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28-Mar-09: Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, UAE - Tickets, Previews, Meetups, Reviews, Setlists, Photos/V


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well isnt it like super fancy schmancy over there anyway?? like all expensive and stuff....i only saw the pic of the building so idk...it looked really nice :P

 

how are Arab audiences Ab? will they be all excited like our concerts? or are they more reserved?

Dunno, I only know about our Egyptian audiance! :P

But hopefully it'll be a pleasant surprise for the boys. :D

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MTVarabia always make the options so easy and obvious, so they can make more money from the idiots who think they'll actually win!

Aye. :dozey:

But hey, I saw you on the Arab Coldplay thread, you're Saudian, yeah? :D

Are you going to that concert?

(Please, say yes!)

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Coldplay: "Next album will be inspired by the Middle East"

 

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Chris Martin performs during a concert in Singapore as part of Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida' tour, on March 23, 2009.

 

ABU DHABI // Coldplay’s last album was inspired by the sights and sounds of South America, but the next will draw on the Middle East’s rich cultural heritage.

 

Speaking yesterday, ahead of this weekend’s eagerly awaited concert at the Emirates Palace hotel, the British band’s lead singer Chris Martin described the visit to Abu Dhabi as part of a musical odyssey that typified Coldplay’s spirit.

 

Huge international acclaim has taken the band to countries as far apart as the US, New Zealand and Singapore. But Martin said he was looking beyond a single live appearance, the only date in the Gulf on an extensive world tour. Instead, he sees the Middle East as “uncharted territory”, a region that promises the band an element of mystical excitement that will prove a creative force in their musical development.

 

“Musicians are hungry for freshness,” he said. “Somewhere like Abu Dhabi sounds unknown, exotic and exciting. In the same way, we’d still like to go to places like China or Russia.”

 

In pursuit of his artistic dream, Martin plans to bring the band back at the end of the tour to record some demos of new material.

 

The journey may well begin in Damascus. “Something in my brain tells me that some good music is going to happen there,” he said. “We need to start recording somewhere hot to give the music a different feel. It’s about time for us to make the change.”

 

Among the highlights identified by Martin from the current Viva La Vida tour have been a free concert for the UK charity War Child and a performance in New York’s Madison Square Garden. But he said that he “can’t wait” to come to the region this week.

 

Interviewed by The National before a show in Singapore, he said: “I’ve kept the Middle East as the last place in the world as I feel like it’s going to be important. It’s nice to save somewhere.”

 

One source of this inspiration may be his admiration for the US-based band The Brothers of Baladi, whose repertoire includes songs in Arabic and Turkish, with accompaniment on such traditional Middle Eastern instruments as the oud.

 

Back in the UK, Martin said, the band’s friends and family were envious of their trip to the UAE as the latest addition to their world travels.

 

Coldplay’s disparate search for influences took them to Liverpool during the preparation of their debut album, Parachutes, in 2000. As the home of the Beatles, one of the bands cited as contributing to the evolution of Coldplay’s diverse style, the city was a logical choice.

 

The band’s exceptional success has since taken them to the US and more recently South America.

 

But if Martin, 32, is beyond doubt a superstar, he displays a degree of modesty rarely encountered at his level of fame, and declares it a privilege to have the opportunity to travel so widely.

 

Viva la Vida is topping album charts around the world and helped Coldplay collect three Grammy Awards at the ceremony in January, including song of the year for the title track. The band’s record sales are estimated at around 30 million albums.

 

“At the end of the day, we’re just trying to make people have as much fun as possible on an evening when they could choose 87 other things to do,” said Martin. “This gig isn’t about expansion, but about coming to say hi.”

 

At Coldplay’s own Camden recording studio in London, there is a list of 12 “rules”; on tour, however, there are none, the singer says.

 

Although Martin is the indisputable voice of the band, he has recently decreed that there should be “less Chris Martin” in Coldplay’s music and more collaborations – building on a recent partnership with the rap singer Kanye West – and vocal contributions from other band members. Martin described his aim as to offer “as many voices as possible”.

 

Fans, in time, needed more diversity, Martin said. He discourages the view that it has been his unique sound that has been the root of Coldplay’s phenomenal success. “We also agreed that anything the lead singer doesn’t want to sing, he doesn’t sing.”

