[3-July-2011] Coldplay @ Main Square Festival, Arras, France

[shini]

That I've read about the crowd makes me angry, because some criticize without being there ! The crowd was better than in MSF 2009 !

But I agree on a point, the crowd didn't sing on the new songs, but it's because they only discovered them during the gig

In fact, the TV show simply turn off the crowd singing and clapping in their hands :rolleyes:

And at front raw we were enable to move, because they were too many people ^^

 

But I'm a bit disappointed by the gig. As some Coldplayers, I had the feeling that the band wanted to play as fast as possible, and there were only a few interaction with the crowd, unlike the other gigs :(

 

Otherwise, the new songs are great, as new versions of GPASUYF and VLV :D

And I really enjoy to see them for the third time, after this unending wait :)

[Lily42]

there was an article someone had posted on here yesterday which talked about Glastonbury; Jonny's dad had been interviewed and he said something about how Jonny was basically exhausted what with the new baby and apparently his daughter had the chicken pox, so maybe he's just stressed out or something. :P

 

http://www.flintshirechronicle.co.uk/flintshire-news/local-flintshire-news/2011/06/30/flintshire-boy-jonny-buckland-headlines-glastonbury-with-coldplay-51352-28965312/

[laurenev49]

Hey coldplayers !!!

We're just back from Arras !! and we attended to an awesome Coldplay gig yesterday !! their performance were amazing and we all welcomed them warmly !! singing "oooOOOOooohhh" or calling "coldplay" around 11:15pm to get them on the stage and to show them we're proud to get them here in France !! Everyone in the crowd raised balloons when they arrived on stage...the project was successful and we thank ColdplayFrance.com for the help :)

Their perfomance was great, especially God put a smile upon your face...Chris def becomes a rockstar (even he already was !) after threwing his guitar away, like in Glasto :)

Apparently, there was a technical problem or something with Will at the beginning of In My Place...but if Chris hadn't mentioned it, we wouldn't have noticed that ! :)

The performance of Viva la Vida was great, as usual...everybody was singing oooOOOOooohhh !!

The new songs, such as Charlie Brown, Major Minus.....were amazing, especially Us against the world...it's really nice to see Will singing !!

And the funny part was after they sang "Life is for living" and Chris said "ok, thanks alot, good night everybody" as if they wouldn't come back !! and everybody was like "Coooldplaaayy" clapping in our hands !! and obviously, they came back with Clocks, Fix You and Every teardrop is a waterfall !! i think everybody was def mor excited when they played this last one :)

They had their usual complicity together and with us !! and that's why they rocked the Main Square Festival !! :) Coldplay, WE LOVE YOU !! MERCI BEAUCOUP :)

 

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http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/3720/p7040256.jpg' alt='p7040256.jpg'> Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/img]

[Coldplero]

What's wrong with you, guys? I came all the way from Croatia to see them (their first concert I've been to) and I loved it! I think that the errors made the concert even funnier and more realistic. Why would you look for perfection? It was a really wonderful concert to me, best 90 minutes of my life. And the new versions of songs they sang were wonderful.

 

One more thing. When they played Charlie Brown I started to sing along and few people from the crowd started looking at me like I was I don't know what… The crowd was really dead at some songs. You should have given them more support.

 

And I loved how Chris joked about the errors. Why do you all take it so seriously? After all, they did correct them and played In My Place twice. :)

 

Coldplay always look for perfect music and all of their performances are so perfect its really hard to find more than 1 mistake in each live song, so it's not that bad that once in a long while this kind "musical mistakes" takes place... but as a Coldplay fan I've to say this is not usual on their concerts and I don't know if Coldplay will split up after the MSF show... the crowd did not seem to have fun or to give the band another chance, even though they're always amazing on stage! lol :chinese:

[Deirdre]

This live-stream gig is my less favourite of the 3 I've seen. Maybe because of the way it was filmed! Not being able to hear the crowd was a bit frustating for me because it seemed the crowd was wimpy and one of the beauty of live concerts is the crowd singing along! And the audience who was showed was not really moving!

