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11-Mar-2009: Acer Arena, Sydney, Australia - Tickets, Preview, Meetups, Review/Photos


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Coldplay turn Acer Arena into intimate gathering of mates

 

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THERE is nothing more life affirming for a music fan than falling in love with one of their favourite bands all over again.

 

And about 18,000 Coldplay fans staged an infectious love-in for the all-conquering rock band at their opening Sydney concert at the Acer Arena last night.

 

While the self-deprecating band - which frontman Chris Martin refers to as soft rock - may insist they remain U2s understudy, Coldplay have put the Irish super group on notice that their crown can be taken.

 

The British group, the biggest selling act in the world last year, achieved the almost impossible feat of making a cavernous arena an intimate gathering of mates.

 

There is no disconnect between rock star and fan.

 

Gallery: See Coldplay in action last night

 

Martin keeps them as involved in the concert as he and his three band mates are.

 

His energy levels, his yoga-honed flexibility, and his soaring voice were captivating. The Coldplay frontman is a force of nature.

 

But so are his band mates. Guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion were also beaming with the exhilaration of playing to the converted who at times swelled in voice so loudly they almost drowned them out.

 

The set was perfectly structured, a fusion of old and new from the song that started it all, Yellow, through to the title track hit of their fourth album, Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends.

 

Coldplay cheekily also hinted at one of the big moments expected at their Sound Relief performance on Saturday with a chorus of John Farnham's You're the Voice.

 

The crowd karaoke which raised the roof was another moment.

 

And the deluge of paper butterflies which rained on the adoring audience during Lovers In Japan was another. You really just had to be there.

 

Coldplay perform at Acer Arena tonight and Saturday and Sunday.

 

But fans who will also be fronting up to Sound Relief at the SCG on Saturday are urged to get there early to not miss the bands opening slot at 12:15pm.

 

There are limited tickets still available for both benefit concert and Coldplay's final show in Sydney. For tickets, click here

 

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25174853-5012327,00.html

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EXCELLENT NIGHT!!

 

GOTTA LOVE THE STRENGTH OF THE CROWD'S VOCALS..... even chris (on many occasions) complimented how impressed he was!

 

hope someone recordord most of the show! would like to re watch or and or listen :)

 

gisellenguyen: Coldplay were sweet but the crowd were completely disgusting. Loved the rainbow butterfly confetti during Lovers in Japan.

about 4 hours ago from web

 

wow.. were we really that bad? can someone seated tell me if the crowd was indeed bad?

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EXCELLENT NIGHT!!

 

GOTTA LOVE THE STRENGTH OF THE CROWD'S VOCALS..... even chris (on many occasions) complimented how impressed he was!

 

hope someone recordord most of the show! would like to re watch or and or listen :)

 

 

 

wow.. were we really that bad? can someone seated tell me if the crowd was indeed bad?

 

:confused: Um, no?

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And we met Will and Chris :dead:

 

We were waiting outside the loading bay trying our luck. Will came out in a van and was very patient and gracious :heart: He told us both Guy and Jonny had left before him, but Chris was still around. So we waited... and waited...

 

Then this van with tinted windows came out. It didn't stop, although the person inside was waving at us. Some of us thought it was Chris, but the others weren't convinced, so we continued waiting until this nice security guard informed us that Chris was INDEED coming out, although we were to wait quietly and not mob his car.

 

So we stood at a respectful distance before Kelly came out and opened the door for Chris. He signed everything we threw at him :laugh3:, and took a couple of pictures.

 

My hands are still shaking.

 

That's so lucky! We went straight to the loading dock to wait for them and the security lady said they had already left! What a liar!! That was about 11.10pm ... Does that mean if we had waited a little longer we could have seen them?? I bought a texta especially for autographs and didn't get to use it.

 

It was such an amazing concert!! They came so close when they went into the crowd. They were in the next section so we went down close to them and were only about 5 metres away! :D:D It was weird to see them so close instead of on the stage or on TV - we were like "Wow, they're actual people!"

 

The crowd was pretty great, especially towards the end. At some points though I think they could have sung along better. Although Chris did say we are all into the finals for Australia's Got Talent.

 

I really liked the slow version of The Hardest Part, it was lovely. And in the set they played in the crowd how Chris was asking everyone "Are you in love?" :laugh3:

 

Overall, an excellent night. A Coldplay concert is always more than worth the money it costs to see them. And I will somehow find a way to preserve my butterflies.

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[ame=http://www.flickr.com/photos/spbrennan79/sets/72157615050367487/show/]Coldplay, Sydney (2009)[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.flickr.com/photos/cokeine/sets/72157615120702294/show/]It's only rock 'n' roll[/ame]

 

Someone hands Jonny and Guy their beer :D

 

And :laugh4: at the 'are you in love?" action

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wv9QzcEzik]YouTube - Coldplay "I'm a Believer" Live (Cover)[/ame]

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EXCELLENT NIGHT!!

 

GOTTA LOVE THE STRENGTH OF THE CROWD'S VOCALS..... even chris (on many occasions) complimented how impressed he was!

 

hope someone recordord most of the show! would like to re watch or and or listen :)

 

 

 

wow.. were we really that bad? can someone seated tell me if the crowd was indeed bad?

The people SEATED were quite bad... They didn't even SEEM to be enjoying the gig. I was the only one dancing and singing on my row. The standing crowd seemed fine though :thinking:

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The people SEATED were quite bad... They didn't even SEEM to be enjoying the gig. I was the only one dancing and singing on my row. The standing crowd seemed fine though :thinking:

 

People seated :shame: At least you were there to save the soul of your row :D

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How long did you wait?

 

On monday at the Franz gig we ended up hanging around for 2hrs afters, it was freezing though did meet all the boys :D

About an hour and a half.

Woooooo, that's great Min, happy happy for you...see you can meet the bands you love :D

 

You know what, I have a feeling the person waving inside the van might have been Phil, that's what he did when he saw me and my friend in Dublin holding our banners :lol:

That was what I thought too!!! I didn't managed to sneak a peak into the van, but when the other guys told me he was smiling and waving I thought it might have been Phil!!! I mean, if Will, Jonny and Guy had gone, and Chris was still inside, it must have been him right???? :stunned:

O M G!!! :stunned:

Min, I'm so happy for you! :wacky:

I wish I could meet them too!! :bigcry:

Thanks :hug: One day you will *gives Coldplaying karma*

Min might have a heart attack when she reads this! :lol:

:lol: I already had a million and one heart attacks last night :dance:

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That is true. I was luckily in the back row of the front section and had a wall behind me, so I was up dancing all night. The girls next to me were as well. But I do remember looking at the crowd sitting down not even bopping their heads and thinking why the hell would you spend $140 to sit there and not even move?! It got better towards the end though.

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thanks for the reviews everyone! :D was the setlist the same as Brisbane?

Setlist goes like this:

 

1) LiT

2) Violet Hill

3) Clocks

4) IMP

5) Yellow (+ You're The Voice)

6) Glass of Water :dance:

7) Cemetries of London

8) 42

9) Fix You

10) Strawberry Swing

11) GPASUYF (Techno)

12) Talk (Techno)

13) Hardest Part (Chris on piano)

14) Postcard from Far Away

15) Viva la Vida

16) Lost!

17) Speed of Sound (Acoustic) - C Stage

18) I'm a Believer (Acoustic) - C Stage

19) Death Will Not Conquer (Will) - C Stage

20) Viva la Vida remix interlude

===

1) Politik

2) Lovers in Japan

3) Death and All His Friends

===

1) The Scientist

2) LiT II

3) The Escapist

bouid6.jpg

:heart::heart::heart:

People seated :shame: At least you were there to save the soul of your row :D

:D I hope I did! The guy behind me told me to sit down :rolleyes:

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My section weren't too bad on singing/dancing along. The girls in front of us and some guys behind were up for most of it. My friends and I were standing most of the time. As my friend said "how can you not be thrilled?" - I don't know how some people stayed seated most of the time.

 

But a lot of people were just sitting and there were so many opportunities for a crowd choir and it was only with prompting and towards the end that people actually started to sing along properly.

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ok so now....the review.

 

i arrived at the venue at 10am. there were 9 people lining up in front of me. when we've secured our place (me and my 4 other friends), i've decided to take a walk around acer arena just to find out whish door would the guys come in to. i saw the loading dock and there were few roadies standing outside smoking. i waited there with a friend for few minutes. then one army guy came and told us that the guys are coming at 2-ish pm. so i waited until 3pm but the guys still didnt come. then i asked the security lady and she told me..'the guys are coming and they ARE going through this door..u didnt hear it from me..' what a nice lady...

i waited until 3.30 and the guys still havent come. i decided to just wait until 4 then i'll line yp again...then there was a toyota mpv came in at 3.45pm and i saw from the driver's seat guy and johnny sitting at the back! i was so excited and decided to go again after the concert.

 

going into the venue was like a war. people were pushing and running! i was pushed to the back when we gathered inside acer arena. there were a bunch of girls who called their other friends to line up in front of us..i told them that was unfair and they said..'u can go and complain if u want too..' what a bunch of bitches. then the guy that lined up in front of me suddenly pulled my hand to the front! all the early comers cheered and we stayed together! then when the security released us, everyone ran as fast as possible to get to the front..i was thinking there's no hope for me to be at the front...while i was running, i saw one of my friends were already standing at the barrier waving to me!! luckily, we got to be at the front.

 

suddenly a photographer from triple M came to me to ask for a photo of me and my banner (it read 'COLDPLAY RULE AUSTRALIA'). then few other phtographers and video cameras came to ask for the same thing. after 10minutes waiting, decoder ring came on stage. i guess they were pretty good. but mercury rev was UNBEARABLE!! their songs seemed to go on for ever!!! what a torture. when the roadies were cleaning up the stage, i saw Maynard nd shouted his name. He, and few other roadies were shocked and looked at me, unsure if they heard it right. i shouted 'maynard!' again, and the roadies got excited and pointed at Maynard. the fans at my side was cheering up too, though they were not sure about what was happening. one of the roadies asked me how did i know maynard, and i told him about roadie 42's blog on coldplay.com

 

after that, i was waiting for the jay z song. when it came out..i was shouting alone! lol! guess other people doesnt really know.. there was a guy breakdancing on the stage along with this song..he was good..haha.

 

then finally COLDPLAY came on stage!! they were bringing a firework with them and they went around the stage with a sheer blind covering them...they played the whole LIFE IN TECHNICOLOR behind the blind..crowed uproared and sang the 'oooooo' part together. then the blind dropped and coldplay continued playing the next two songs VIOLET HILL and CLOCKS. at the end of violet hill chris sang something like 'if u're from sydney wont u let me know'...crowd went crazy during clocks and sang along..the it was time for IN MY PLACE which brings out excitement from the crowed more than before.

 

then came in YELLOW...before yellow, chris was mentioning about australia's got talent and how we should sing together to get to the final..lol. the yellow balloon was amazing!!!! after yellow, they played GLASS OF WATER and only me and the other guy on the front row sang along...well, that happened before this so i was not surprised. CEMETERIES OF LONDON and 42 came in after that.

 

Again, people got excited when they heard FIX YOU. everyone sang along to the song. chris pointed the mic to the crowed for the chorus part. after the song end, chris said that everyone qualified to the final of australia's got talent...haha. then he sang strawberry swing and people clapped and cheered when this song came to air.

 

the lights went off after strawberry swing. all the guys went to the right stage and chris sat at the piano. they played TALK (DANCE VERSION) and GOD PUT A SMILE. After that, the johnny guy and will went back to the center stage leaving chris alone with his piano. chris said that this is the time where the guys allowed him to go solo and do his thing lol. he played HARDEST PART and POSTCARDS FROM FAR AWAY. it blew me away.

 

i told my friend that VIVA LA VIDA will come next. and it did. Chris ran back to the center stage. everyone jumped and went crazy during this song. even the seating people stood up. I cant breathe when Chris laid down and trying to catch his breath. i died for a while. Then he played LOST! and everyone sang along as well.

 

After those epic songs, it's time for the boys to run to the c-stage at the back. guys took the water that one of the girls gave him and drank it...i think the girl nearly fainted..lol. they played SPEED OF SOUND, magnificent as always. then chris said something like because tonight is a happy night, we dont want to just play sad coldplay song. so let's just go back to the 1960's and play and enjoy a happy song. they played I'M A BELIEVER, crowed responded to the song during the 'uuuuuu' part. while singing, chris asked the crowd, 'i'm a belie...are u in love?' then he asked johnny, then he asked will a few times too just to tease him lol. chris then moved the mic stand to will's front and i knew that it's time for DEATH WILL NEVER CONQUER. Will sang perfectly.

 

Then the lights went off and VIVA LA VIDA REMIX went to air. everyone lighted up their handphones. it was magical. just magnificent.

 

Then i heard this powerful piano playing and i knew this is going to be POLITIK. i jumped like a crazy girl but i dont really care. like before, crowed jumped up and down and went all insane for this song. after that the boys played LOVERS IN JAPAN. i have to say, the butterfly confetti made everyone happy, especially the glow in the dark ones. after that beautiful song, Chris just continued playing DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS. this is when i knew that it's going to be their last song. i was a bit sad as it felt too short. The guys then took their last bow..this is when my friend and i shouted 'happy belated birthday chris!!!!!' and i showed my board with 'HAPPY BELATED CHRIS' written on it. chris looked at us and said thank you. then, *clears throat* he pointed at me and pointed at his arm...because i have the colour stripes on my arms too!!!!!!!!! i was just about to faint when my friend hugged me! lol. (IF ANYONE FIND A VIDEO OF THE GUYS BOWING DOWN AND CHRIS POINTING AT ME AND ALL, PLEASE TELL ME..I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THAT)

 

then of course, they came back for encore. they played THE SCIENTIST and LIFE IN TECHNICOLOR II. Then Chris said 'byebyebyebyebyeeeeeee'

 

right after they went backstage, i shouted 'CAN I HAVE A SETLIST PLEASE!!!! A SETLIST!!! I WANT A SETLIST PLEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEEEE' i called Matt and he took Johnny's setlist and passed to the security. everyone wanted it but the security came straight to me and said...'no, this is for HER!' lol!!!

 

then i went to the backstage and saw Min for the first time. met Will and he was awesomely nice. he chatted with everyone. he offered to take a picture with a guy again because the photo that he took was a bit shaky. what a sweet guy!! i asked him whether the other guys are coming out soon and he told me that Guy and Johnny has gone back but Chris will come out shortly. i was sooo excited!!

 

few minutes after that, a tinted black van came out and someone was waving at us...he was wearing a checkered shirt so i knew it wont be Chris. But the other who were waiting was sure that it was Chris. I said that it was quite impossible because Chris DO NOT wear checkered shirt like that. then i went to the lady (the same sweet security lady that told me about the boys coming in through the door) and asked him if chris is coming out soon but she told me that Chris was in that black van. i was so disappointed that i called the guy who's picking me up that i'm ready to go home. when i was just about to step into the van, suddenly the security lady shouted 'hey young lady!!! Chris is coming out soon!!!!!!-she was so understanding and super nice, i love her) i straightaway got out of the van, went to the man with walkie talkie and asked him if it was true and he said yes. Few moments later, OUT CAME CHRIS.

 

His van stopped right in front of me and Kelly his bodyguard came out...i said 'Hi Kelly and he was shocked at first, but he said hello back. He opened the door for Chris, then Chris stepped out of the mpv. i lost my control for a while and shouted 'arghhhh!' with few other girls and felt embarrased after that. Kelly asked us to keep it low and Chris kind of whispered 'yeah guys..we have neighbours...' and we laughed. After Chris said hi and all, the first thing he did was he looked at my banner and said..'I REALLY LIKE THAT BANNER U MADE, AND I DID NOTICE YOUR ARM TOO' and i died for the umpteenth time. i told him we should take picture with that banner and he said yes we should, but he'll give the rest his signature first. he signed my setlist and my cd, for two times. the second time he signed it, i actually forgot that he signed mine already with his black pen, and he said 'i've signed that one..' i said oh yea i forgot..and he said..'oh you want me to sign it with your silver pen do u? i'll sign it with you silver pen...' he took the pen from my hand and signed it. and finally, i got a picture with him (and a friend of mine)...i got electric shock when he touched my shoulder and i touched his waist :P and yes, he smelled niceeeeeee (chris lovers, go on and hate me..i dont mind lol!).

 

 

so OBVIOUSLY, it was the best night of my entire life.

i got lucky from the first moment i arrived there..felt like the doors were opened for me one by one..

sorry for this awfully long review, i just cant help myself..

 

edit:

chrisloveforever.jpg

*the guy taking our picture did not take the whole banner...but i'm still loving this photo regardless

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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1mf-KSysbs]YouTube - Yellow - Coldplay in Sydney (March 11 2009)[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20JJ7fIrlN4]YouTube - Coldplay - Lovers in Japan - Live[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZCTaWPi3rs]YouTube - Coldplay Yellow Live Acer Arena Sydney March 11, 2009[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRjr0Im25Pw]YouTube - Coldplay - Yellow[/ame]

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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th3Jo4wd9QM]YouTube - Life In Technicolor - Coldplay live in Sydney (March 11 2009)[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVOBk6K6u_4]YouTube - Cold play live Sydney 2009[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWbtV41Xg98]YouTube - Coldplay Will Champion sings Death Will Never Conquer Live[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFX-bOTGsCw]YouTube - Coldplay - Life in Technicolor/Violet Hill[/ame]

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Wow so many shit people at this gig. Random tween next to me "OMG, Mercury Rev are like SOOOOOOOO shit, i'm going to write a letter of complaint". Problem is;

1. You need to be literate to write a letter of complaint, and if you've lined up all day for Coldplay it's obvious you don't rate your studies very well.

2. You can't complain about the supports when you have the musical taste of a gay Brazilian boy. Honestly, the only way you would have been happy was if Kings of Leon and Coldplay were the bill.

 

Other than the crowd, Coldplay were good. Chris Martin needs to shut up if he has nothing useful to say though - can't remember a single thing that he said that wasn't incoherant and stupid.

 

It's also annoying when they rework songs by adding a damn piano solo to the end of each one - Chris, it only worked for Clocks. End the song where you're supposed to you twerp.

 

The techno remix of GPASUYF was terrible - I never liked that track anyway, but following that with the butchering they did to Talk was very annoying.

 

Video balls were excellent, as were the glow in the dark butterflies.

 

None of the songs that I liked; 'Shiver', 'Chinese Sleep Chant', etc. Of course, they're not going to play songs that aren't played on Nova 96.9 are they.

 

Buckland was excellent. Too bad noone in the crowd can name any of the other members. Guy was as sexy as always. Will looks stupid in that scarf.

 

Politik was the best song of the night. Square One would have been nice, as would have White Shadows (in place of 'The Hardest Part', which is just awful).

 

Overall, when I factor in the beauty of Mercury Rev and how technically good Decoder Ring were (and if I ignore the low aggregate intelligent quotient of the GA crowd), i'd give it a 7 out of 10.

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Chris Martin needs to shut up if he has nothing useful to say though - can't remember a single thing that he said that wasn't incoherant and stupid.

 

It's also annoying when they rework songs by adding a damn piano solo to the end of each one - Chris, it only worked for Clocks. End the song where you're supposed to you twerp.

 

well first of all, people were not there to listen to talks about global economy, they were there to have fun. so maybe u should loosen up a bit and have more fun.

 

second of all, it's a live show. if u want to listen to the original version of every song, u might as well just listen to your ipod. of course they will change a bit here and there, add something extra. man, next time u should just go to mercury rev's gig. i do agree with u that it was quite rude of the guy to say that mercury rev is shit, but u called chris martin a twerp. pot calling the kettle black.

 

seriously, u have to loosen up and have fun.

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Wow so many shit people at this gig. Random tween next to me "OMG, Mercury Rev are like SOOOOOOOO shit, i'm going to write a letter of complaint". Problem is;

1. You need to be literate to write a letter of complaint, and if you've lined up all day for Coldplay it's obvious you don't rate your studies very well.

2. You can't complain about the supports when you have the musical taste of a gay Brazilian boy. Honestly, the only way you would have been happy was if Kings of Leon and Coldplay were the bill.

 

Other than the crowd, Coldplay were good. Chris Martin needs to shut up if he has nothing useful to say though - can't remember a single thing that he said that wasn't incoherant and stupid.

 

It's also annoying when they rework songs by adding a damn piano solo to the end of each one - Chris, it only worked for Clocks. End the song where you're supposed to you twerp.

 

The techno remix of GPASUYF was terrible - I never liked that track anyway, but following that with the butchering they did to Talk was very annoying.

 

Video balls were excellent, as were the glow in the dark butterflies.

 

None of the songs that I liked; 'Shiver', 'Chinese Sleep Chant', etc. Of course, they're not going to play songs that aren't played on Nova 96.9 are they.

 

Buckland was excellent. Too bad noone in the crowd can name any of the other members. Guy was as sexy as always. Will looks stupid in that scarf.

 

Politik was the best song of the night. Square One would have been nice, as would have White Shadows (in place of 'The Hardest Part', which is just awful).

 

Overall, when I factor in the beauty of Mercury Rev and how technically good Decoder Ring were (and if I ignore the low aggregate intelligent quotient of the GA crowd), i'd give it a 7 out of 10.

 

You are very unique. I dont think we will read a review like that from ANYONE EVER.

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My section weren't too bad on singing/dancing along. The girls in front of us and some guys behind were up for most of it. My friends and I were standing most of the time. As my friend said "how can you not be thrilled?" - I don't know how some people stayed seated most of the time.

 

But a lot of people were just sitting and there were so many opportunities for a crowd choir and it was only with prompting and towards the end that people actually started to sing along properly.

You had a cool section ;)

 

I was the only one standing till Viva la Vida, when about one-eights of my block stood up to sing :rolleyes:

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