http://inmusic.ca/artists/the_hook/Articles/1/coldplay?bclid=34593062001&bctid=35139040001

The lightshow is flashing with enough intensity to illuminate every crease and crevasse of the MTS Arena in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It casts a yellowish hue over the faces of thousands of fans as they sing along to Coldplay’s most notable song, “Yellow.” One moment the sound system is meticulously whispering the crisp and subtle melodies of the grand piano in “Amsterdam”, then suddenly belting out the medieval bass pitch of the timpani and church bells in “Viva La Vida”; all to convince an anxious crowd of 13,000.

 

I stood only few inches away from the side of the stage, had the perfect spot to see their entire setup (details of which I refuse to bore you with), and close enough to witness Chris Martin’s eccentric body-to-floor contortions reminiscent of Daniel Browning Smith. I am half in the bag at this point and partying with some new friends, whom I just met moments before the houselights went down. As they laughed and lurched to and fro, urging me to drunkenly clamour along with them, I desperately fought to concentrate on those delicate nuances that allow Coldplay to sell out an arena in the middle of our Canadian prairies.

 

Two hours before this I had an interview with Chris Martin and Johnny Buckland in their private dressing room. In a sudden turn of events, the session began with the UK’s most popular domestic rockstars grilling me about my band. “What kind of music? Where can I find it?” Chris asked me with an earnest demeanour. Genuine or facetious, they had stroked my ego: check one. We discussed a multitude of topics–many of which likely won’t make the final cut–but by far the most memorable was my loose and inaccurate interpretation of their song “Lost.” Outside of hip-hop and its duck soup lyrical content, I often take a leap of faith reiterating my interpretation of songs to rock artists themselves. It is a crapshoot and fortunately, for me, today I rolled a 2. “But that’s the beauty of music”, Chris Martin assured me, “everyone has their own interpretation!”. And he’s right, there is no right or wrong to what someone hears. Well, unless you really believe that “Who Let The Dogs Out” by the Baha Men is a credible hip-hop song, then subjectivity is not an option for you.

 

Fast forward to the show. Coldplay breaks into the slow tempo hip-hop drum beat of “Lost” and, as I take notice of its introduction, I sadly remember that I am in Winnipeg and the unlikelihood of Jay-Z’s appearance to spit his 16 bars for the bridge is higher than Chris Rock in Friday. Nonetheless, 44 seconds into the song, right before the second verse, Chris Martin, harmoniously sings from the drum podium “Sway! Sway! Sway!” into his microphone. Shocked. I turned around in awe to see if anyone else was reacting, to notice if anyone else got that. And with a disappointing sigh, I remembered that this big black mass of music fans fixated on the band had no idea who I was. Of course they did not care! The word “Sway” meant nothing to them, but everything to me. I had just been called out by today’s largest band. “I must have made some kind of impression to warrant this kind of acknowledgement”, I told myself.

 

As my first groupie experience swiftly subsided, it dawned on me like Einstein theory of relativity, the mystery behind the success of this UK quartet. The question everyone seems to wonder: What is the secret behind Coldplay’s gargantuan stardom? It is not the music, not their virtuous disposition, it is not even that superbands like U2 or Greenday are on vacation–as Chris Martin seems to think. It is Coldplay’s undisputable talent of creating “moments” for both fans and non-fans alike. Ever since that moment I have unconsciously become a walking, talking, name dropping billboard for these lads. Whether via Email, Facebook or Twitter, my most memorable thought of Coldplay will forever be that instant. And me babbling on about it only persuades others that they are the real deal: honest musicians who care about everything and everyone. If you can do that one million times over, it is rather impossible to evade world domination.

 

Sway

Toronto, June 2009

 

 

This guy usually finds some sarcastic way of putting down whatever band he's interviewing. This Coldplay interview is one of the few times he legit has nothing but great things to say about an artist. It should come as no surprise.

That's a great article! I really like the last two paragraphs that describe his "moment" and its effect on him. I hope to experience something like that for my first Coldplay concert, whenever that will be.

 

Thanks for posting this! :)

Thank you for posting!!

Such a nice article.

I agree with dry_pretzels about the last paragraph. :nice:

 

That comment about "Who let the dogs out" made me laugh. :lol:

this video goes with that interview

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbAKFxbKS0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbAKFxbKS0[/ame]

^ I remember that video! I saw it a few months ago. Great article too, but they misspelled Jonny's name. :disappointed:

 

http://inmusic.ca/artists/the_hook/Articles/1/coldplay?bclid=34593062001&bctid=35139040001

 

 

This guy usually finds some sarcastic way of putting down whatever band he's interviewing. This Coldplay interview is one of the few times he legit has nothing but great things to say about an artist. It should come as no surprise.

 

No wonder, I always find it hard to believe when anyone says anything bad about Coldplay because there is nothing bad about them :D Of course I could be a little biased...! But at least this guy seems to realise that there is nothing much more to life than Coldplay, and that listening to their music should be compulsory... :lol:

like he said, coldplay is more than music. it´s a moments creator, the best moments you could imagine

No wonder, I always find it hard to believe when anyone says anything bad about Coldplay because there is nothing bad about them Of course I could be a little biased...! But at least this guy seems to realise that there is nothing much more to life than Coldplay, and that listening to their music should be compulsory...

 

exactly, so now its a proven fact that it is impossible to hate Coldplay, and anyone who does is not human

^Then my whole school must be aliens. :lol:

 

Such a nice article, though! Thanks for posting! :smiley:

The lightshow is flashing with enough intensity to illuminate every crease and crevasse of the MTS Arena in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It casts a yellowish hue over the faces of thousands of fans as they sing along to Coldplay’s most notable song, “Yellow.” One moment the sound system is meticulously whispering the crisp and subtle melodies of the grand piano in “Amsterdam”, then suddenly belting out the medieval bass pitch of the timpani and church bells in “Viva La Vida”; all to convince an anxious crowd of 13,000.

 

I WAS AT THIS SHOW.

You're like famous.

Like oh mah gawd.