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[9-Dec-2011] Coldplay @ O2 Arena, London, UK


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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2z-JxrZgU8&feature=colike]COLDPLAY (SMASHED GUITAR) 'GOD PUT A SMILE ON MY FACE' @ 02 ARENA, LONDON 09.12.11 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2pPU9sBeW0&feature=colike]COLDPLAY 'THE SCIENTIST' @ 02 ARENA, LONDON 09.12.11 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kANeHFmaMYQ&feature=colike]COLDPLAY 'POLITIK' @ 02 ARENA, LONDON 09.12.11 - YouTube[/ame]

 

Thanks for watching - pls share!

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Glad that you had a good time. I have not yet read through it all - but this is page 42.

 

EDIT (after having read reviews and watched awesome picts and some of the posted videos.): Thanks for posting / linking to your awesome pics and thanks for posting videos. And thanks for your reviews.

 

 

@ Pete: I am glad that you didn't throw the rotten fruit and veg - I am sure that the band would appreciate this as well (had they known - maybe they did as they played Us against the World after all). Have a nice day with your nieces and nephew.

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Coldplay.jpg

Coldplay's Chris Martin: bouncy and charismatic

 

Coldplay strip away cynicism with their epic choruses and flashy spectacle (The Arts Desk)

 

4/5 stars

 

It’s easy enough to diss Coldplay: they make music that’s hugely successful (boo!) and not terribly challenging; they’re middle class – a heinous crime in a form of entertainment that’s steeped in notions of “authenticity” (hence the enduring love affair between music critics and the oafish Oasis – hey, they take lots of drugs and they used to steal car radios!); and as people they just seem a bit nice, to the point of dullness.

 

I’ve done the dissing thing myself often enough: there’s that way of saying, “Coldplay” that sounds both slightly sneery and slightly shamefaced, in the same way that an aficionado of organic slow food might pronounce “Nando’s”.

 

So, here goes: actually, tonight, at the O2 Arena, I had a blast. It wasn’t the most earth-shattering gig I’ve seen, and the music was mostly pretty one-dimensional, but when there are 18,000 people singing along to one of Coldplay’s big soaring choruses and there’s all manner of spectacular stuff going on, the effect is, well, tingly. Much has been made by some critics of the way Coldplay seem to deliberately engineer their songs specifically so that they can be sung along to, so that they will shimmer around the walls of arenas such as the O2 (and, next summer, the nation’s football stadiums). Is this a bad thing?

 

It’s like saying that James Brown deliberately engineered his music so that people would dance the mashed potato to it. But for me the clincher was the wristband thing. Let me explain. Audience members were issued with a special wristband before the show; then, when the band hit the stage to the blaring theme from Back to the Future and struck up the first chords of “Hurts Like Heaven” from this year’s Mylo Xyloto album, someone backstage pushed a remote-control button and suddenly each one of those 18,000 wristbands was flashing in all kinds of colours. Remember the days when people flourished fag-lighters during rock anthems? It was like that, except a million times better. I’ve never seen anything like it.

 

Once the excitement of that first burst of energy had worn off, the first half an hour was not that great; “Yellow”, delivered surprisingly early in the set, was lovely, but the pace slipped somewhat after that. But then came the run-in, the home straight, the big choruses and the singalong stuff: “Clocks”, “Viva La Vida”, “Fix You”, “Charlie Brown”: in the face of such an onslaught, resistance was futile. And there’s no sign that they’re running out of choruses: one of the night’s finest, “Paradise”, from the new album, was still being sung by the crowd as they funnelled into the tube station after the show. Also, presumably in the full knowledge that Coldplay are not the most exciting band to look at – Chris Martin was bouncy and charismatic, but the other three were just that; the other three – this show’s creators have invested heavily in visuals.

 

For virtually every song, there was something new to look at: giant balloons descended from the rafters, plumes of confetti shot into the air, lasers twitched, the band played on a satellite stage, the lighting rig swayed and shifted, video screens flickered. And then there were those those wristbands. When they lit up and the audience waved their hands in the air, the O2 became a constellation of glowing, twinkling humanity. All cynicism was stripped away.

 

http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/coldplay-o2-arena

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Wow thanks for all the videos.. I'm quite emotional this morning. It's all over.. I wish wish wish, that I had been closer, but it wasn't to be.. and it WAS an epic gig. Thanks for all the photos Jason, they're awesome! I will have to take most of tomorrow and watch all the videos, look through the photos others have taken. Unfortunately my iphone died half way through Emile Sande's set and I couldn't get it to turn back on?! No idea what was up with that! Still not fixed.. despite them doing "Fix You" LOL..