 

But the band was great, happy to be there even though after the techinical issue(s) they seemed a bit different (maybe fearing another issue!?!) to me!

It's a shame they don't change more songs in the setlist at each festival, after all they don't have to play this or that song! A bit of a change would be good!

Anyway, I enjoyed hearing "GPASUYF" rock version, "Charlie Brown", "ETIAW", "Politik", "Cemeteries of London", "Life Is For Living", "Us Against The World".

 

Chris's French is still so charming!

He improvised some lyrics in "Politik" about the venue like he did on other songs at Rock Am Ring and Glastonbury!

[*Sarah*]

Coldplay always look for perfect music and all of their performances are so perfect its really hard to find more than 1 mistake in each live song, so it's not that bad that once in a long while this kind "musical mistakes" takes place... but as a Coldplay fan I've to say this is not usual on their concerts and I don't know if Coldplay will split up after the MSF show... the crowd did not seem to have fun or to give the band another chance, even though they're always amazing on stage! lol :chinese:

 

:laugh3: :awesome:

[coldplay12]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By ColdplayFrance.com

 

(Edited by AnnaElisabeth by putting the photos into spoilers)

[*Perrine*]

Haha love that people who weren't even there are blaming the crowd and saying I'm wrong. :lol: :facepalm:

 

If you guys enjoyed what you saw on the stream then great! But in my (and everyone I was with, I might add) opinion this wasn't up to their usual standard.

Sadly, I totally agree with you.

I mean, I really enjoyed the gig, but was so disappointed by their attitude, it was nothing like the other gigs I've been too :/

The audience was great indeed, but I didn't feel like they really cared about it, felt like they were in a hurry.

 

Though the whole festival was amazing, was so cool to be with you all :heart:

So glad I finally got to see Arcade Fire (who were amazing by the way), loved loved the National and Elbow who put up amazing gigs!

 

Also, very nice review Anna, I don't know where you found the strength to write it tho :tongue:

 

:evilgrin:

HAHA

[SosoColdplayer]

 

 

[Jencoldplayer]

you know what guys? .. I don't know if the guys were tired, or the crowd sucked off or whatever ...

the cuestion is that most of those who were disappointed by the show are people who saw them live a lot of times. So I was wondering if I REALLY wish to live in Europe so I can see them frequently and no wait for them like three years here in Argentina. I think now my answer is NO. Because here we wait so excited for them, we are so happy when they come to our country (and south america), and we really bring on that feeling to the band too, that's why they do their best shows here .... there's a full of energy in the air.

You maybe have to keep that feeling alive inside you every time you go to a Cp concert (you that have that huge lucky) ... you must to relax, because if you'll go to each one of their concert with your ears and mouth ready for critisize them on that objetive (rather hard) way, you'll not enjoying at all ...

keep your "objetive" side for when you hear the albums, or new songs, or any of that kind of things, just enjoy the moment, that's what a gig suppose to be, a moment just for feel, even more if is your (or one of your) favorite band! Is just an advice.

Of course the guys must have a fun time on the stage, but Codplay is their job also, so they can be tired, ill, or just have no fucking humor for play live one day ... that's the moment when te crowd (and mostly the fans) have to do their thing ... we are coldplay too ... we DO Coldplay.

 

I'm serious, this really makes me think about all that "OMG I wish I live in London" thing that all we the Latinamerican fans think all the time. Maybe our patience is what make us a great crowd.

Just saying ... is my opinion, please don't hate.

[mc_squared]

OK. Having read everyone's comments and reviews, here's my take on the event.

First of all, while everyone is obviously entitled to their opinion, you can't truly know what the atmosphere was like unless you were actually there.

I definitely don't think a live stream could have properly reflected what was happening in the throng.

