

Join us for a real-time blog throughout the sold out show

 

Good afternoon. On Sunday (2 September) Coldplay head to Paris to play a sold out show to 80,000 people at the Stade de France.

 

To celebrate, we're going along to do a special live blog throughout the band's performance using the Coldplay Tumblr page. Join us there from 8.30pm Paris time (7.30pm London, 2.30pm NYC, click for time where you are), to get photos, gifs, videos, quotes and audio clips from the show, as it happens.

 

Anchorman

 

Oh cool! I might have the time for it!

Panorama: Stade de France, Paris

5 September 2012 11:09 am

Check out our high-res panorama shot from Sunday night's show

 

 

 

Good morning. Slightly later than planned (apologies), here's Roadie #42's panorama shot from Sunday's incredible show at the Stade de France in Paris. Click the image for the full hi-res version. You can upload your photos to our Live Archive (and check out other folks') by clicking here. Cologne panorama to follow later today...

 

 

 

^ That's when you release how huge the Stade de France is compared to the venues they've done so far

Can'r wait to see the panorama of last night's concert, I hope one can spot our Jonny poster :dance::wacky:

^ That's when you release how huge the Stade de France is compared to the venues they've done so far

 

If I'm not mistaken, it is the biggest Stadium on the tour so far (and I think overall as well).

^ That's when you release how huge the Stade de France is compared to the venues they've done so far

I made myself that comment too!

Panorama: Rheinenergie Stadium, Cologne

5 September 2012 4:12 pm

Here's the pre-show panorama shot from last night's stadium show

 

 

Good afternoon. As promised, here is Roadie #42's panorama shot from last night's storming show in Cologne. Click the image for the full hi-res version. And, as always, you can upload your photos to our Live Archive (and check out other folks') by clicking here.

 

 

(x)

 

 

 

 

Mylo Xyloto on offer at iTunes

7 September 2012 11:09 am

Get the album for less in iTunes Store across the world

 

Good morning. Coldplay's Number One album, Mylo Xyloto, is currently available at a reduced price on iTunes in the UK (£4.99), Europe (€5.99) and America ($7.99). Click here to get the album from your local iTunes Store, wherever in the world you are.

 

The album is also available for a reduced price on CD in the UK this week, with Amazon selling it for just £4.97 (including delivery). Click here for that.

 

And a big thanks to the millions of you across the planet who have already bought the album.

 

Anchorman

 

 

(x)

Panorama: Maliveld, The Hague

7 September 2012 12:32 pm

Here's our crowd panorama from last night's show in the Netherlands

 

Good afternoon. Here's Roadie #42's crowd panorama shot from last night's show in the Hague. Click on the picture for the full, hi-res version. And please do add your photos from the show to our Live Archive.

 

 

Click here for lots more summer 2012 crowd panoramas.

 

Anchorman

Interview: Misty Buckley on the Paralympics Closing Ceremony

7 September 2012 1:54 pm

Coldplay set designer and Paralympics Closing Ceremony Art Director gives us a sneak preview of Sunday night's show

 

On Sunday night, Coldplay will perform a set at the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games in the city's Olympic Stadium. It begins at 7.30pm UK time - click here to find out what time that is where you are. The ceremony will be shown live on Channel 4 in the UK, while the list of broadcasters worldwide is here (then check local listings for exact details). The entire ceremony will also be streamed live worldwide at http://www.paralympic.org.

 

We dropped Coldplay set designer and Paralympics Closing Ceremony Art Director, Misty Buckley, a line to find out more about her work with the band and Sunday's ceremony...

 

 

Hi Misty, please could you tell us how you first came to work with Coldplay?

My husband and I are the Creative Directors of the Park and various areas at Glastonbury Festival. The organisers Emily and Michael Eavis have a very close relationship with the band as they have played the festival several times and have a strong connection to it. I think they may have had a little chat. I first worked with the band on the Christmas Lights music video

 

Were you pleased with how that video turned out?

Yes. It was great. We only had a about 10 days to find the location, design and build the set. The set was a fairly complicated travelling theatre with proscenium arch, wings and a full flying rig for all the scenery and props to fly in throughout the song. It was great to work with director Mat Whitecross and we had such a laugh figuring out all the tricks of scenic forests parting to reveal a back-lit Arabian nights scene... rockets and comets shooting past as a trolley of singing Elvises trucked by in burst of newspaper snow. I don't know what we were thinking. It was -2 degrees and we were filming on the South Bank two days before the massive snow storm in December 2010. I have never been so cold in all my life. I think the crew have only just forgiven Mat and I for putting them through that. But the results were beautiful.

 

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1rYmzQ8C9Q[/ame]

 

Then the band asked you to work on the stage sets for the festival shows, with Glastonbury obviously being the pinnacle of those. What was the brief?

That was really exciting, because it was like having the home games. I just had a real instinct for what would work at Glastonbury and what would feel right. We wanted to create an environment inspired by the world of Mylo Xyloto, the character behind the album. The concept was a ball of energy from which light and colour emanated. It was important to incorporate neon lights, lasers, fluorescent colours and a painterly feel.... to fuse latest technology with a hand made feel. The band were keen to use graffiti in a new way which offered us all a really exciting challenge. This was the beginning of a great creative collaboration with the band, lighting designer Paul Normandale and Phil Harvey, the band's creative director.

