I love the way he moves... Its like he will fall of the stage, but somehow he manage not to.

Well, it is totally understandable that you are concerned. You have high expectations for the band, and I can say myself, that I am mildly disappointed in their new album, but it is growing on me. There are some songs that I like quite a bit.

 

As for your comment, you are probably still young. I was quite naive and made a rather stupid comment on here about that subject and homosexuality. I think using the term "gay", in a derogatory fashion, is a bit ingrained in me, although I think I use it much less, but would not use it in that way on a forum.

Well if you don't want to see it, keep your eyes closed and listen instead :P

 

No, but I understand what you mean. I think it's great that he does something new, that he DARES. THAT is cool. It's still Chris Martin.

Chris's dancing may be a little over the top, but consider this. At least he is only dancing due to pure joy and enthusiasm, not due to being cocky or arrogant. I once happened to be in the same room as my mom when she was watching James Blunt (:thumbsdown:) perform live on TV. At one point, he jumped on top of his piano and began dancing and throwing his arms up and down. He was showing off as if to say "Look at me world, Im awesome and you're not!"

 

I immediately thought to myself "Coldplay may sing high notes and soft music but at least Chris dances just because hes happy, never because he's arrogant."

 

So Chris may dance a little too much for your liking, that's understandable. But at least he's doing it for the right reasons. :thumbsup:

Yep, agreed.

 

Three of the best performances I've seen live have had insane dancing frontmen (Coldplay, Muse (Anyone who's seen Matt's sideshuffle dance will get what I mean!), REM)

Michael Stipe is one of the worst dancers ever :p But when he's up there and dancing around, you know he's enjoying himself, and that's the best thing for a frontman to be doing when he's playing live.

My daughter says that Chris somehow makes goofy dancing "cool". Sometimes there's a fine line between coolness and cloddy. It's his signature and somehow, I think the live show would be something less disctinctive were Chris to not do it.

 

I think what bothers me the most is when Chris sits at the piano and plays a bit, gets up and dances a while during a break in the piano part, then the piano part gets "piped-in" while he's still dancing and strutting around. I'm still not sure how to take Coldplay's heavy use of backing tracks and pads during a live performance. I'm thinking that Chris' need to get about on stage necessitates more use of backing tracks. If it gets much heavier, it could go over the line and ultimately compromise the "liveness" of the performance, turning it into more of a panamine, IMO.

 

Spot On. I find the increasing use of backing tracks a bit worrying and feel that they should only resort to this when they really need to. Don't get me wrong, I love his dance moves, but I think throwing himself around too much and rolling about on the floor can actually dilute the performance. Also I think this highlights the point about what the band themselves actually think will make a great show, maybe they should realize that fans want to be entertained by the music (primarily) rather than an over the top, pop extravaganza.

Spot On. I find the increasing use of backing tracks a bit worrying and feel that they should only resort to this when they really need to.

 

As lavish as most of the production is on most of Viva La Vida, I can't see how they're going to get around heavier use of backing tracks, especially if Chris expands his stage antics. I'm pretty much a purist, when I go to a concert I expect to see a musician of some description creating every sound I hear. That's getting to be less and less the case with Coldplay. I'd be less concerned if I saw a keyboardist producing sampled strings and synth effects from a keyboard than know that an unseen sound engineer is mixing in the proper recorded track at the appropriate time.

 

I hate to throw the Goo Goo Dolls out here to make a point, but they at least have a keyboardist doing this during their live shows, even though he's not an integral part of the core band. I'm satisfied that at least someone is doing something more akin to playing an instrument to reproduce the sampled strings.

 

I'd rather see the silhouette of an unnamed musician at a keyboard, inconspicuously played at the edge of the stage, to account for the string content I'm hearing. I guess the argument against it is that we don't want anyone but Chris, Guy, Jonny, and Will on stage, but if the guy's in the shadows away from the spotlight, who's going to see him other than anal purists like me looking for accountability for the sound? :wink3:

 

Don't get me wrong, I love his dance moves, but I think throwing himself around too much and rolling about on the floor can actually dilute the performance. Also I think this highlights the point about what the band themselves actually think will make a great show, maybe they should realize that fans want to be entertained by the music (primarily) rather than an over the top, pop extravaganza.

