14-Mar-09: Coldplay to play Sydney Bushfire Benefit Show, Sydney, Australia [Live broadcast Triple J

[but a dream]

Wooo see you @ Acer :D

 

The thread for that show is here:

 

http://coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52275

 

:nice:

[but a dream]

Is it only Emma who's going for the bushfire benefit show? :inquisitive:

[soon to be scientist]

Hahaha woops. i guess i was just looking at the dates lol.

[anniea89]

Is it only Emma who's going for the bushfire benefit show?

It looks like it.

[tauiwi]

We'll have to trust her to get some good footage/photos then! And a report!

[busybeeburns]

Sydney Preview: 'Coldplay feels the chill'

 

 

Despite selling millions of albums and developing an edgier sound, Coldplay are yet to win over all their critics, <i>the Sydney Morning Herald writes.</i> For a band trading in supposedly inoffensive rock music, Coldplay have an extraordinary capacity to offend. There's the malarkey that goes with Chris Martin, the lively, idiosyncratic, tabloid-magnet frontman who is married to Gwyneth Paltrow. Then there's Coldplay's music.

 

In a genre demanding risk and ingenuity, Coldplay have frequently been laden by rock critics and fans alike with the dreaded "safe" tag. The band's biggest crime, in the eyes of naysayers, is they sell records. Tens of millions of them. If they are embraced by the masses who swallow Nickelback and Lady GaGa, they can't be any good then, can they?

 

Last year, that perception began to change. By employing veteran musician and producer Brian Eno for their fourth album, Viva La Vida, Coldplay shifted their sound and delivered one of their best records, one that at least compensated for their bloated third album, X&Y.

 

"If you listen to too many responses to things, you would just not do anything," Martin says of those who knock the band, backstage at one of their Melbourne gigs this week. "Whatever you do, somebody's not going to like it."

 

And the self-deprecating Martin is not being drawn into comparisons with U2 or a verbal spat with Bono, who this week caused a stir when he jokingly called the Coldplay frontman a "wanker". "What do you want me to say? I always thought he felt that way," Martin says. "The difficulty of the whole U2 thing is we're on our fourth record. So we're competing with people's fifth records. We're coming up to Revolver or Joshua Tree. We're at a very different stage."

 

Coldplay have just upgraded their set at the Sound Relief fundraiser for the Victorian bushfire and Queensland flood appeals (at the SCG next Saturday, March 14) from acoustic to electric. The band are glad to lend their services to the causes, Martin says.

 

"The bushfires show is a great thing for us to do. We're going to come out with all guns blazing. It will be the full Coldplay experience. The full arsenal. It was only a logistics issue we had to work out as to whether we played acoustics. It's all sorted. We're absolutely ready to go for the show."

 

Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion were living in the same London block of flats when they formed Coldplay in 1998. They were friends for a year before they began playing music together. Last week, they arrived in Australia for the first time in almost three years. More than 100 shows into a world tour, they have their 90-minute arena extravaganza down pat.

 

Although Viva is well represented, the set list also embraces Coldplay's biggest hits: Clocks, Yellow, Speed Of Sound, In My Place and The Scientist, which is performed on a mini-stage up in the nosebleeds. "We're better at designing shows and performances," bass player Berryman says. "We try to take a big space with a lot of people and make it feel as small as possible. We have different areas in the arenas we play. And we have a few production tricks up our sleeves."

 

Berryman says employing Eno (and co-producer Markus Dravs, who has worked with Arcade Fire) was an attempt to shift perceptions of the band and their overall sound. "We wanted to have different songs and sounds," he says. "Nobody wants to hear a band churn out the same record over and over. It gets boring. We wanted to freshen it up and see where things would lead us. There was no game plan. We wanted to turn heads and we got about halfway there to doing that."

 

Was it difficult balancing the creative requirement for experimentation with the expectations of their enormous fan base? "What we haven't left behind is songs and melody, which is what people like about us," he says. "It's how you dress those songs that makes a difference. We will always retain those elements, no matter what we do."

 

X&Y, released in 2005, was a painstakingly methodical record with a protracted recording and delayed release that famously shrunk the share price of the band's label, EMI. Although deemed a misstep for the band, it's a misstep that sold more than 10 million copies. "We thought the third record was a little bit too long to listen to from beginning to end," Berryman says when asked of its perceived faults.

 

So gratified are the band with the contrasting circumstances in making Viva La Vida, they are eager to repeat the process and have already started work on a follow-up.

 

Although Berryman says "you can't be a popular band without having negative press or backlashes", there is no doubt the band have been stung. In particular, The Case Against Coldplay, a stunningly disparaging New York Times essay written in 2005, hurt. The paper's music writer, Jon Pareles, called Coldplay "the most insufferable band of the decade".

 

Berryman says wearily of the piece: "I can understand a lot of the reasons why people don't like our music. But I find it strange somebody would go to such a strong length to try to topple it. If you don't like it, fine. But why spend your days coming up with a plot to bring us down?"