Similarly, if you were lucky enough to have been there (as I was), you can only really give an opinion based on what was going on within your field of vision and hearing.

Based on my position in the crowd (front row, left side facing the stage), the atmosphere was fantastic (I have already alluded to this in another thread).

In fact, I would go as far as to say I have never experienced a better atmosphere at any Coldplay concert I've attended (with the possible exception of Wembley, because of all the T-shirts, glowsticks, mass number of Coldplayers, Jay-Z etc.).

From a purely personal point of view, I would say the atmosphere was better at Arras than at Wembley (including the queuing phase) owing to the spontaneity and unexpected 'happenings'.

I was surrounded by a group of French Coldplayers and ColdplayFrance members, and I thought they were "amazing" (if you were within earshot, you will know why I have used that word :p).

During the appallingly dirge-like sets by PJ Harvey (quite possibly my worst-ever live experience) and Portishead, they were particularly entertaining (starting Mexican waves etc. when it was needed most to keep everyone's spirits up) and I fully appreciated this, as it had already been a long day, and I was in need of a boost.

They also screamed and sang from start to finish of Coldplay's set, and were also handing out balloons and glow bracelets, as well as waving a banner and a union flag.

 

Now to the performances themselves.

 

Overall, I would say that (Coldplay and Elbow apart) the main stage line-up on the day was pretty dreadful.

It appears that Saturday's was way better, with Arcade Fire, Moby, Kaiser Chiefs, The National and White Lies all on the bill.

I now wish I could have been there for that, as I'm sure I would have appreciated all of those acts.

Bruno Mars was entertaining in a cheesy pop kinda way, and Charles Bradley's soul set was at least pleasant, but I thought the first band, Rival Sons were awful (their set even prompted me to shell out on some ear protectors for the remainder of the event), and IMO, neither PJ Harvey nor Portishead belonged on the MAIN stage as their sets were ultra-depressing, dreary to the point of annoyance.

Judging by the reaction of the crowd, this view was shared by the vast majority (I even have photos and video of their reactions if anyone's interested).

IMO, this wasn't a good advert for the festival.

 

Added to this, there were problems with the venue itself. Most people I've spoken to have told me the festival was far better when it was staged in the "main square" of Arras itself. I can totally believe this after my experiences on Sunday.

First of all, the stage ground was covered in horrible grey dust which got down everyone's throats and caused a lot of choking.

It also managed to change the colour of my trainers from black to grey during the course of the event (maybe I should post a photo before I clean them).

Also, even though I have been in front rows countless times in the past, I have never experienced a crush as bad as that. It was virtually impossible to move, let alone get out for some much-needed food or drink!

It definitely wasn't anywhere near that bad when I saw Coldplay at Wembley, Duesseldorf or Cologne.

Arras should definitely have had some kind of "inner circle" with a limit to the numbers who could enter.

 

The other problem I had was with the construction/layout of the big stage itself, which I felt was very poor.

Even in the front row itself, you felt a hundred miles away from the performers, which can't have helped the performers' interaction with the crowd, especially in Coldplay's case, as it was totally dark by the time they came on stage.

Again, even at Wembley, the performers felt like they were much closer, and the view was much better at the front.

At Arras (from the front) it was virtually impossible to see any performers who happened to be at the back of the stage (e.g. in the case of Elbow), and during Coldplay's set, the view was further obscured by poorly positioned cameras, which partially obscured my view of Chris and Will during much of the performance.

Of course you could see them clearly on the big screens, but that defeats the object of seeing them "live" IMO.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure all these factors contributed to Coldplay's "below par" performance, as Chris's movement around the stage appeared to be somewhat hampered, certainly in comparison to the Viva tour.

I feel it is unfair to say his performance "lacked energy", as I'm sure he was trying his best, but it simply wasn't possible for him to leap and bound and truly interact with the crowd.

