Help Oxfam America & See Coldplay! (Volunteer Discussion Thread)

[talkingonsquareone89]

Woo-hoo! Really excited for this Tuesday, after I got the additional volunteer info! :D

[chuck kottke]

I sent in my dues, so I did my part!:wink2:

[Oxfam America]

I sent in my dues, so I did my part!:wink2:

 

Thanks, Chuck!

 

And for those who won't be going to a Coldplay show soon, here's a link to our sign-up page, where you can win some Coldplay-autographed collectors items, including a gigantic Make Trade Fair banner signed by the band:

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whatyoucando/act_now/music

 

[zaccor]

Chicago show?

 

I applied to work at the July 23 Chicago show at the United Center. Has Oxfam already selected the volunteers? I really want to go but I'm just curious if it's already been decided. Thanks!

[Oxfam America]

The volunteers are all selected at the local level by our lead volunteers in each city, so I'm not sure if Chicago's selection process is over or not. Hope you make it in!

 

[yellow745]

I am extremely intreseted in volunteering for oxfam in other projects other than the coldplay gigs and i wanted to know what is the age requirements for your volunteers?

[Oxfam America]

Hi Yellow745-

 

Age requirements depend on the activity or event. If you send me a PM telling me where you live, I'll do my best to hook you up with a local Oxfam volunteer team who can let you know what events might be available to you to volunteer for.

 

Also, sign up here to join our eCommunity, which is another way you can learn of activities available to Oxfam supporters.

 

Thanks for the question!

 

[chuck kottke]

You know, that reminds me - I need to go silkscreen some T-shirts with the Make Trade Fair symbol on them!:)

[busybeeburns]

Ready.. steady..

 

 

So this is where it all starts. I’m sitting behind my desk at Oxfam. Just got my itinerary through for my trip to LA in just 8 days, where I will join Coldplay and their crew for the first show of their Viva La Vida North American tour. The album sounds fantastic. The band have been wowing crowds with their live comeback at the free shows in Brixton, Barcelona and New York (amongst TV slots galore). Next stop, California.

 

Rehearsals at Wembley arena were followed by the live return (both on stage and on Radio 1), at a packed out Brixton Academy, London, 16/06/08. I arrived just as the band were soundchecking ‘Viva La Vida’ just hours before the waiting public rushed in. Oxfam was there with the Health & Education FOR ALL campaign. It is a call for action from governments and institutions on people’s right to health and education. Our volunteers also gave out Be Humankind badges and action-postcards. The badges were as prominent as Coldplay’s butterfly confetti at the end of the night… almost.

 

Heads were turned when the band did a very special acoustic version of ‘Yellow’ from the balcony followed by the drummer, Will Champion, on lead vocals for ‘Death Will Never Conquer’.

 

Next up, the band rolled into New York for their huge Madison Square Garden show. It’s a huge venue, covered from head to toe in history. As the crew were rigging for the new show, it felt as though the band were making history themselves. Over 350 people signed up to help Oxfam America on overcoming poverty and injustice around the world. Coldplay have continued their amazing support of Oxfam, by inviting us to campaign at their concerts on this huge world tour. Another packed venue. Hand painted guitars playing brand new number 1 hits. Viva La Vida is going to be an incredible tour.

 

I can’t wait.

 

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/?p=5#more-5

[busybeeburns]

Testing.. 1, TWO.

 

I’m a long way from that Oxfam desk now. Not quite a million miles, but you get the idea. I’m sitting in the Crew Room backstage at the Los Angeles Forum, which for the next two nights, is the home of Coldplay. The shows are sold out, which may well be a sign of things to come!

 

On my left, is a hand painted drum. There are faces, lips, arms, swirls and stripes.. The rollers, brushes, paint tins and mixing plates are still strewn across the table. I can hear that Coldplay have just arrived for their final run-through rehearsal, before this tour kicks off. It feels as though everyone involved is using every last minute, to make this show as good as it can possibly be.

 

Oxfam has been given a chance to project http://www.oxfam.org/coldplay onto one of the huge rotating balls which make up part of the stage show. That will be a sight for these jet-lagged sore eyes!

 

I’ll be off to meet Oxfam America’s volunteers in a few hours, so I‘d better crack on with getting the stall set up. It’s almost show time.

 

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/?p=10

[busybeeburns]

and.. Action!

 

What a show. Lights, cameras, and action. The band and the crew did a fantastic job tonight. As if the crowd weren’t excited enough by doing the ‘wave’ before the show. They then had the pleasure of watching Coldplay at their best. What a great way to start the week..

 

The light show was awesome tonight. The Forum lending itself perfectly to all sorts of illuminated activity. I thought they’d be ironing out problems for the first couple of weeks. It looks like they’ve nailed it already. On the way out, people were still singing the chanting chorus to ‘Viva La Vida’. It didn’t take them long to learn those words.. (w-o-a-h, w-o-a-h!).