 

Speaking to the band's unanimity, although Martin is responsible for many of its biggest hits, band members are given an equal songwriting credit on each track. "Every song has a different origin," Berryman says. "It becomes difficult to break down what each individual contribution is. It could be an entire song Chris has written on the piano or it could be a drum loop or a guitar riff that gets developed. There is no production line."

 

42, for instance, arguably the best song from the current album, Martin wrote on the piano. "We added the instrumentation and the hooks," Berryman says.

 

Bearing this in mind, it only makes sense, Berryman says, that Martin would take what is said or written about the band most to heart. "Things are usually directed towards him," Berryman says. "It's in his nature to worry about that. What's good about our band is we all support and stick up for each other. If somebody is having a rough time, we help."

 

COLDPLAY

 

Wednesday and Thursday, 7.15pm, Acer Arena, Sydney Olympic Park, 132 849, $110.

 

SOUND RELIEF

 

March 14, noon-10pm, Sydney Cricket Ground, soundrelief.com.au, 132 849, $75. Coldplay join Wolfmother, the Presets, You Am I and more.

 

 

http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/music/coldplay-feels-the-chill/2009/03/05/1235842545558.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2

[Benjamin]

I'm going to this - can't wait!

 

And they're the opening act! :D

[Cobalt]

Argargarg! My camera is terrible at pics and videos. Booo :sad:

[busybeeburns]

Coldplay are Farnham's new backing band

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99P7TTvpO1g]YouTube - John Farnham - You're The Voice[/ame]

 

COLDPLAY may have staged a coup for their performance at Sound Relief - coaxing John Farnham out of retirement to perform his signature hit You're The Voice.

 

Organisers were quiet yesterday about the collaboration to open the concert at the SCG next Saturday. Rumours of Whispering Jack's cameo at the Sydney event began midweek when Coldplay drummer Will Champion said he had been learning John Farnham songs.

 

Coldplay appeared to confirm the rumour when Chris Martin segued from one of their songs into You're The Voice during the band's Melbourne concert on Thursday night.

 

Meanwhile, Barry Gibb has emerged as the latest contender to headline the SCG event on March 14. According to undercover.com.au, Molly Meldrum has brokered a deal with the Bee Gee. Gibb recently performed with long time collaborator Olivia Newton-John at a fundraiser in Hollywood. Organisers would not confirm Gibb was closing the SCG concert to raise money for the Victorian fire and Queensland flood victims.

 

He would join Coldplay, Jet, Wolfmother, Icehouse, Eskimo Joe, Taylor Swift, Hoodoo Gurus, You Am I, Josh Pyke, The Presets and Architecture In Helsinki. Midnight Oil and Hunters and Collectors will reunite at the MCG.

 

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,28383,25149005-5013560,00.html

[busybeeburns]

Bushfire relief concert sold-out

 

The last tickets to Melbourne's Sound Relief bush fire benefit concert have been snapped up, just hours after the last batch went on sale this morning.

 

Several international and Australian acts will perform at two charity events to be held simultaneously in Melbourne and Sydney on March 14. Money raised from the $75 tickets will go to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal for victims of Black Saturday.

 

Sound Relief organisers said the MCG concert in Melbourne sold out this morning after going on sale on Wednesday. "We weren't anticipating them to sell quite as well as they did. It's an amazing result, and a great show of support from the public," spokeswoman Reegan Stark said.

 

More than 76,000 fans are expected to attend the event. The Sydney concert is tipped to be sold out by the end of the week, with only a small number of its 50,000 tickets remaining. If the Sydney show sells out, almost $10 million will be generated through ticket sales.

 

Ms Stark said it was too early to tell how much money would be raised, with the figures to be fully disclosed on the Sound Relief website. Kings of Leon and Coldplay will headline the concerts, but many fans are awaiting the reunions of Midnight Oil and Split Enz.

 

The Melbourne bill includes Jack Johnson, Augie March, Gabriella Cilmi, Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson with Troy Cassar-Daly, Liam Finn, Jet, Midnight Oil, Paul Kelly, Split Enz, Wolfmother and Bliss N Eso with Paris Wells.

 

The Sydney concert will feature an acoustic set by Coldplay as well as Josh Pyke, Eskimo Joe, The Hoodoo Gurus, Jet, Wolfmother, Icehouse, Little Birdy, The Presets, You Am I and the Midnight Juggernauts.

 

http://www.theage.com.au/national/bushfire-relief-concert-soldout-20090306-8ql0.html

[Cobalt]

In the words of Achmed the Dead Terrorist: "Holy krap!"

[Mimixxx]

Kylie to play at Sound Relief with Coldplay, Midnight Oil

 

KYLIE Minogue is tipped to make a surprise trip home to Australia to perform at this Saturday's Sound Relief bushfire charity concerts.

