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[31-Dec-11] Coldplay to headline New Year's Eve gig, Abu Dhabi, UAE


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^ Maybe, but the way the French journalist writes it, it would mean that since they were paid 1.2 million €, it was like all the tickets cost 5000€...So either the journalist exaggerates, or he sucks at maths, because it's not equivalent :thinking:

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no encore

only 1 hour 15 minutes expecting 2 hours

bad sound

traffic and horrible venue

 

when i feel the disappointment i just check my mobile shots to remember how a great performance it was by my all time favourite band

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhFRu-9_9Ko]ColdPlay live in Abu Dhabi - 2012 countdown + every tears is a waterfall - YouTube[/ame]

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Coldplay rings in an Abu Dhabi New Year

 

AD20120102358102-1-Coldplay_s%20Chri.jpg

 

Coldplay's rain-soaked 2009 performance at Emirates Palace has become part of modern UAE folklore, with drenched Chris Martin crooning Singing in the Rain remaining a lasting image.

 

This time, however, the group returned to the capital to ring in the New Year and were met by a crowd of more than 20,000 who didn't mind crawling through hours of snail-pace traffic at Corniche Road before going through the greater struggle of getting through concert gates.

 

The quartet waltzed on to the stage to a short burst of fireworks. The celebratory mood was set with the ethereal instrumental opener Mylo Xyloto before launching into pop-static Hurt Like Heaven.

 

One begins to appreciate the number of hits Coldplay has notched up in their 15-year career when they are now able to perform former concert closer, the shimmering Yellow, as the third song of the set.

 

It also gave the audience their first chance to warm up their singing voices as they drowned out Martin's falsetto during the chorus.

 

Next up was In My Place, which saw Martin race through a blizzard of star-shaped confetti to the group's second stage; a small space near the edge of the Fan Pit, a barrier that the band could access courtesy of the T-shaped design of the main stage.

 

While the group's old hits such as the piano-led Science and the noxiously sweet Fix You still left many in the crowd a tad misty-eyed, it's the new dancier material from Mylo Xyloto that went down a treat.

 

Major Minus confirms the suspicion that the group may have been listening to early Kasabian during their recording sessions, as it gave the group's congenial live persona a new dimension: strut.

 

In the folky Us Against the World - which Martin explains tells "the story of the band" (don't know about that, as NWA these lads are not) - the whole group performed in intimate mode on the second stage, with Martin and drummer Will Champion singing mournfully and movingly.

 

Charlie Brown was the concert highlight. It is here you see how the band may not be far off from knocking U2 down from their perch as the biggest concert drawcard.

 

Where the latter rely on the chemistry between Bono and The Edge, the trance-ish Charlie Brown is a brilliant display of the band's virtuosity, with each member upping his game.

 

Led from the back by the group's underrated rhythm section of (the increasingly theatrical) Champion, and understated bassist Guy Berryman, the group soared in the chorus on the back of guitarist Jonny Buckland's signature spidery riffs.

 

The follow-ups, which began with the propulsive Clocks performed at 10 minutes to midnight, began the anticipation for the New Year's Eve countdown; and the cinematic Paradise was neatly finished with one minute to go. However, for a group who so brilliantly captured the moment in 2009, they seemed uncertain what to do with the midnight countdown, with Martin merely strolling back down the stage as the clock struck midnight.

 

The anticlimax was underscored by the group seemingly hurrying to finish off the set closer Every Tear Drop Is a Waterfall before brusquely leaving the stage without an encore - not a crime if it had been a regular festival appearance, but for an NYE occasion, it seemed abrupt. Playing a little longer would have been a nice touch in what was otherwise a supremely polished performance.

 

As for the organisers, perhaps the concert would also trigger a fresh New Year resolution: stick to hosting concerts in the Yas Arena on Yas Island, as the tight two lanes leading up to the Volvo Ocean Race Destination Village on the Corniche Breakwater proved testing for even the happiest of revellers.

 

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/music/coldplay-rings-in-an-abu-dhabi-new-year

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Coldplay concert transport tangle 'won't be repeated'

 

ABU DHABI // A lack of public transport at Coldplay's New Year's Eve concert meant some fans had to walk almost three hours to find taxis when the event ended just after midnight.

 

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) said that such problems would be avoided at future events. Both the Abu Dhabi Police Department and TransAD were not available for comment.

 

Shuttle buses and taxi drop-off points will help ease traffic to the venue during the rest of the two-week stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race, however, ADTA said.

 

"The Coldplay concert aside, we are confident that the transport options in place - taxi, the park-and-ride complimentary shuttle bus from the Corniche and the amount of parking available around the Destination Village vicinity - will be sufficient to handle the level of traffic coming to the village," an ADTA representative said in a statement.

 

The Volvo Ocean Race Destination Village opened on Saturday.

 

Additional taxis were on hand and shuttle buses were provided from the Corniche car park adjacent to the Hilton to the concert site, but it was not enough for the estimated 25,000 attending.

 

"We walked the streets for almost three hours and no one would pick anyone up," said Michelle Leboutte, who had travelled from Ras Al Khaimah with her husband for the concert. "We finally got a taxi after 2.30, and then we realised our hotel was a minute away and we'd walked all the way from the Breakwater to our hotel."

