Should Coldplay use backing tracks?

[mathieu_c]

They obviously can't play a song like VLV without backing tracks, but on some tracks it seems completely unnecessary. And they definitely shouldn't use it for vocals. I remember there was a lot of fuss about the guitar tech playing acoustic guitar during Yellow in the AROBTTH days, but I had no problems with that. They didn't try to 'hide' it, he could clearly be seen at the side of the stage. But they should get rid of the backing tracks for vocals.

[gerben]

I'm fairly sure the extra guitar was played live by a guitar tech just off-stage.

 

 

Yep, It was played by Matt McGinn, Jonny's guitar tech. He said it in the 'Roadie'-book

[Onur]

i think they shouldnt use any backing tracks, and even if they use, they shouldnt pretend to sing like guy does in the ooooh part in VLV or play like chris does in the intro of LIJ(you can watch the live version on BBC to see what i mean).

[Lukestar1991]

i voted maybe: on some songs it is totally okay because they need it.

but i really want live music to develop live 100%. kind of a WYSIWYG!**

 

i fear the new album relies too much on backing tracks =/

but i'm sure that NO song would need them actually! so this is a "maybe with a strong tendency towards no"

 

 

**what you see is what you get

 

I agree, and i would prefer them to be a little more spontaneous and not rely on metronomes through their In Ear Monitors for nearly every song. After all they are clearly able and versatile musicians.

[coldplayR]

i do ;)

[Donggyun Kang]

Well i'd know that Matt Mcgiee played Yellow in the backstage :cool: but this time they can use the backing track for Yellow :angel: I love how he dance in Live 2003 Yellow even better than ANY OTHER DANCERS IN THE WORLD :D

[Megalomania]

I hate how in ETIAW Chris sings the "oh" parts and the backing track is actually saying words. :|

 

I think it was Glasto that I actually made this face ---> :sick:

 

Anyways, I think backing tracks are fine to an extent- for songs that need them, like VLV's strings, it's fine. Without them VLV wouldn't sound the same.

But for songs like Fix You, they should really just play it. I said it in another thread and I'm going to say it again here- when I go to see a band, I don't go to see them dance. I go to see them play their music. I like them for their music, not for their dancing, so imo having a backing track just so they can dance around is not a good excuse.

 

Besides, when Chris dances then his singing quality goes way down. :|

 

 

So yeah.

[Cobalt]

I'm fairly sure the extra guitar was played live by a guitar tech just off-stage.

 

This is true

 

They've done extra musicians in the past so it isn't entirely out of the question

 

Sometimes I think Chris does need to settle down and get to what he does - playing music, instead of dancing around like a monkey.

[toddbluezoo]

Backing tracks is literally my only complaint about Coldplay..

 

They really don't need them, just as an example of a song, take Lost! (one which surprisingly has not been brought up yet..) The organ is insanely important to the song but it's played by a backing track, my question is why don't they get someone like Jon Hopkins to come on tour and play it for them (I'm not positive about this but I feel like that's him playing that part in the studio). He's definitely not some "random schmuck" which I think is an excellent point.

 

Plus if they had a 5th member to play keyboards and what not then I feel like setlists could be much more easily changed and there's a less risk of them completely screwing up (which is what Will did during the French festival where he set off the strings for IMP at the wrong time?)

 

My final thought is that it looks weird when the backing tracks are played and literally no one is playing (I'm thinking of Swallowed In The Sea here -- and that's a real shame because it's a lovely track that I really want to see return to sets)

 

So no. No backing tracks.

 

p.s. huge pet peeve of mine is during the verse in Clocks. That is one backing track that should either be played by Jonny (instead of him standing there doing nothing) or taken out completely and let Chris mess around on the piano with the sustain pedal on. Just a thought. Hope the post wasn't too long! Cheers!

[MosesTheMarshmallow]

Well speaking Lost, it would make a lot of sense if Chris just played organ on that (same setup as in Fix You), and then it would be all good. I think Lost also has a backing track for the drums and backup vocals in the 2nd and 3rd verses....perhaps unnecessary. :/ On the other hand, Jonny DOES play the organ in the 1st verse (also, the 1st half of VLV) but it appears that after he leaves the synthesizer it becomes a backing track. Same goes for Chris for the keyboard in LIJ.

[yonan32]

like some here, I'm OK with backing tracks that are REALLY necessary (i.e. strings on VLV), BUT:

1. omit the unnecessary backing tracks (strings on IMP, Clocks, etc; backed vocals on all songs)

2. stop pretending to play tracks that are actually played back (i.e. organ on Lost)

3. play every single bit they can actually play but chose to have it played back so Chris can dance more

 

I noticed from their T in The Park performance they've gone more "organic" now, as in the backing tracks no longer overwhelm their actual played parts (see Lost). Let's see how it'll be on the full tour

[MosesTheMarshmallow]

^Regarding the "overwhelming" I think that is more related to the sound mixing at individual concerts. Sometimes the backing tracks are very clear, other times not, only because the technicians need to the really intricate job of making all the instruments/vocals sound balanced. It's pretty variable with the Scientist...I don't have a lot of videos to back me up at the moment, but the volume of the strings is really variable.

 

^^And "pretending to play" isn't really pretending because you can tell that when Chris or Jonny play the instrument that is on the backing track, THAT goes on top/takes over the backing track. You'll know what I mean if you listen to the instrumental bit after the 1st chorus of Lovers in Japan live at BBC 2008 because Chris makes a mistake. If that makes sense.

 

Otherwise I agree with your points though...epic bump btw. :lol:

 

If I haven't said in this thread already, one thing I've realized recently is that they really DON'T need backing tracks to sound "big" or "stadium-ish".....only listen to Everything's Not Lost, Life is For Living, GPASYUF, the end of Amsterdam...

[coldplay_is_louve.]

This is one thing that I believe has become a big problem in this band.

 

 

I mean, it'd be okay if they weren't too lazy to edit out Chris's voice. Then they're just trying to make it sound like the album version.

 

 

With Chris's voice it's just. I don't know. It feels too much like a Taylor Swift concert. :blank:.

[QuestionsOfScience]

I don't mind them using backing tracks, but I would love to see them with other live musicians, it seems a bit more down to earth, especially if they interact with them (thinking Elbow here, with their string quartet).

[bearcat1229]

They use a fair amount of backing tracks, however not as many as you think. Thier keyboard tech does many of the sounds back by the mixing desk. This gives them more control to improvise a song. The keyboards on stage are not actually keyboards, they are MIDI conrollers which are used to play sounds from a different output hooked up off stage, so they really are playing those parts in Viva much more than you think. They have often noted they really prefer only the 4 of them on stage, but plenty of other stuff is being done live off-stage.

 

Some tracks are obvious though, such as ETIAW.

[Kiame]

I'd rather see Chris' dancing during ETIAW than see him on the synth the whole way through the song.

[InATelescopeLens]

I think backing tracks are completely justifiable, but it just depends on the extent to which they're used. The backing tracks to Yellow and The Scientist are relatively sublime, but on most Viva songs, they're pretty... defined. I think it just depends on what is necessary.

 

Jonny plays the violin's part on one of the live versions of Yes and it fits perfectly. I think if you change some of the parts, the backing tracks won't be needed. On the other hand, do you really expect them to NOT use backing tracks on Viva? Maybe in some later concerts they'll evolve with Viva and maybe do a really cool acoustic version.

 

As long as they're not using auto-tune and they're actually playing instruments, what is there to complain about? Coldplay uses their backing tracks sparingly. They're usually just an aesthetic/atmospheric enhancer, not a stand alone instrumental role.

[Well_Luck]

To be honest, some songs could be played on the keyboards, instead of backing track. Ex: Viva la Vida

 

- in Viva la Vida Tour: Chris play keys after Jonny start playing guitar.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkdrsK6r0bU]Coldplay - Viva La Vida Live Tokyo 2009 Legendado (Inglês) HD - YouTube[/ame]

 

- in Mylo Xylotour Chris plays a bit of keys, then back singing, using back track.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuR_yinmktQ]Coldplay - Viva La Vida (Live on Letterman) - YouTube[/ame]

[fakfak]

As long as the band isn't miming instruments they're actually appearing to play (Coldplay doesn't), I don't have a problem with it. Although I often do wish people could see them play without any background looping, as people do have a tendency to think a lot more is pre-recorded than is actually the case.

[Car Kids]

This only a theory, but if you look and listen to their performances, some of the instrumental things like viva strings, etiaw synth are played by jonny or Chris at the beginning and I think that they loop it. Like in the studio version of viva the strings change but in the live they are still going only quieter. Maybe the sound crew just turn up and down the volume, but I definitely think that they play it at the beginning at least and then use a looper. Idk

[fakfak]

This is one thing that I believe has become a big problem in this band.

 

 

I mean, it'd be okay if they weren't too lazy to edit out Chris's voice. Then they're just trying to make it sound like the album version.

 

 

With Chris's voice it's just. I don't know. It feels too much like a Taylor Swift concert. :blank:.

 

I don't think it's a case of being lazy so much as it is a deliberate choice to have two layers of Chris' vocals (live and recorded).

[fakfak]

This only a theory, but if you look and listen to their performances, some of the instrumental things like viva strings, etiaw synth are played by jonny or Chris at the beginning and I think that they loop it. Like in the studio version of viva the strings change but in the live they are still going only quieter. Maybe the sound crew just turn up and down the volume, but I definitely think that they play it at the beginning at least and then use a looper. Idk

 

 

That's certainly technically possible with those MIDI keyboards. I think they might do that for some songs.

[sjors93]

The thing that happened at the Main Square festival was good to see in my opinion. I really liked it actually. It was great to see the improvisation from the band, very good. But I don't know if I mind the backing tracks. It's not honest to the audience, but on the other hand, all the guitar playing, drums and piano is live.

 

What I really hate at the moment is the Rihanna backing track, I was going mad when I saw that the first time.

[sjors93]

I hate how in ETIAW Chris sings the "oh" parts and the backing track is actually saying words. :|

I think it was Glasto that I actually made this face ---> :sick:

 

Anyways, I think backing tracks are fine to an extent- for songs that need them, like VLV's strings, it's fine. Without them VLV wouldn't sound the same.

But for songs like Fix You, they should really just play it. I said it in another thread and I'm going to say it again here- when I go to see a band, I don't go to see them dance. I go to see them play their music. I like them for their music, not for their dancing, so imo having a backing track just so they can dance around is not a good excuse.

 

Besides, when Chris dances then his singing quality goes way down. :|

 

 

So yeah.

 

What do you mean? All the singing in ETIAW is live? Where do you hear it? Jonny and Will are singing ''Every tear, every tear...''

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7na7AUWRh3k]Coldplay (HD) - Every Teardrop is a Waterfall (Glastonbury 2011) - YouTube[/ame]

[seratone]

I've always been fascinated by bands that can 'pull off' using backing tracks and make it sound flawless. I'm pretty sure they have control over the tracks so they can be extended, or an intro or chorus can be delayed to make room for improvisation...

 

I've seen Coldplay several times - and never found the use of tracks a disappointment - more of an interesting challenge from a technical point of view - on the contrary to disappointment, I find it quite impressive.

 

If anyone's interested, he's an interview with the guy on stage left that does it all from 2011.

 

http://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2011/7/2/coldplay-talk-live-rigs-rme-and-pro-tools-1.html