 

You're all over it mate! Chris is too talented a musician to not spend more time on stage practicing his craft. I'm not saying he needs to give up flittering around altogether, just try to keep the balance in check before it goes over the top.

well this were just shows.............i bet that the real tour will be amazing

has anybody else read this review?

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2008/06/24/2008-06-24_coldplay_needs_more_practice_after_free_.html

 

 

I was really disappointed but relieved cause I almost went to that show.

ill tell u if i found out that chris was gay... ya id look at him another way... and with his moves from the brixton show.. i wouldnt doubt it

 

What?? "homophobic issues" is right. Whether it was meant or not, it is still completely inappropriate to say (what if it was skin color we were talking about, folks?? not cool.). It is 2008 for crying out loud...get enlightened.

 

p.s. i think Chris and his dance moves are crazy sexy

LOL and this clown's from Ottawa too! While I completely respect your opinion, making homophobic comments phased out 10 years ago buddy. Lemme guess, you either live in Vanier, Crackburn Hamlet or South "Shanked" Keys hahahaha!

As lavish as most of the production is on most of Viva La Vida, I can't see how they're going to get around heavier use of backing tracks, especially if Chris expands his stage antics. I'm pretty much a purist, when I go to a concert I expect to see a musician of some description creating every sound I hear. That's getting to be less and less the case with Coldplay. I'd be less concerned if I saw a keyboardist producing sampled strings and synth effects from a keyboard than know that an unseen sound engineer is mixing in the proper recorded track at the appropriate time.

 

I hate to throw the Goo Goo Dolls out here to make a point, but they at least have a keyboardist doing this during their live shows, even though he's not an integral part of the core band. I'm satisfied that at least someone is doing something more akin to playing an instrument to reproduce the sampled strings.

 

I'd rather see the silhouette of an unnamed musician at a keyboard, inconspicuously played at the edge of the stage, to account for the string content I'm hearing. I guess the argument against it is that we don't want anyone but Chris, Guy, Jonny, and Will on stage, but if the guy's in the shadows away from the spotlight, who's going to see him other than anal purists like me looking for accountability for the sound? :wink3:

 

 

 

You're all over it mate! Chris is too talented a musician to not spend more time on stage practicing his craft. I'm not saying he needs to give up flittering around altogether, just try to keep the balance in check before it goes over the top.

 

Well put. I raised the same concerns in my review of the MSG show (and got beat up about it too). I know at this stage they are still tinkering with ways to recreate the sound of the album live, but they went to pre-recorded music way too many times in concert and I hope they move away from this trend at the tour continues. If you want to do it for one song (say Viva La Vida, where you obviously don't have a full orchestra - although it wouldn't hurt), that's fine. But when you choose not to play the organ on Lost! and instead just dance around the stage, I feel like I am being cheated out of actual live music. Likewise on Lover in Japan where he started the song by playing the piano part, then getting up and walking away. It's not only corney, but it only reinforces the negative image of Coldplay as a pop band rather than as the talented musicians that they are.

 

While I have no problem whatsoever with Chris running around dancing (it's great on a song like In My Place, where there is only one guitar part), I do have a problem with him choosing to run around and dance on a song when the instrument he is supposed to be playing is being piped through the speakers. I don't think it's entirely unfair to feel this way.

Well put. I raised the same concerns in my review of the MSG show (and got beat up about it too). I know at this stage they are still tinkering with ways to recreate the sound of the album live, but they went to pre-recorded music way too many times in concert and I hope they move away from this trend at the tour continues.