 

We had a really positive bunch of Oxfam volunteers too, who signed up 705 people for further action. The end of the night made my day, with http://www.oxfam.org/coldplay being projected on a huge rotating sphere in the middle of the arena. Once the confetti butterflies had fluttered down and the stage swept clean for tomorrow, it was off back to the hotel. I’m too tired to keep typing, but I just wanted to let you know how awesome it was!

 

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/?p=14

[alyssa]

^yay Pete! The show was great! And being a volunteer was great, even though I felt like I was gonna have a nervous breakdown most of the time!

 

Tips:

 

- Don't be intimidated by the huge crowds

- Don't be discouraged when people turn you down for signatures/emails

 

And more later but I've gotta run

[busybeeburns]

more fun tonight?

[yellow745]

hey if you dont mind me asking, where were your seats??

[yellow745]

well i live in houston,tx. I hope there are volunteer opportunities here =)

[busybeeburns]

 

Coldplay is campaigning for famine relief and fair-trade practices at its concert tour stops.

 

FOR YEARS musicians have taken a leading role in one of their industry's most important acts of public service -- turning people's hunger for a great song, well performed, into food that feeds the physical hunger of thousands.

 

Live Aid for Africa is one of the most famous examples, but so too is Willie Nelson's efforts to save American farms.

 

Now the wildly popular rock band Coldplay has put itself at the service of one of the world's oldest famine relief organizations, the British-based Oxfam. The group opened its Viva La Vida World Tour at the Forum in Inglewood on Monday night with Oxfam volunteers busily working the corridors, where they handed out fliers urging action against poverty and social injustice. The Oxfam website ( http://www.oxfam.org/coldplay) was projected onto a large rotating sphere in the middle of the arena after the show.

 

Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin has been a strong supporter of Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign, which seeks to end the dumping of cheap goods into poor countries. Martin -- who has visited Africa, the Dominican Republic and Haiti with Oxfam -- witnessed firsthand how the practice has undermined the local economies. Farmers and manufacturers, struggling to compete, end up out of business and in debt.

 

On its 2003 world tour, the band collected 10,000 postcards calling for fair trade agreements. This time around, the U.S. presidential election is also a concern. (Small booklets urging people to vote were handed out at the Forum show.) Oxfam's Pete Lusby, who will be traveling with the band members as they make their way across three continents in the coming months, blogged about the experience on the relief organization's website Monday night. He noted that more than 700 people had signed up for more information on Oxfam.

 

Lusby wrote: "On the way out, people were still singing the chanting chorus to 'Viva La Vida,' " a soaring peace anthem.

 

He added: "It didn't take the crowd long to learn the words."

 

Peas sign on with advocacy group

 

With both presidential nominations decided, here's the real drama being played out in the run up to the national conventions: Who will sing at all parties?

 

These are the kinds of bookings likely to stay in flux until the last minute because musicians are independent spirits and often have as hard a time making up their minds as a superdelegate.

 

The Creative Coalition was the first to step out last week with its plans: the Grammy Award-winning group the Black Eyed Peas will perform at the organization's gala at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

 

And just to make sure there are plenty of celebs in the crowd, the group has signed up a list of coalition delegates: Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee, Susan Sarandon, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dana Delany, Barry Levinson, Matthew Modine, Alan Cumming, Cheryl Hines, Rachael Leigh Cook, Gloria Reuben and Wendie Malick.

 

In addition to hosting the gala, the Creative Coalition will sponsor a series of other events in Denver, including a luncheon honoring actress Annette Bening and 16 female U.S. senators.

 

The group has made no announcement on its plans for the Republican convention in Minneapolis.

 

Nevertheless, officials wanted to make it clear that the Creative Coalition does not endorse political parties or candidates.

 

Tell that to Sarandon and the Peas.

 

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-et-cause16-2008jul16,0,4315173.story

[yellow745]

hey if you dont mind me asking, where were your seats??

[brenda]

The locations of the seats are different at each and every venue. Even if someone told you where they got seats in California, it doesn't mean that you would get those seats at the Houston show. The best you can do now is sign up to volunteer and hope you get chosen!

[busybeeburns]

[Oxfam Blog] Leaving San Jose.

 

I’m on the bus. Front top bunk. Driver’s side. I just marked my name on the mini-whiteboard that has the 11 other scribbled names for this bus. One of 5 on the tour. I can hear the set frantically being wheeled out case-by-case from the loading bay, onto the shining red trucks. Drivers eager to hit the road, and crew, ready to hit the hay. I’m fascinated by how fast that whole set gets boxed up and heads for another venue. That venue waiting for us this time is the MGM Grand.. Las Vegas.

 

I hear it’s ‘hot’ in Las Vegas. And Crazy. I’m excited. And intrigued..

 

If Oxfam has a group of volunteers as good as tonight, we’ll do fine. Another night. Another raft of names signed up for Oxfam America. More people showing support for the cause. More people ready to use their power and take action on injustice. It’s exciting to meet so many people ready to do something positive. Also to meet all the people who already know about Oxfam, and want to do more.