I therefore have to agree with all those who have stated that Coldplay's performance was somewhat disappointing on this occasion.

Nobody is suggesting they were "bad". I have never seen a "bad" Coldplay performance, and I'm confident I never will, because as someone has already pointed out, even their below-par performances are better than most bands' BEST performances.

I still enjoyed all the songs (in spite of my near zombie-like state), and am glad I got to experience the new songs live.

It's just that for me, the performance came across as rather "routine" and lacked that special something that makes one of their shows memorable (for example, Chris singing "Billie Jean" at Duesseldorf, or "Wonderful World" and the laser pyramid at Glastonbury, or coming up with some humorous banter, as he often does).

I would even go as far to say that, even at the all-seater 02 gigs in 2008, I enjoyed their performances more than at Arras, and that's saying something. At least I could see everything that was going on at the first of those gigs.

I don't think I will bother attending Main Square Festival again, even though I'm glad I went and will treasure countless happy memories of the whole trip, not least the great camaraderie.

Maybe the festival experience itself isn't for me, or maybe it was that festival in particular.

I guess I won't know unless I attend another one in the future.

 

I'll just have to wait and see.;)

[thinner]

i wasnt able to watch the live stream but based on most reviews this gig wasn't that nice. i hope it was though, for you who where there :)

 

looking at the pictures my only thought is how SPACIOUS it is in the crowd?! its even room to dance :D i've been to my fair share of concerts and gigs but the coldplay show at WTAI last week was the most exhausting ever due to like 1 square centimetre to each person in the crowd :p that is'nt good either so yay you go, arras visiters :D

[mc_squared]

i wasnt able to watch the live stream but based on most reviews this gig wasn't that nice. i hope it was though, for you who where there :)

 

looking at the pictures my only thought is how SPACIOUS it is in the crowd?! its even room to dance :D i've been to my fair share of concerts and gigs but the coldplay show at WTAI last week was the most exhausting ever due to like 1 square centimetre to each person in the crowd :p that is'nt good either so yay you go, arras visiters :D

 

As I said in my review above, where I was at the front it was virtually impossible to move, and I felt like a tinned sardine.:dozey:

Actually, I forgot to mention that, even though there was loads of free space on the other side of the barrier for people to deposit their bags, the security guys insisted that nothing was left there, meaning that everyone ended up with rucksacks and clothing around their feet, adding to the crush.

That was a pathetic decision, as the gaps inbetween the "security steps" wouldn't have caused problems for security in any way whatsoever.:angry:

[mc_squared]

By the way, can one of the mods please do something about the ridiculously large photos that have been posted on this page, as it's taking forever to load because of them. Thanks!

[r25d01]

I think it was a great performance. But it was one of their weaker ones. At least judging by the nine I''ve been to. I especially enjoyed the beginning of the set and the new songs, which I knew better this time than at Rock am Ring (obviously...). Escpecially Charlie Brown really grew on me and became one of my most favourite Coldplay songs. I felt a little disconnected, I have to admit. One thing this might have been due to was the little interaction, another factor were the cameras. Not only did the cameras blocked the sight for I think several people, but also they increased the distance between the crowd and the band, or Chris at leat, who stuck to the middle of the crowd, rather than going to its front more often. But then again, there were even stairs he could have used. Anyway, I felt a little disconnected, though I still think they did a great job. What disappointed me a little was that they didn't play Shiver, though I also love Cemetries Of London. But since I never got to hear Shiver live... However, it was awesome to hear Everything's not lost again.

A main part of the experience was the amount of huge Coldplay fans. They made a fantastic crowd, at least at the front. I also had a great time with the ones I was standing with =)

I think the banner looked fantastic and we should definitely use it again! It was some great teamwork =)

 

My personal highlight were Portishead because of the stunning itensitiy of their performance. I expected a little more from PJ Harvey but Elbow were great as well. Also, Bruno Mars was better than I expected, his annoying radio songs were less annoying than on the radio but I still wouldn't by a CD, since I still think most of his songs are dull. I liked his version of Micheal Jackson's "Dirty Diana", though.