 

And you guys were responsible for bringing Paris on board?

We brought in Paris, our favourite graffiti artist who we have worked with for years and he absolutely stepped up to the challenge. We discussed - at great length! - the style of graffiti. We wanted to move away from traditional graffiti and develop our own style of mark making, inspired by the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Picasso. We did some workshops with the band where we all got to explore and experiment with spray cans, acrylics, fluorescents and paint pens. The results were extraordinary. Paris brings great flare and creativity.

 

How closely have you worked with the band on the stage sets?

We've worked really closely with the band on all the different guises and developments of the various set designs. The band's deep rooted visual creativity, combined with album concept and lyrics provided a rich palette to work with. I always make a scale model of the set, so the band can get a sense of the space. It creates a central focus and we can sit around the model and move various bits of set and screens until we're happy ... I love the process. I find it very inspiring.

 

Glastonbury must've been a highlight for you, with the Pyramid Stage lighting up and the incredible audience response?

Awesome. It was very moving.

 

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOMZhftTpAg[/ame]

 

How did you go about translating the set to the stadium shows?

Because we started with a narrative from Mylo Xyloto, it meant expanding for the venues was like graffiti-ing a wall. It just got better and richer as we added layers and pushed the boundaries of what we could achieve. I had designed some flowers made of Electroluminescent wire for the festival show which grew and blossomed around the band. This concept was developed and built upon... Expanding them to 5 x giant 13m diameter screen surrounds for the stadium show. Graffiti is all about layering, making your mark but not being too precious about it. You need to keep re-inventing and adding layers, so there is just a suggestion of what was there before.

 

Have you been able to go to many of the shows?

I have been to as many as possible.. but I had my first baby whilst designing this and Art Directing the Paralympics Closing Ceremony. So it's been a busy year!!!

 

Were you responsible for getting Coldplay involved in the Paralympics Closing Ceremony?

We may have had a little chat! Kim Gavin (Artistic Director) and I presented our very early ideas and drawings to the band. I think they said yes before Kim had finished his second sentence.

 

It sounds like there's been an awful lot of work put into the ceremony?

Incredible amounts of work. Because of the nature of the show, we decided the best solution was to build everything ourselves, rather then sending it all out to contractors. So we set up a huge workshop next to the Olympic Stadium and created a massive art department of welders, engineers, mechanics, carpenters, painters, set dressers and prop makers. We brought in creatives from Glastonbury including Joe Rush and the mutoid waste co. to realise my designs and make these unusual structures.

 

Can you give us any idea of what to expect on Sunday night?

I don't want to jinx anything.. but if all goes well, then you should see a very creative and emotive show. An enormous amount of love has gone into this show.

 

Finally, we ask all interviewees on Coldplay.com, what's your favourite Coldplay song?

Charlie Brown... It just lifts me up... It makes me think of bursting colour, Glastonbury Festival, my little boy and having the best year of my life.... And we have a cracking moment in the show to this song!

 

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhKxtv1FiUM[/ame]

Paradise wins Best Rock VIdeo at VMAs

7 September 2012 3:28 pm

Video wins MTV award, and Chris says a little thank you

 

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G4isv_Fylg[/ame]

 

The VMA for the Paradise video is a very nice surprise. Proof yet again that we have the greatest fans in the world. Thanks for voting. Love CM

Watch Sunday night's Closing Ceremony on TV or online

8 September 2012 10:35 am

You can see Coldplay's Paralympics Closing Ceremony performance wherever you are

 

 

Tomorrow night, Coldplay will perform a set at the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games in the city's Olympic Stadium. (Rehearsals went very well yesterday.)

 

The ceremony begins at 7.30pm UK time - click here to find out what time that is where you are. The ceremony will be shown live on Channel 4 in the UK, while the list of broadcasters worldwide is here (scroll down for the full list, then check local listings for exact details). The entire ceremony will also be streamed live worldwide at www.paralympic.org.

 

Anchorman

Panorama: Olympiastadion, Munich

13 September 2012 6:49 pm

Check out Roadie #42's pre-show photo of last night's show

 

Good evening. Here's Roadie #42's pre-gig photo of last night's soggy-but-excellent show in Munich. Click on the picture for the full, hi-res version. And please add your photos from the Olympiastadion to our Live Archive.

 

 

Click here for lots more summer 2012 crowd panoramas.

 

Anchorman

Panorama: Red Bull Stadium, Leipzig

16 September 2012 3:01 pm

Here's the pre-show shot from Friday night's concert

 

Good afternoon. Here's Roadie #42's pre-show crowd panorama from Friday night's concert in Leipzig, Germany. Click on it to see the hi-res version. And add your Leipzig photos to our Live Archive here.

 

 

Click here for all the other summer 2012 crowd panoramas.

 

Anchorman

It's been a while since we had a R42 blog :(

 

With all the interesting stuff that happened those last weeks, I'd love to have some of R42 impressions and interesting anecdotes!

I waaaaant a blooooog !

Mylo Xyloto up for Radio 1 Teen Award

16 September 2012 9:02 pm

Album nominated for Best British Album - voting open now

 

Good evening. We're pleased to report that Coldplay have been nominated for Best British Album at BBC Radio 1’s Teen Awards. If you’d like to vote, click here (thank you).

 

Anchorman