 

The pop princess, who is currently in in Mumbai filming her first Bollywood movie, is expected to perform at both gigs in Sydney and Melbourne.

 

"Her people are definitely trying to make it happen; it's just a matter of timing," an event source told The Sunday Telegraph.

 

The Sound Relief concerts, which will raise money for the Victorian bushfire appeal and Queensland flood victims, will be held simultaneously at the Sydney and Melbourne cricket grounds.

 

Organisers have secured Bee Gee Barry Gibb to close the Sydney show.

 

They are also in negotiations with John Farnham, who is expected to perform his hit song, You're The Voice, with Coldplay.

 

"No matter what happens, I think this is going to blow people's minds," said Sound Relief's tour promoter, Michael Chugg.

 

"I believe Kylie has been asked to come to Sydney and sing with a couple of people."

 

Midnight Oil, fronted by federal Arts and Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, will re-form for the one-off gig. The last time they performed together was at the WaveAid fundraising event in Sydney in 2005.

 

Also set to perform in Sydney is Icehouse, Eskimo Joe, The Presets, Hoodoo Gurus and Josh Pyke.

 

Wolfmother and Jet will perform both in Sydney and Melbourne, flying between the events.

 

Teen sweetheart Taylor Swift, currently the biggest star in the US, selling more albums than any other artist in 2008, will play in Sydney.

 

"We're staying in Australia a couple of extra days so I can do it but it is something that was important to me," she said. "People down here have been so good to me, so I owe it back to help out with something that is really affecting this country."

 

Coldplay's Chris Martin said he would never have said no to Sound Relief.

 

"Something like this you would never say no because it would be terrible,"

 

Martin said. "It has been worldwide news, so it seemed like we would be real a***holes if we just sat in our hotel rooms saying 'we're not playing that'.

 

"When you come to Australia, you realise that Australians think of themselves as being far away from everywhere, but the rest of the world is watching, everyone likes you and everyone is watching you."

 

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25153741-5001026,00.html

[but a dream]

Cool Kylie and Coldplay!

 

Would that mean Lhuna is likely??? :wideeyed:

[soon to be scientist]

Cool Kylie and Coldplay!

 

Would that mean Lhuna is likely??? :wideeyed:

 

hopefully, she somehow manages to do both bushfires, plus Acer on saturday, 27 songs plz?? hahaha

[squareonefivesix]

Aw, Lhuna live would be A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. :D

[Cobalt]

Yuck, Taylor Swift. I'm gonna be swarmed by teeny boppers.

[Mimixxx]

And my Daddy said stay away from Juliet :blush:

 

Learn the words Emma :lol: :D

[anniea89]

Emma, take ear plugs just in case. :P

[givelovesolong]

ROFL, sounds like a good plan! :D

[Cobalt]

I was not expecting Taylor Swift to be announced as a performer.

 

Will consider earplugs as a priority item to bring.

[tauiwi]

Hangon - Arent you a teeny bopper too???

 

Also, advise ppl to take earplugs to Coldplay shows, and get them out for Mercury Rev.

[Cobalt]

Hangon - Arent you a teeny bopper too???

 

Excuse me?

[tauiwi]

Well, anyway, you're perfectly right. Nobody wants to be surrounded by them.

[busybeeburns]

Bushfire relief concert breaks record

 

 

The Sound Relief concert to be held in Melbourne for Victorian bushfire victims has sold out, becoming the largest paid concert event ever held in Australia.

 

Several international acts will perform and some legendary Australian bands have re-formed for two benefit concerts to be held simultaneously at the Melbourne and Sydney cricket grounds on Saturday.

 

More than 78,000 tickets have been sold for the Melbourne event, which will feature the likes of Kings of Leon and Kylie Minogue. Extra tickets have been added for the Sydney concert, which will be headlined by Coldplay and The Presets.

 

More than 100,000 tickets, at $75 each, have been sold across both cities. The profits will add to the more than $100 million raised so far for the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal. Half of the profits from the Sydney event will go towards helping Queensland flood victims.

 

Co-organiser Michael Gudinski said he was impressed with the Australian public's support. "It speaks volumes of the passion of our great country, helping a mate in trouble," he said.

 

He also confirmed rumours that pop princess Minogue would MC the Melbourne event. "To me, Kylie is Melbourne," Gudinski said. "Her attendance is the cherry on the top of an already phenomenal line-up."

 

Meanwhile, co-organiser Michael Chugg hinted that another addition would be made to the Sydney line-up. "This is the type of event that you'll be telling your grandchildren about many years from now," he said.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/10/2511719.htm

[tauiwi]

 

Meanwhile, co-organiser Michael Chugg hinted that another addition would be made to the Sydney line-up. "This is the type of event that you'll be telling your grandchildren about many years from now," he said.

 

 

Uh.....no. I dont think so. Especially when 1/2 the crowd are sitting down in a stand. Also, the grounds have terrible acoustics.