 

Coldplay admirers are unlikely to be disappointed with Saturday night’s 15,000-capacity show. The band are bringing hi-tech video spheres, multimillion dollar lighting and audio technology systems characterised by Martin as “more of a show than a concert”.

 

Each concert on their world tour, he said, had offered something different, keeping each performance fresh and unique. “It’s like being in a play. We’re trying to make a story to it. There are certain tricks we’ve come up with for this tour which we’ve always wanted to do. We’re trying things we haven’t done before.”

 

Coldplay are being supported by the US alternative rock band Mercury Rev, another group Martin admires. “We can always learn from each other when we tour with people you respect so much and these guys have so many pearls of wisdom. We’re having a lot of fun.”

 

Saturday’s concert will be carbon neutral to mark Earth Hour Day, an event funded by Enviromena Power Systems, based in Abu Dhabi, with support from the World Wildlife Fund. Organisers are helping to fund a wind farm in New Zealand to offset all energy consumed in putting on the event.

 

At 8.30pm that night lights will be turned off for an hour in buildings around the world, including the UAE, to promote energy conservation. The organisers estimate that the show will generate around 600 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Because of the practical difficulty of pulling the plug on a stadium full of people during a concert, the promoters will buy wind farm energy credits to show their support.

 

After Saturday’s Abu Dhabi date the band will be moving on to the US, Canada and Europe.

 

Diamond tickets are still available from http://www.ticketingboxoffice.com and virgin megastores while Pearl tickets can be bought from http://www.boxofficeme.com and selected virgin megastores outlets.

 

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090324/NATIONAL/44431209/1040/BUSINESS

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Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland chatted to us from a hotel room in Singapore last week before flying in for the Abu Dhabi show. Here’s what he had to say…

 

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Did you specifically request a gig in the Middle East?

Well we always try to play somewhere new when we’re on tour. We’ve wanted to come to the Middle East for a while as we’ve never been before. We’ve also never been to Africa or India either so there are quite a few places we are looking to go some day.

 

There was a rumour doing the rounds that you’d record the Abu Dhabi gig to give to fans who attended. True?

No [Laughs]. We are trying to do a live album but it’s not ready yet. It’s made up of different stuff from the last few years.

 

There was also talk of a quick follow up to Viva La Vida. Is that still on the cards?

No [more laughter]. We ended up doing much more touring than we originally planned so there’s no time to do proper justice to a new project. And anyway people may need a bit of a break from us!

 

What’s it like sharing producer Brian Eno with U2?

He also does so many other things that it’s hard to get five minutes with him. I think his influence was felt partially on our sounds - he played some keyboards and guitars on the record. But really it was his guidance on the song writing and arranging process that expanded our horizons and influences.

 

Did he give you a sneak preview of the new U2 album?

We tried not to as it’s more exciting to go out and buy the finished thing. I have heard it now and I think it’s great.

 

You’re often compared to them. Is that fair?

Well they want to be a great band and so do we - it’s as simple as that. There are a lot of similarities between us but they aren’t our only influence.

 

Who’s the next biggest band in the world?

I think the Kings of Leon are really huge in a lot of places - they could keep going forever. The Rolling Stones are still amazing, and The Beatles, if they ever reformed, would be the biggest band ever.

 

That’s not really likely though is it?

[Laughs] I guess not.

Do other big acts ever intimidate you?

Of course. When we first supported U2 in Ireland, we were just completely blown away by how good they were. It’s intimidating and inspiring at the same time.

 

What was the last thing that really impressed you?

There was this band called Naturally 7 - these seven guys who do everything by vocals alone. They came into our studio and started singing and it was incredible. The song was called ‘I built this wall’ or something like that. You should check it out on Youtube – it’s just brilliant.

 

Is social commentary really important for rock bands?

I think it’s important as a human; it’s not solely confined to musicians. Dentists and builders care just as much as we do. We just get asked about it more often than they do.

 

Do you all feel strongly about speaking out?

Yes we do. Chris has done a lot more, but then he talks a lot more than the rest of us! But yes we are all equally committed.

 

Speaking of Chris, do you like the fact that he gets all the tabloid attention while you get left alone?

Yeah, I don’t even think about it. I’m very happy with the way things are. There are definitely worse jobs.

 

Any surprises planned for the gig?

We like to move around a lot – especially out into the audience. These are big gigs and people can be quite far away from the stage so we like to pop up in unexpected places.

On a high wire over the crowd like true rock gods?

Perhaps not to that extent – we’re not The Darkness!

 

Fireworks?

We are not the AC/DC explosion type band to be honest - though we do have these amazing balls [Laughs] - light balls - and there’s a lot of energy on stage.

 

What happens after the tour?

We’re taking a little break and let’s see where we get after that. We’ve got a lot of ideas but we want to find a new way to go and that may take some time.

 

Tell us about the 19th century military uniform style you’re rocking at the moment?

Guy [berryman – Coldplay’s bass player] came up with the direction. Then we all got together in our studio to work on the outfits. We got this guy who helped us make the jackets and trousers.

 

You really made them yourselves?

Absolutely! We really wanted this whole album to be homemade again, we wanted to take it back and have it all come from us.

 

Have you apologised to Paul McCartney for twisting the St Pepper look?

We saw him at the Grammy’s, and Will said ‘Thanks for the idea’.

 

What’s it like hanging out with a Beatle?

Well you know we’re not quite equals, but he is a very genuine and lovely person. It’s great when you meet somebody like that and they turn out to be really nice.

 

http://www.timeoutdubai.com/nightlife/features/7875-coldplay-interview

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Aye. :dozey:

But hey, I saw you on the Arab Coldplay thread, you're Saudian, yeah? :D

Are you going to that concert?

(Please, say yes!)

 

unfortunately no. to me they've picked to worse time to come here!

i'm going to manchester for a while

and the funny thing is, when they come to the UK (manchester, or anywhere!) i'll probably be in canada (after they finish touring there :\)

i started to believe i'll never see them live :cry:

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unfortunately no. to me they've picked to worse time to come here!

i'm going to manchester for a while

and the funny thing is, when they come to the UK (manchester, or anywhere!) i'll probably be in canada (after they finish touring there :\)

i started to believe i'll never see them live :cry:

Join the club! :disappointed:

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I'm going tomorrow night and I've just found out I can go to Parc des Princes in September! It's my first Cold play concert so I'm really excited.

 

Just about what other people were saying, Emirates Palace is one of the nicest venues around the UAE. It's landscaped into a sort of amphitheater and it's all grassed over, unlike where they make us go in Dubai now for concerts. The hotel is amazing but you don't go anywhere near it to enter the concert. The Justin Timberlake concert was one of my favourites in December '07.

 

The only thing is, most of the concerts are really toned down when they get here, and a lot of the sets and props can't be brought into the country. It will be interesting to see how much of it they bring with them.

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The only thing is, most of the concerts are really toned down when they get here, and a lot of the sets and props can't be brought into the country. It will be interesting to see how much of it they bring with them.

Eek, I hope they won't take away too much stuff from the band! :confused:

IMGOING IMGOING because i live here..oh and ad is NOT a country..:lol:

Great, now we have 2 people going, have fun guys! :D

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We head into Dubai after a nine hour flight. After a couple of hours in a van, we arrive at easily the most insane hotel I have ever stayed in. The Emirates Palace. I remark that my first touring days were spent staying in Travelodges, three to a room (and the guitarist drove the van...). How things have changed...

 

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We have a day off before our show here. I think at first that this is to allow us to recover from the travel and adjust to the time difference. It would appear though, that it's simply to allow us the time required to walk from our rooms to the breakfast table. In the envelope with the room key is a map of the hotel, which rather than a gimmick is a complete necessity. This place is utterly bonkers. It's all impossibly long marble corridors, fountains, gold leaf detail and chandeliers the size of small villages.

 

It will sound perhaps a little ungracious of me, but places like this never really work for me. The inner grimy-transit-van roadie always comes to the surface and sneers. Such explicit wealth always turns me off and makes me feel out of place. I can't work out whether this is the most incredible place I've ever been, or just a huge Arabian Hard-Rock-Cafe.

 

As ever, it's all about the gig. In nine hours we'll know. It'd be nice to be proven a grumpy old man and end this leg on a blinder of a show in a stunning setting. Let's see.

 

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In the meantime, Lobby Call is in two hours. Given that the lobby is the size of a bleeding football stadium (complete with art gallery, photography exhibition, endless bars and restaurants and its own shopping mall...) I'd probably best set off now....

R#42

 

http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=367&page=0

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