 

I have half a dozen x's and M's collected off the floor on the way out of the O2 last night, a tour guide, a t-shirt, a wrist band and two ticket stubs to remember it all by.. Oh and some crappy photos taken on a very old digital camera with no sound...

 

NEXT TIME we're going down the front! LOL..

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been eagerly waiting to write my review on this last night, so here goes...

INCREDIBLE. I saw them at the o2 on the Viva tour and it was just as good there, and even though I was on the floor there and this time I was up high, it was still great, despite hardly anyone standing up around me until VLV. for me, I was very happy at the setlist. I was looking at the one's from Glasgow and Manchester and they didn't appeal to me, especially daylight and what if. me and my friend both agreed that we wanted UATW and christmas lights, and we got one of them :') here goes a review track-by-track;

MX/Hurts Like Heaven - Seeing those wristbands light up was the most incredible thing I've ever seen (my friend's one didn't work - felt so bad for hom :embarrassed: ) was the only song I sat down for as I didn't know whether to sit down/stand up as everyone was sitting down at that point :\

Yellow - Always gets the crowd pumped but yet again around us not many people standing up. Wasn't as good as I thought it would be.

Lost! - Love this song, especially Johnny's guitar solo, and lived up to what it was meant to be :smug:

Major Minus - Never has really fitted into the coldplay setlist really, so wasn't that fussed about it.

In My Place - One of the best songs of the night, boys really delivered it.

What If - God only knows why this is in the setlist, this really saw a lot of people text on their phones etc.

Violet Hill - Brilliant song, brilliant performance. Loved it.

GPASUYF - Loved this one too, really got me 'rocking' out.

The Scientist - Loved everyone singing along, was a really touching moment in the show. :')

Up In Flames - Just does not work live.

Don't Panic - Brilliant addition to the setlist, and although hardly anyone knew it, I did and was singing along all the way.

UATW - One of my favourite performances, touching song, beautifully delivered.

Politik - Again, wasn't as good as I imagined it would be from last time, but was still good.

VLV - Hearing everyone sing along gave me goosebumps. Incredible. This one finally got everyone up.

Charlie Brown - Second best performance of the night, everyone worked magically, I was dancing and singing and shouting and screaming and just WOW.

Paradise - Best performance of the night by far. This really was just :O :O the chorus was amazing.

Clocks - Mehh, never has been my favourite, was a good performance though.

Fix You - Definitely wasn't their best.

ETIAW - Stunning. This was a TRUE end to a concert, and was just excellent.

 

So all in all, an 8.5/10. Would've liked christmas lights and the setlist to have been longer, but everyone about this concert was immense.

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I'm SO lucky. my first gig, and i was standing not 10 rows back from the band, jumping and waving my arms with my mate. it was the best night of my life. The lights, the wristbands, the choruses, Chris' broken guitar, the songs, and my mini moshpit with 2 american girls and 2 italians who had flown in FOR ONE NIGHT JUST TO SEE COLDPLAY!

I loveddd it and it was surreal when i saw chris and the others walked on stage. Johnny and Will singing. Guy like a fucking gorilla. whoever went was amazingly lucky. ''two fingers'' to the unlucky people who missed it :D

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I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JEALOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE PERSUADE THEM TO COME TO GREECE!!! WILL YOU?? A DEMONSTRATION ABOUT NOT COMING HERE WILL BE IDEAL !!:p:p

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The first time I have seen Coldplay and it was one of the most amazing concerts I have ever been to and I have seen all the big acts..

Managed to get a standing ticket for face value outside and then stood 15 rows from the front absolutely loved it, cant wait for the Emirates now in June.

Thank you so much to the guy who sold me the ticket....

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Viva while leaving the arena. Viva while leaving the o2. Viva while going into the tube station. Viva while lining up outside the tube station. Viva while in the train station. Viva while on the train! It was just magic. It's amazing how one song can bring 20,000 people together

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i go to alott of concerts, ive seen coldplay before once at wembley where they were fantastic but last night was THE MOST INCREDIBLE thing. the music, the wristbands, everything... i was lucky enough to be in a fantastic place right on the barrier at the x meaning i could see the whole of the show with no obstruction and when they came out to play dont panic etc i was right next to that.

 

it was just amazing amazing amazing and i will never forget that night and how my friend and i and everyone around us was literally grinning uncontrollably for the entire hour and a half. FANTASTIC ! ive got some pictures ill post in a bitt

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