Coldplay fans demand a replay for 'ruined' Barcelona gig

[busybeeburns]

<img src=http://www.coldplaying.com/images/coldplay2008a.jpg ALIGN="Left" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5" >Coldplay have incurred the wrath of fans after sound problems marred a concert in Spain, writes the <a href=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23741994-details/Coldplay+fans+demand+a+replay+for+ruined+gig/article.do target="_blank">London Evening Standard</a> online today. Thousands of people have signed an internet petition demanding the band performs a free gig or gives them a refund.

 

Frontman Chris Martin's wife Gwyneth Paltrow was among the 63,000 fans at the sell-out show on Friday at Barcelona's Olympic Stadium. But sound problems began 30 seconds in following the failure of three amplifier towers. By today more than 2,200 concert-goers had signed an online petition calling on Coldplay to perform a free gig or refund the £60 ticket price.

 

A Coldplay spokesperson admitted the problem, but claimed it had been put right by the third song.Fan Juan Manuel Ramos said: "I spent a lot of money to get from Tenerife to Barcelona to see this, and it was the worst concert."

 

<b>#42 and the Catalan chorus, as written on 7th September 2009</b>

 

<i>I remember somewhere back last year I talked about the band's stadium show in Tokyo. It was an absolutely belting night and I wrote the following: "You get the impression that the guys are on such a roll that the PA system could fail, the lights could go dead and they'd still carry on, just them and the crowd, too caught up in the moment to notice anything had changed."

 

Roadie sensibility sometimes approaches the superstitious - so much so that phrases such as "tempting fate" and "touch wood" are commonplace and spoken with completely straight faces. It should come as no surprise then, that the chance to test out the bold claim above, comes on a night with 64,000 punters and a bunch of cameras filming for an as yet unspecified project.

 

<img src=http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/gallery/data/512/medium/20090906roadie1.jpg HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5" >

 

The band take to the stage to absolutely deafening cheers. If any crowds on this tour have actually sung the opening melody from Life In Technicolor, they haven't done it as loudly as this lot. I'm underneath the stage and I can hear them. Great night, guaranteed.

 

There I go again....

 

Suddenly, as the band hit the huge thumping chords before the verse of Violet Hill, something is plainly up. Intermittently, I stop feeling the thud of the bass through my feet. From where I am, I can't place what's going on exactly, but the scrambling of audio crew makes it plain that the problem-solving hot potato appears to be theirs.

 

Much happens very quickly to get the stage left PA stable. From Clocks forwards, my feet remain shaken throughout, which means that we're back on track. It also means that the problem has been nipped in the bud by the third song. This could easily have turned into a gig-spoiling nightmare, but there are many very experienced and skilled people here who weren't about to let that happen.

 

Lets not forget though, that there's also four very stubborn and determined fellas on stage not about to let that happen either. I remember Jonny telling me about the band's first Glastonbury show, way back when. They were dropped off at the wrong gate, miles from their stage with only minutes before they were due on.

 

Many fledgling bands would have accepted defeat, perhaps been a bit gutted, perhaps just taken it away as a story to tell in the pub. Coldplay however, ran the width of the festival site with their guitars, borrowed as much as they could lay hands on from other bands present and did the gig whilst still trying to catch their breath.

 

There are many stories throughout their history that illustrate this shared personality trait. Problems, setbacks and obstacles seem to fuel them on to succeed out of sheer defiance. If anything, this has got stronger with age. They don't let up one bit tonight and turn in an astonishingly impassioned performance.

 

And then finally, we have the sixty thousand Spaniards. They're jet engine loud throughout, willing the band onwards and chasing away the demons. The decision to film here was down to one thing only - that is, the fact that the crowd are utterly astounding.

 

FC Barcelona, the world-beating football team that play in this city, have apparently adopted Viva La Vida as their unofficial anthem. This means that many of the crowd here tonight are already well-used to belting out the "woah-oh-woah-oh-oh" from the chorus during matches.

 

Today, they've been singing it outside whilst queuing, they've been singing it between the opening acts and they're singing it between songs tonight. When the song itself kicks in, it's the proof that what I said way back in Tokyo is indeed true. The event and the emotion are bigger than any technical concerns.

 

What's important here is the band and the audience and more even than that, the songs. It's the shared experience, the communal celebration of this thing that so many people feel the same way about.

 

It's been an emotional night, for sure. Never a dull moment.... R#42</i>

[LoverInJapan]

Ouch :(

[marie/pims]

Was it THAT bad????I can't believe it really

 

edit:that petition is a little weird.Of course everyone is gonna sign up for a free gig.But who among these people REALLY found the show bad?

[Imke]

Oh come on ... if it was really that bad, they should have left the show and asked for a refund immediately.

 

edit: They had some technical difficulties in Hannover, too. Still no one's going around asking for refunds. It was still an awesome night and I bet all those people on the petition list feel the same. :inquisitive:

[MartinFan]

I don't think they will get a refund, and a free gig? Hmmm, I don't see that happening, since it's been said that the tech problem was corrected by song 3. :\

[mayurshikotra]

u cant expect to get refunds for SLIGHT sound problems, which was put right 3 songs in...oasis had major sound problems in one of there gigs, and they gave refunds only becos they had to wait and the gig was delyed by an hour, but even when the sound went at wembley, no1 asked for a refund!....