 

The Coldplay show shifted a little tonight. Don’t Panic was an acoustic track, with ‘Yellow’ played in full, I think for the first time so far. No venue seems too big for this band. If anything, the bigger the better. More people = more noise from the crowd. The HP Pavillion in San Jose is a huge concrete dome. Home of the Sharks hockey team. Coldplay seem to feed off the singing voices of big crowds. Not quite like sharks though.. thankfully.

 

Just before I go (as my eyes are drying up with this bedlight shining at them), I just wanted to say. I went to San Francisco with a couple of old uni friends last night. Checked out the pacific and the misty Golden Gate Bridge. That thing is awesome. I got vertigo just looking at it. Apparently they never stop painting it. Imagine the guy who paints that thing all year round.. I have enough respect for the rigging guys on the tour who swing from the lights and speaker stacks every day!

 

Enough from me. 8 hours, 528 miles, and we’ll be in the desert. Farewell California. Viva Las Vegas*.

 

*I had to say it.

 

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/

[Cris_Santos]

From the casino’s to the Windy City..

 

Time for a breather.. time I caught up with the world.

 

I am in the production office at the United Center, Chicago. Home of the Bulls and the Blackhawks! Banners marking their history of success hangs from one of the highest ceilings on the tour. This venue is apparently one of the ‘big 3′ (in terms of height at least). Got a bit of vertigo on the ‘noseblead’ seats when I took a wander earlier. There is history everywhere. I met tonight’s Oxfam volunteers a couple of hours ago, by a statue of Michael Jordan leaping for the basket. I think Coldplay would have slightly different statues, but who knows, they may get one someday. The tour seems to be the biggest on the planet right now.. selling out shows in hours and minutes, rather than days and weeks. Every venue they hit (with those hand-painted drums), goes nuts for the band, as soon as they launch into ‘Clocks’, or even set foot on the stage for that matter. When they took a run around to the balcony at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, for ‘Green Eyes’, it was just crazy up there. I got some good pictures, but plenty of blurred ones with it, when my arms got knocked by other arms held up for that special photo (of that time when they were a couple of feet away from Will, Guy, Chris, and Johnny).

 

The show is on film tonight. This huge crowd will get a special treat of a couple of songs twice, and a longer set. They’ve been setting up the ‘dolly’s’, cables, ‘risers’ & cameras strategically all day.. I think it’s gonna be special.

 

Another awesome group of volunteers, all on time and full of energy for our work here. It’s great for them all to be able to say that Coldplay invited them here to talk about Oxfam. What a perfect chance to link up a great concert experience, with doing something right here and now, to get involved with making big change.

 

Just before I go for now, I wanted to say.. Vegas was crazy. The trip over the mountains from San Jose, was longer than expected. The crew all got in late to the venue. I was so impressed to see the show up and running in time. Especially working in that desert heat! It’s an experience that place. They’ve got an Eiffel Tower and a Statue of Liberty! I was used to Blackpool’s Golden Mile and Yarmouth.. not the Vegas strip. Now i’ve seen it, and now i’m a long way away from those casinos.

 

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/

[Jenjie]

The Oxfam Blog now has its own WIki page. The link is in the general Oxfam page. I've also added the 2007 Latin AMerica Tour Blog & the 2005 European tour blog (although most of that doesn't have its accompanying photos yet)

[Jenjie]

You might be a big fish, in a little pond.

 

Those are the lyrics I just heard Chris Martin sing from the United Center stage on the second night of their stop in Chicago. They are on stage right now.

 

Just before I came in to write, they played ‘Yellow’ to a rapturous reception, literally lighting up the arena with that song, both in colour and voice.

 

Oxfam had a massive 1143 great Chicagoans signed up last night, and it looks like a similar amount again tonight. The audiences seem really keen to find out more. The energy of the volunteers has been great! They are all in there enjoying the show right now. Gives me a chance to scribble a bit on these keys.

 

As soon as the show is done, it’s off to Philadelphia. 12 hours on the tour bus…! It will be a good chance for a nice long snooze. Oh, there go the band, running down the corridor for the encore. Right, i’m off to check on the tables and try to catch the last song..

 

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/?p=30

[Oxfam America]

A big thanks to all of the members of this forum who have joined us at shows so far! And thanks to the administrators for posting our man Pete's tour blog as well!

 

As you've read, things are going great on the tour, and we're meeting tons of new people who are anxious to join Coldplay in supporting Oxfam.

 

If you haven't signed up to work at a show yet and would like to, the application is at http://www.oxfamamerica.org/concerts .

 

And don't forget to sign up for our eCommunity and possibly win some pretty great autographed items from Coldplay at http://www.oxfamamerica.org/coldplay .

 

If you happen to be going to the Philly show tonight, stop by our table and tell them you are from this board and grab one of our green Oxfam America buttons. We'd love to meet you!

 

Thanks,

[Jenjie]

are those of us outside America able to join the eCommunity? :)

[Oxfam America]

Sure!

 

Of course you'll be getting news and info about what Oxfam America does, but I also encourage our friends in other countries to check the sites of their local Oxfam affiliates to see how they can help in their own part of the world.

 

Links can be found under "Take Action" at Pete's tour blog:

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/

 

Thanks for the question,