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12-Dec-08 - Manchester, MEN Arena - Tickets, Preview, Meetups, Review/Photos

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Zincubus

Zincubus

Posted
Posted
More often than not people stand because those in front of them have stood and they can't see. There are of course exceptions, like this time - the only thing you could have done is asked if they would mind sitting down.

 

Personally I'll stand up if others around me are and even then it is only to see and have a good time, not to detriment the view of those behind. The only positive with me standing up is that I'm only 5ft3 so chances are I won't block many peoples view anyway.

 

Fair comments _ I was so VERY , VERY angry but luckily I noticed an empty seat a few rows in front of Mincing Milly and enjoyed what was left of the gig ... in saying that , I still think the sound engineer made mistakes on thursday night - the sound was too distorted for my liking - it sounded like Phil spector's Wall of Sound !!!!

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Jenjie

Jenjie

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AS I said previously - I think they got the sound levels wrong on Thursday - but it sounds like they may have lowered them somewhat for Friday ... won't bother going to anymore Coldplay gigs though ... not paying £150 ( two tickets) to listen to an hour and a half of distorted, wall of sound .... maybe Phil spector was in control of the sound levels !!

 

where did you get your tickets from? the official outlets were selling them for £42.50 + booking fees, which came to under £100 for 2 of us.

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Jenjie

Jenjie

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Posted

Sorry about the delay in the review. Fully intended to get one up yesterday for you, but work was ridiculously busy, not fun when you're poorly. Its been a bit more reasonable to day, so here you go:

 

---------

 

We started out earlier on fri night so we could go and get something to eat, which basically meant a trip to Maccy D's for a calorie-laden quarterpounder with cheese & fries, with a relatively healthy orange juice. Calories & Orange to ensure I had enough energy to get through the gig.

 

The arena seemed a lot quieter when we got there. The queues at the bar seemed shorter and the candy floss queue was non-existent. We went into the arena a little earlier than on thurs night. We were sat on the lower tier about 3/4 of the way down the length of the arena. Whilst we were sat waiting for them to set up the stage & load the roadies into the ceiling, I spotted a certain roadie named Miller lurking with the sound guys in the middle of the arena. Unfortunately, he must be psychic because as I pointed him out to Ian, he moved off quite quickly to the front. I wondered if he might come back so in between watching the exploits of those poor roadies trying to reach the hanging chairs in the ceiling, I kept my eye on the soundcheck guys. And guess who I spotted as he joined them, you guessed it, the one and only Mr Phil Harvey!! So Ian got his camera out and tried to take a few distance photos of him (which we now know didn't work so well :( ).

Jay-Z started, and we got a much better view of the dancing roadie torches :D They were pretty much hidden by the stage on Thurs night. The Blue Danube was much better further away from the speakers, didn't hurt my ears quite so much. The lights went out, and we realised we were in for a much better night. The noise from the crowd was huge, much louder than thurs :D Out came the boys with the sparklers again and on with LIT. We got a much better view of the black nightie, and it looked really cool!

Setlist was the same as the night before, but didn't feel the same. Not sure how to explian it, whether it was just the boost from the crowd I don't know. Fix You had its proper effect, and I had tears in my eyes by the end. Yellow was the best I've ever seen/heard, the crowd was just amazing! I definitely noticed the LaCroix this time :lol: It was pretty cool from near the back. And I forgot the Lovers in Japan butterflies again!! Was so into it, they shocked me!! We had the screaming comp again after IMP. Chris has probably upset the EMI lawyers, because he referred to Green Eyes as a song of Joe Satriani's. Plenty of references to Manchester.

I have to have a paragraph just to mention the crowd. They were amazing. I could hear them singing along to most songs, obviously most loudly for things like Yellow, Fix You, Viva La Vida. They were cheering & screaming, we sang the viva woahs in between encores, waiting for the boys to come back out. The only point they let me down was the mobile phone glowsticks during the Remix. There were more than the night before, but still only in double figures.

The trip home was more interesting than the night before. I think someone was trynig to teach us a lesson because we voted no for the congestion charge. I've never seen the tram so packed before, even on a football day. Halfway home, I nearly got suffocated to death. I've been on packed trams before, but this was different. The way the crowd was pushing me against the doors, I could feel my chest being crushed and was starting to wonder how I'd actually get my next breath. It was very scary, and horrid. And then once, the crowds eased a bit after a few more stops, some drunk guy threw up ALOT all over the floor. Luckily, we got off at the next stop.