 

The concert promoter Flash said security and safety were top priorities.

 

"Flash does acknowledge there were delays on the night," a Flash statement said. "As with all major events in Abu Dhabi, a thorough security system was implemented at the doors. Whilst this did ensure no major incidents on the night, it did lead to some delays for people entering the venue. However, immediately prior to the band performing at 10.45pm, more than 25,000 people were inside the venue with no queues outside."

 

Taxi drivers said there was no incentive to go to the Corniche.

 

"The Corniche had too many crowds," said Umar Ghani, a driver. "Yas Island is good, there is no crowd, they don't waste our taxi time. On the Corniche we will sit there for three hours. I would not go to the Corniche - too many people, too many crowds."

 

Zulqarnain Khan, a driver from Pakistan, said he made seven trips to the venue after being instructed to do so by his company, despite the low fares and heavy traffic.

 

 

 

 

He went home shortly before midnight after a 13-hour shift.

 

"My customers told me to stop the car and go to sleep or I would have an accident," he said.

 

Kawthar bin Sulayem, 27, an Emirati, fared better in her own car and quickly found parking in the Marina Mall basement car park about 8pm. "But on the way out, it was a bit crazy," she said. "It was too busy because, you know, when they were getting people in they were letting them in batches but they released everyone at once."

 

Saleem Khokhar, 40, from the UK, paid a man Dh100 to give up his parking space at Marina Mall. His return journey to Al Raha Gardens took four hours, including an hour and a quarter to go 1,000 metres from the Marina Mall car park to the Corniche after the concert. The two-lane road is the only road on to the Breakwater.

 

"We didn't use public transport, but from what I saw, that wasn't much better," Mr Khokhar said.

 

But he said it would not deter him from returning. "I would go back, it was a very good concert, it was worth it at the end of the day. Everybody was quite patient; it was all good natured. That made it bearable," he said.

 

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/coldplay-concert-transport-tangle-wont-be-repeated

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Coldplay concert transport tangle 'won't be repeated'[/size][/b]

 

ABU DHABI // A lack of public transport at Coldplay's New Year's Eve concert meant some fans had to walk almost three hours to find taxis when the event ended just after midnight.

 

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) said that such problems would be avoided at future events. Both the Abu Dhabi Police Department and TransAD were not available for comment.

 

Shuttle buses and taxi drop-off points will help ease traffic to the venue during the rest of the two-week stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race, however, ADTA said.

 

"The Coldplay concert aside, we are confident that the transport options in place - taxi, the park-and-ride complimentary shuttle bus from the Corniche and the amount of parking available around the Destination Village vicinity - will be sufficient to handle the level of traffic coming to the village," an ADTA representative said in a statement.

 

The Volvo Ocean Race Destination Village opened on Saturday.

 

Additional taxis were on hand and shuttle buses were provided from the Corniche car park adjacent to the Hilton to the concert site, but it was not enough for the estimated 25,000 attending.

 

"We walked the streets for almost three hours and no one would pick anyone up," said Michelle Leboutte, who had travelled from Ras Al Khaimah with her husband for the concert. "We finally got a taxi after 2.30, and then we realised our hotel was a minute away and we'd walked all the way from the Breakwater to our hotel."

 

The concert promoter Flash said security and safety were top priorities.

 

"Flash does acknowledge there were delays on the night," a Flash statement said. "As with all major events in Abu Dhabi, a thorough security system was implemented at the doors. Whilst this did ensure no major incidents on the night, it did lead to some delays for people entering the venue. However, immediately prior to the band performing at 10.45pm, more than 25,000 people were inside the venue with no queues outside."

 

Taxi drivers said there was no incentive to go to the Corniche.

 

"The Corniche had too many crowds," said Umar Ghani, a driver. "Yas Island is good, there is no crowd, they don't waste our taxi time. On the Corniche we will sit there for three hours. I would not go to the Corniche - too many people, too many crowds."

 

Zulqarnain Khan, a driver from Pakistan, said he made seven trips to the venue after being instructed to do so by his company, despite the low fares and heavy traffic.

 

 

 

 

He went home shortly before midnight after a 13-hour shift.

 

"My customers told me to stop the car and go to sleep or I would have an accident," he said.

 

Kawthar bin Sulayem, 27, an Emirati, fared better in her own car and quickly found parking in the Marina Mall basement car park about 8pm. "But on the way out, it was a bit crazy," she said. "It was too busy because, you know, when they were getting people in they were letting them in batches but they released everyone at once."

 

Saleem Khokhar, 40, from the UK, paid a man Dh100 to give up his parking space at Marina Mall. His return journey to Al Raha Gardens took four hours, including an hour and a quarter to go 1,000 metres from the Marina Mall car park to the Corniche after the concert. The two-lane road is the only road on to the Breakwater.

 

"We didn't use public transport, but from what I saw, that wasn't much better," Mr Khokhar said.

 

But he said it would not deter him from returning. "I would go back, it was a very good concert, it was worth it at the end of the day. Everybody was quite patient; it was all good natured. That made it bearable," he said.

 

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/coldplay-concert-transport-tangle-wont-be-repeated

 

One wonders how long it took for the band and crew to get out of the venue then.

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