 

I'm really disappointed to read the reports I'm reading about the MSG show. Unfortunately, I can't write it off to still tinkering... you don't take a show like this on the road to put on a free rehearsal concert in one of the greatest arenas in the world! Chris is too much of a perfectionist to settle for a shabby performance. I'm worried about the piped in content being so heavy that the band doesn't know where they fit in amongst it. I don't know how many drastic changes they could make at this point.

 

But when you choose not to play the organ on Lost! and instead just dance around the stage, I feel like I am being cheated out of actual live music.

 

Noooooooo.... please tell me this didn't happen!? Chris not playing the organ on Lost! That's the defining ingredient of the song for goodness sake!!??

 

Likewise on Lover in Japan where he started the song by playing the piano part, then getting up and walking away. It's not only corney, but it only reinforces the negative image of Coldplay as a pop band rather than as the talented musicians that they are.

 

Really... it does reinforce the idea that the band is getting too much pre-recorded help onstage.

 

While I have no problem whatsoever with Chris running around dancing (it's great on a song like In My Place, where there is only one guitar part), I do have a problem with him choosing to run around and dance on a song when the instrument he is supposed to be playing is being piped through the speakers.

 

I'm with you on this score mooseaka. It marginalizes Chris' image as a musician as paints him more in the role of a panamining performer. I wish they'd get a handle on this on go back to the purer performances of 2003. I'm having second thoughts about dropping major coin to see Coldplay live in Atlanta (210 miles away from me) to listen to a concert consisting of 50% pre-recorded music :\

This might put your mind at ease. Check out last night's performance of Lost! on the Daily Show. (there is a link in other threads or on the Comedy Central website) It actually starts with Johnny (!) playing the keyboard part, then after the first chorus he switches to guitar and the organ drops out until Chris comes back at the end. It works very nicely, although I still don't understand why Chris doesn't just play it himself.

This might put your mind at ease. Check out last night's performance of Lost! on the Daily Show.

 

Well that was better than I thought it would be, but there is still waaaaay too much in the way of backing tracks being piped in for my tastes. It's easier to give a band a pass for piping in tracks on a television program, I reckon, but it remains a head-scratcher for me. I mean you've got three guys up there playing instruments (at least on Lost!) most of the song, yet there's an cavalcade of sound coming from them that should make even the casual listener stop pushing the "I believe" button.

 

Speaking of the Daily Show clip of Lost!, I think Chris would have come off much better staying behind the keyboard. The song really doesn't lend itself very well to flitting histrionics. The haunting organ track is the lifeblood of the song and it would be more beneficial to the concert goer to see Chris being fully engaged in that element. I thought it was cool that they let Guy open up on the tom-tom to free up Will on the drum kit. OTOH, when Guy drops the drum sticks and picks up his bass, the drum part he was playing continued... there's a hokiness about this that I can't easily overlook.

any coldplay concert/appearance is great not gay come on!; i will not accept any other opinions LOL. i mean they're great i love his energy it makes up for mine :)

any coldplay concert/appearance is great not gay come on!; i will not accept any other opinions LOL. i mean they're great i love his energy it makes up for mine :)

 

I don't know how "gayness" applies to a Coldplay performance. Artificially supplemented - yes, but gay?.... unh uhh.

That's what started this thread - a very poor "gay" comment by the original poster. Once the official tour starts I'm going to keep an eye out for some threads about pre-recorded music, though.

 

I came up with analogy that I think explains how frustrating it is: it would be like if Mario Batali (a celebrity chef here in the US) invited you over for dinner at his house and instead of cooking fresh pasta sauce, he just took some frozen sauce out of the freezer he made 6 months ago and heated it up in the microwave. It still tasted good and it was better than anything you could make at home, but you can't help but be a little dissapointed. I think that sums up why I came away from the free MSG show a little disheartened. Obviously it was a great experience, but just a very puzzling choice on the part of the band to "re-heat" old music for the live show.

aren't you going to love this item posted on a dutch radio's website:

http://www.radio538.nl/web/show/id=46246/contentid=82669

 

I'll translate:

Chris martin: "I thought I was gay"

 

Chris martin reviels that he used fear he felt he was gay, the 31-year old singer of coldplay says this because his religious parents told him for years sex was evil.

 

Chris was brought up very religously and his parents decided what was good and what was bad for him, sex was defenitly bad. Besides that they forbid Chris to think about woman in a sexual way at all, and told him erotica was a weapon of the devil.

 

"My parents were very religious. They really pounderd on sex being bad. they told me I would go to hell if I thought about a womans breasts, so therefor I didn't dare to think about it, which made me insecure. I thought I was gay because I didn't think about women, and would go to hell because of it." Says Chris Martin.

 

Thankfully Chris knows better than that by now, and says not to be held back by his parents religous ways. "they were completely wrong. Sex is not bad and Breats are fantastic, I know that now since I'm with Gwyneth"Says chris, meaning his wie gwyneth paltrow.

 

I would like to add myself that I love the way Chris dances like a lot of men he sucks at it,and he knows it, but that doesn't stop him, and I think it's adorable.

I love to see him dance since it means he's enjoying himself and feeling the energy in the crowd, I hope he never stops.

 

Also I loved the concert at Brixton academy, it was just a preview of what we'll be seeing In rotterdam, and I can't wait!

I agree, Chris must play not just jumping around, now,they are like troubadours!

I hope and pray that we don't get alot of piped music... I dropped some BIG ASS BUCKS on two shows for good seats. I really would like to hear them play all their instruments LIVE and will definitely be disappointed if these shows are like their previous pretour performance. That's why I liked them from their beginning b/c they were really into their music playing live. When it comes down to it... forget about the magic balls and confetti, just play your music ... Please!

I don't care that the guys switch instruments every now and then. I think it makes it a little bit more interesting. The fact that everyone can play anything proves that these guys are great.

 

And hey, so what if Chris' dance looks gay? (by the way, I don't think there's such thing as a 'gay' way to dance) :shifty:. Laugh about it and let it go. It's a performance.

Actually, I think that some of his recent dance moves are influenced by hip hop. This was apparent during the BBC performance.

I don't care that the guys switch instruments every now and then. I think it makes it a little bit more interesting. The fact that everyone can play anything proves that these guys are great.

 

I don't mind them switching instruments and showing their versatility at all... I think it makes them more interesting to watch. What I do have a problem with is NO ONE playing an instrument, live, when it factors prominantly into the song during a live performance. I see a larger and larger percentage of Coldplay's music being piped in during their live performances and I think it diminishes their authenticity.

Well that was better than I thought it would be, but there is still waaaaay too much in the way of backing tracks being piped in for my tastes. It's easier to give a band a pass for piping in tracks on a television program, I reckon, but it remains a head-scratcher for me. I mean you've got three guys up there playing instruments (at least on Lost!) most of the song, yet there's an cavalcade of sound coming from them that should make even the casual listener stop pushing the "I believe" button.

 

Speaking of the Daily Show clip of Lost!, I think Chris would have come off much better staying behind the keyboard. The song really doesn't lend itself very well to flitting histrionics. The haunting organ track is the lifeblood of the song and it would be more beneficial to the concert goer to see Chris being fully engaged in that element. I thought it was cool that they let Guy open up on the tom-tom to free up Will on the drum kit. OTOH, when Guy drops the drum sticks and picks up his bass, the drum part he was playing continued... there's a hokiness about this that I can't easily overlook.

 

That's the crux of it for me. I love the band, the guys, the music. I cringe when I see the music and the band presented that way. I don't want them coming off hokey or leaving some with the impression that they are posers. Someone in production needs to sit down and think about this.

 

Chris has said it himself ( although tongue in cheek) that Coldplay fans are intelligent. It's going to bug the shit out of alot of those intelligent fans if they get heavily piped in tracks instead of real, live performances on tour.

That's why I liked them from their beginning b/c they were really into their music playing live. When it comes down to it... forget about the magic balls and confetti, just play your music ... Please!

 

Couldn't have said it better!