So a really, really, really cool night. I'd say it was one of the best Coldplay shows I've been, if not the best. I think I may love them more than Take That now. And nine months seems like nothing to wait 'til we can do it again :D

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KissesBirds

KissesBirds

Posted
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but I did nearly die on the tram on the way home instead :\ think I prefer being barged by drunks

 

 

:surprised::cry:

 

 

I got loads without trying when I went. I had been to Primarni and had a big bag and when I got home I found hundreds of them in there :lol:

 

I keep finding them in random places now, like my bed, they've taken over my room :uhoh:

 

 

Perv! Sleeping with your Coldplay butterflies! :lol::wink3::kiss: Nice! :thumbsup:

 

 

 

Hi guys, long time member first time post, went last night and it was an amazing show!

 

I got 2 full songs on vid

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, it's really cool to see the yellow balls from the angle you had there. Thanks!

 

 

 

I HAVE A YELLOW BALLOON NEXT TO ME.

i am the lad in a picture holding it!

:D

 

 

 

Ahahahahaha! Awesome! I so would have taken one home too!

 

 

 

Sorry about the delay in the review. Fully intended to get one up yesterday for you, but work was ridiculously busy, not fun when you're poorly. Its been a bit more reasonable to day, so here you go:

 

---------

 

We started out earlier on fri night so we could go and get something to eat, which basically meant a trip to Maccy D's for a calorie-laden quarterpounder with cheese & fries, with a relatively healthy orange juice. Calories & Orange to ensure I had enough energy to get through the gig.

 

The arena seemed a lot quieter when we got there. The queues at the bar seemed shorter and the candy floss queue was non-existent. We went into the arena a little earlier than on thurs night. We were sat on the lower tier about 3/4 of the way down the length of the arena. Whilst we were sat waiting for them to set up the stage & load the roadies into the ceiling, I spotted a certain roadie named Miller lurking with the sound guys in the middle of the arena. Unfortunately, he must be psychic because as I pointed him out to Ian, he moved off quite quickly to the front. I wondered if he might come back so in between watching the exploits of those poor roadies trying to reach the hanging chairs in the ceiling, I kept my eye on the soundcheck guys. And guess who I spotted as he joined them, you guessed it, the one and only Mr Phil Harvey!! So Ian got his camera out and tried to take a few distance photos of him (which we now know didn't work so well :( ).

Jay-Z started, and we got a much better view of the dancing roadie torches :D They were pretty much hidden by the stage on Thurs night. The Blue Danube was much better further away from the speakers, didn't hurt my ears quite so much. The lights went out, and we realised we were in for a much better night. The noise from the crowd was huge, much louder than thurs :D Out came the boys with the sparklers again and on with LIT. We got a much better view of the black nightie, and it looked really cool!

Setlist was the same as the night before, but didn't feel the same. Not sure how to explian it, whether it was just the boost from the crowd I don't know. Fix You had its proper effect, and I had tears in my eyes by the end. Yellow was the best I've ever seen/heard, the crowd was just amazing! I definitely noticed the LaCroix this time :lol: It was pretty cool from near the back. And I forgot the Lovers in Japan butterflies again!! Was so into it, they shocked me!! We had the screaming comp again after IMP. Chris has probably upset the EMI lawyers, because he referred to Green Eyes as a song of Joe Satriani's. Plenty of references to Manchester.

I have to have a paragraph just to mention the crowd. They were amazing. I could hear them singing along to most songs, obviously most loudly for things like Yellow, Fix You, Viva La Vida. They were cheering & screaming, we sang the viva woahs in between encores, waiting for the boys to come back out. The only point they let me down was the mobile phone glowsticks during the Remix. There were more than the night before, but still only in double figures.

The trip home was more interesting than the night before. I think someone was trynig to teach us a lesson because we voted no for the congestion charge. I've never seen the tram so packed before, even on a football day. Halfway home, I nearly got suffocated to death. I've been on packed trams before, but this was different. The way the crowd was pushing me against the doors, I could feel my chest being crushed and was starting to wonder how I'd actually get my next breath. It was very scary, and horrid. And then once, the crowds eased a bit after a few more stops, some drunk guy threw up ALOT all over the floor. Luckily, we got off at the next stop.

So a really, really, really cool night. I'd say it was one of the best Coldplay shows I've been, if not the best. I think I may love them more than Take That now. And nine months seems like nothing to wait 'til we can do it again :D

 

 

 

Tee hee! Black see-through nightie! Great review, thanks!:D

 

Hope you are feeling better.:kiss:

 

.

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bellynelly

bellynelly

Posted
Posted
Don't suppose you paid any thoughts for the poor souls who were SAT behind you and who paid a lot of money to SIT !??

 

Don't suppose you ASKED the people behind you if minded you dancing in front of them ?

 

 

Just wondering what goes through the minds of people like yourself BEFORE you decide to BLOCK the view of at least 3 or 4 people SAT behind you - not to mention all the rows of people further behind you , who get to see some thoughtless person's backside jiggling about , rather than see their beloved COLDPLAY !!

 

Do you realise how distracting it is when just ONE "person" ( see how restrained I am ) is dancing around in the field of view of about 40 other fans !!??

 

I may sound a bit "tetchy" but that is because some small minded "person" in block 206 , half way up in seat 5 ... basicall spoilt our whole family's evening -by standing up and mincing his way through half of the concert - mmmm ... did I mention that he reminded us of Alan Carr ( in more ways than looks ).

 

 

I have a bad back ( violins playing) and so I can't stand at concerts -this is why we always choose SEATS ... and usually high up to AVOID the "dancers ". Even if I was ABLE to stand I simply could live with my guilt of spoiling the view of some innocent person behind me.!!

 

 

The night that I was in block 106 when not alot of people were standing, I had a wall behind me!!! I was in row X, right at the back of the block so I wasn't obstucting anyones view. I am only 5ft 1, so I very much doubt I'd be obstucting the views of 40 or so people even if I jumped about like a lunatic. I didn't have an option where my seat was or I would have been on the floor area!!!!! Most of the time its other people obstucting my view, I once went to a keane concert and never saw much, I had a big head in the way, when I asked the guy to move slightly, he told me to piss off!!!

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Jenjie

Jenjie

Posted
Posted
Great review Jenje. Better to nearly die on the way back from a Coldplay gig than on the way there ;)

 

very true!! :D although I had thought that it would have been a tragic waste to go to one of the best Coldplay shows ever & then die on the way home without being able to share with anyone :laugh3:

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Jenjie

Jenjie

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Posted

On Saturday 12th, three other friends and I went to see Coldplay at the MEN arena, in Manchester. We set off at just after 5 at Sowerby bridge, so the train would get us into Manchester just after 6. Jess got on a few stops along the line at littlebrough. Our train was slightly late, we expected that.

 

We arrived at the arena just after doors opening, at 6. We went straight to one of the many over priced shops. The t-shirts were very small and expensive, £20. I also bought a poster. We wondered along to our block. Got some photo's taken and then climbed the steps onto the arena.

 

It was empty, about 20/30 people were in there. It was massive. We were in block 217, which was side on to the stage. We could see every detail on the stage. We sat there and talked for nearly two hours. We watch as the stadium very steadily filled.

 

The support act came on at quater to eight. None of us had heard of them before. The first song wasn't great, and they were very nervous. As they went through there set though, it got quite good. I liked them anyway.

 

After about fortyfive minute set, they went off. The lights came up and the rodies started to arrange the stage. It took about thirty minutes to do. They even cleaned the stage. Many different instruments where set out. Light men were hoisted about 150 foot into t he air to man hte light deck. The stadium was nearly full. The atosphere was tense. Excitedly we held our breath. Blackness.

 

They came running out from behind stage with sparkelers, they only light. The crowd errupted. They opened with violet hill. Flashing violet lights. Amazing.

 

The entire consert was amazing. So many cleaver lighting affects. They had a whole line of bright flashing white lights, which flashed whenever the dummer hit his snare. Giant material balls, to which progections were projected. Chris Martin ran up and down that stage all night. Engaging the crwod at every second. The crowd were heard constantly over the band. Again, amazing.

 

We came out all saying we wanted to go see them the next day. After making a quick stop to the nock-off hoodies, (which were better looking than inside and were only £10) we dashed to the packed platform, and alighted our train home.

Posted by David at 00:45

 

http://davidnelsonenglishblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/coldplay.html

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Hilly_2004

Hilly_2004

Posted
Posted

[ame=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y0QbPELY9M]YouTube - Coldplay ~ 12th December 2008 ~ MEN Arena ~ The Scientist & Back For Good[/ame]

 

My capture of The Scientist and Back for Good.... The audio quality is pretty good even if I do say so myself (off my phone).

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Jenjie

Jenjie

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Posted
YouTube - Coldplay ~ 12th December 2008 ~ MEN Arena ~ The Scientist & Back For Good[/url]

 

My capture of The Scientist and Back for Good.... The audio quality is pretty good even if I do say so myself (off my phone).

 

that's brill thank you :) no-one had posted the Scientist on youtube that I could find :D

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Jenjie

Jenjie

Posted
Posted
You know what? I can see my Mum and brother on the taking the final bow photo!! Yay! Row B in front of stage, best gig ever!

 

woooooooooooooo :D

 

 

 

Out of curiosity does anyone know how much the touts outside were asking for tickets, and whereabouts they were located.

 

Silly question I know!

 

 

no idea how much, but they were the single guys in black jackets hanging out in Victoria Station and near the taxi rank outside. there was even one near the Printworks!!

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