[Corkus]

edit:that petition is a little weird.Of course everyone is gonna sign up for a free gig.But who among these people REALLY found the show bad?

Moreover, how many among those people actually attended the gig? Because even folks who didn't go would love a free show.

 

From what I've heard, it was a brief blip in LIT followed by a brief blip in Violet Hill, and the rest of the show was flawless. Technical issues happen, but this whole petition thing seems like a waste of time.

[coldplayisawesome]

wow. :rolleyes:

[ainsley]

why can´t they just be happy with the fact that they got to see ColdFREAKINGplay!? :mean: :rolleyes:

They have been on tour for like a year and a half, sacrificed time with their family and friends, just so that we can see them live! We should be grateful that they are doing this for us :heart:

And the sound issue wasn't really a big deal, cus they fixed it, didn't they?

[William]

Ouch.

[katja]

They only want to see coldplay for one more time, and for free!!!:D

[RedGirl76]

Oh come one ... if it was really that bad, they should have left the show and asked for a refund immediately.

 

edit: They had some technical difficulties in Hannover, too. Still no one's going around asking for refunds. It was still an awesome night and I bet all those people on the petition list feel the same. :inquisitive:

 

Absolutely! It's like eating a whole meal and then saying the food was bad... you complain straight away or you put up with it.

 

That's the downside of the internet, every wacko can complain and get loads of attention. I bet most of the people on the petition came away totally happy but now just fancy a freebie.

 

They should be grateful they weren't at the show that got cancelled

[mrman78]

This is ridiculous! They demand a free concert or refund because the first two songs were not great?! Whatever, get over it. It's not like the whole concert was ruined, and 'Life in Technicolor' is an instrumental short. So only 'Violet Hill' was ruined then? :rolleyes:

 

The 'Juan' guy should be shot! (figuratively speaking of course) How can it be 'the worst concert' because of that?!?! Crazy!

[cpfan50]

I know people who went (they live there) and by their account it wanted that big a deal. Sounds like a big exaggeration. Not everyone suffered a loss of sound - my friends didn't. Nor did lots of people who came on here to review the concert.

 

I feel sorry for the boys. The PA failing isn't their fault and it's one show out of so many great performances. It must be upsetting to receive so much criticism for something that was out of their control... The UK press seem to love to write anything negative about them - even if it's got nothing to do with the UK...

[RedGirl76]

Oh yeah, it's in the British psyche: build 'em up then knock 'em down :angry:

[cpfan50]

Sometimes I think people forget what 'live' means... If you want guarenteed perfection then don't go to a live show... in real life, sh*t happens. Get over it people - 98% of the show was fine.

[Vivalicious]

Sometimes I think people forget what 'live' means... If you want guarenteed perfection then don't go to a live show... in real life, sh*t happens. Get over it people - 98% of the show was fine.

 

i wanted to write exactly THIS. man...

live music is live and that means, there can be problems. :thinking:

[worldtrav]

sometimes...seriously..if you go to gigs things can go wrong if you want to listen some perfectly buy a CD and DVD as simple as that.

 

P.

[MartinFan]

I think it's alot worse that people travel across the country to see them only to land and find out it's been postponed or cancelled, they spend alot more money on expenses to have absolutly nothing.

[LFDianne]

I think it's alot worse that people travel across the country to see them only to land and find out it's been postponed or cancelled, they spend alot more money on expenses to have absolutly nothing.

 

Gosh, Tracey, whatever do you mean? That would NEVER happen. And can you imagine the backlash if that was true? I mean, if that ever *were* to happen, Coldplay should reimburse every person their plane ticket and hotel costs AND give refunds AND give a free concert on top of it all. Maybe someone should start a petition?

[coldplay_is_louve.]

Wow. I think people are overreacting. It's not their fault.

[neonhorn22]

Just shows how truly unappreciative those fans are. Coldplay didn't have to come to Spain at all...............hope they know that.........and cpfan50 hit the nail right on the head.

 

These "negative nancies" wanting refunds sound like a bunch of whiney, little tools to me.

[MK]

Was it THAT bad????I can't believe it really

 

edit:that petition is a little weird.Of course everyone is gonna sign up for a free gig.But who among these people REALLY found the show bad?

 

This.

[Batman]

Gosh, Tracey, whatever do you mean? That would NEVER happen. And can you imagine the backlash if that was true? I mean, if that ever *were* to happen, Coldplay should reimburse every person their plane ticket and hotel costs AND give refunds AND give a free concert on top of it all. Maybe someone should start a petition?

 

It happened... :uhoh:

[LFDianne]

It happened... :uhoh:

 

Yes, it happened to me. I flew from California to Georgia to Florida (3400 km) just to go to the Tampa show. Several other people were also flying in from around the US. I found out the concert was cancelled when I landed in Georgia, after a 4.5 hour flight. I had to continue on to Tampa because I could not change/cancel my flight and I had pre-paid my hotel. So I met other Coldplayers who also had to go to Tampa and we spent a nice day together, even without Coldplay.

http://www.coldplaying.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=6538

 

But there still has not been any announcement about rescheduling and it's been a month today. People can get refunds from LiveNation, but I don't want to give up my pit ticket yet.

 

A concert with a few sound issues is better than no concert at all. A friend of mine from California lives in Barcelona and went to the concert with his son. He is not on these boards, and he said the concert was great after the sound issues were resolved after the first 3 songs. No complaints from him.