 

All in all, it was worth it, I enjoyed it and I had a great time. I now look forward to their own shows. Festival shows can be great as well (Rock am Ring was awesome!) but doing all the hardcore fan things, escpecially when you're only coming for one day, regular concerts are better.

[AnnaElisabeth]

i wasnt able to watch the live stream but based on most reviews this gig wasn't that nice. i hope it was though, for you who where there :)

 

looking at the pictures my only thought is how SPACIOUS it is in the crowd?! its even room to dance :D i've been to my fair share of concerts and gigs but the coldplay show at WTAI last week was the most exhausting ever due to like 1 square centimetre to each person in the crowd :p that is'nt good either so yay you go, arras visiters :D

 

We actually had so much room! Super nice! :D Not during Kaiser Cheifs the day before though, THAT was exhausting. What a freaking mosh pit.

 

By the way, can one of the mods please do something about the ridiculously large photos that have been posted on this page, as it's taking forever to load because of them. Thanks!

 

Was just thinking the same, put them into a spoiler.

[mc_squared]

I think it was a great performance. But it was one of their weaker ones. felt a little disconnected, I have to admit. One thing this might have been due to was the little interaction, another factor were the cameras. Not only did the cameras blocked the sight for I think several people, but also they increased the distance between the crowd and the band, or Chris at leat, who stuck to the middle of the crowd, rather than going to its front more often. But then again, there were even stairs he could have used. Anyway, I felt a little disconnected, though I still think they did a great job.

 

OK. That more or less corresponds with what I said about it.;)

 

A main part of the experience was the amount of huge Coldplay fans. They made a fantastic crowd, at least at the front. I also had a great time with the ones I was standing with =)

 

Same here, as you know. I would say the enthusiasm of the diehard fans was the best thing about the event.:cool:

 

 

I think the banner looked fantastic and we should definitely use it again! It was some great teamwork =)

 

Even though I wasn't directly involved in it, I agree. I suggest it is always passed to someone different who has travelled from far afield, so it eventually gets round the world.;)

 

My personal highlight were Portishead because of the stunning itensitiy of their performance. I expected a little more from PJ Harvey but Elbow were great as well. Also, Bruno Mars was better than I expected, his annoying radio songs were less annoying than on the radio but I still wouldn't by a CD, since I still think most of his songs are dull. I liked his version of Micheal Jackson's "Dirty Diana", though.

 

Elbow was the highlight for me, and Bruno Mars was at least entertaining and fun, as I said. I know we have totally different opinions about Portishead's performance.;)

 

All in all, it was worth it, I enjoyed it and I had a great time. I now look forward to their own shows. Festival shows can be great as well (Rock am Ring was awesome!) but doing all the hardcore fan things, escpecially when you're only coming for one day, regular concerts are better.

 

I am in total agreement on this.;)

[MartinFan]

^^^ Bruno Mars is HUGE here in the States^^^

[coldplay12]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By ColdplayFrance.com

[coldplay12]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By ColdplayFrance.com

[coldplay12]

Miller....

[Blue Glisten]

:blush:

[jeremyy]

great photos!

[SueDeNimes]

Hi everyone!

I'm so so tired... worked 13hrs today, thought I wouldn't survive this day.

As I have to be back at work early tomorrow morning again I can't post a review. :bigcry:

But I promise I'll write one as soon as I find some time. :)

Took some great pics btw!

 

But I came here to post a little "Making of" video that I made, hope you like it! :nice:

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x2KsZ2qN6Y]YouTube - ‪Main Square Festival 2011 - Coldplaying Banner, The Making Of‬‏[/ame]

 

Have a nice evening, I'll be back with a review + my pics soon... hopefully. :uhoh:

[scusi]

Can't wait :kiss: