12 Coldplay Months of 2011: December (Under 1 Roof))

Mimixxx · December 31, 2011

Coldplay confirmed to perform on X Factor Final on Sunday 11th December at Wembley Arena

December began on somewhat of a sour note for many Coldplay fans with the confirmation that they would indeed be performing at the X Factor final at Wembley Arena on Sunday 11th December, the news came courtesy of ITV:

“We've just heard that Coldplay, Michael Buble, Leona Lewis, JLS AND One Direction will be among the stars performing at the biggest ever X Factor Final next weekend - and we just had to tell you. In a first for The X Factor, the Final is being held at Wembley Arena with a massive 10,000 strong audience there to watch it.”

The reaction to the news on the forum was mixed, with the forum discussion becoming rather heated:

“Personally I can understand why they've taken the decision to become involved in XFactor. The guys might not like the decision either but have had to take it to pay the elecy at the Bakery for instance, after all don't we all do things in our jobs that we don't always agree with or particually like but have to do to earn the money. We all need to remember that the product called "Coldplay" only has a limited shelf life and whilst no-one is aware how long that is the guys selling the product, Masters Berryman, Buckland, Champion and Martin and working as hard as possible to generate everyone involved as much money as possible before it expires. Hopefully the "Coldplay" product will have a life span similar to that of "Pepsi" or "Coke-Cola". [Claire-Louise]

“They're so much better than this. I get that their popularity has risen and that they have become quite mainstream but that doesn't make them JLS or whatever. Being on the show goes against everything they stand for as a band! Chris has even said in the past (as pointed out previously) that they wouldn't do X Factor. They don't need the money, come on. They don't need the publicity either - they just managed to sell out stadiums in seconds! It's just very disappointing to me that they would agree to go on a show that doesn't encourage young people to try to be the best they can at music - but to be the most famous. End rant, I'm just very upset.” [AnnaElisabeth]

By all accounts the performance was a roaring success with Coldplay performing Charlie Brown and Paradise and 'Chris Martin', #coldplay and 'Guy Berryman' all trending worldwide on Twitter, meanwhile the forum smashed its online users record.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcb_hM-Gi-Y]Coldplay's glowing gig - The X Factor 2011 Live Final - itv.com/xfactor - YouTube[/ame]

This was a sentiment echoed by Roadie 42 who wrote of the performance:

“Now, I’m as cynical and sarcastic as the next person (in fact on a good day, I’m as cynical and sarcastic as the next five or six people…) but I couldn’t help but be proud of the fellas last night. They haven’t just got away with it - merely turning in a decent performance at a controversial choice of show. They’ve taken a risk and then they’ve absolutely “smashed it” (to coin a phrase…)”

Coldplay feature in Guardian article, appear on The One Show, various radio shows to talk about their work with The Kids Company/Under 1 Roof

Coldplay featured in an article by The Guardian previewing their upcoming Under 1 Roof gig and detailing their extensive work with The Kids Company:

“Martin and his band members used the money they had saved over 10 years to fund the creation of the Kids Company's Tree House centre in north London. They have given the organisation a substantial annual, no-strings donation every year since: in 2009 alone they donated £1m. In addition, they are frequent visitors to the charity's various centres: in the spring the band played a private concert for the children, encouraging them to take part. Martin has shared mealtimes with the children, played basketball with them and donated a piano. He admits, however, a certain ambivalence at having ended his private support. "We wanted to put on a concert for awareness as well as fundraising. But the great thing about doing it privately was not having to talk to anyone about it," he said. "Eventually people find these things out but … when entertainers become public supporters of charities it's dangerous territory. You have to be careful about talking expertly about something you're not an expert on."

Chris also did the rounds promoting the Under 1 Roof gig on various radio shows including Steve Lamacq on Radio 2 and Geoff Lloyd on 6 Music.

(Chris was so dazzled by his altruism he was forced to wear sunglasses in the middle of winter!)

Will joined in on the fun for BBC 1’s ingeniously titled “The One Show” (no doubt to keep an eye on our lovable motor mouth on live primetime TV :P) In addition to talking about Under 1 Roof the pair also discussed the infamous tambourine lady from the Little Noise gig and Chris’s impressive unicycle skills in The Paradise video.

The appearance once again saw "Chris Martin" trending worldwide.

Myloxyloto.com, Xylobands and the Start of the European Arena Tour

December 3rd saw the start of Mylo Xyloto tour at Glasgow SECC and the first full outing of the new, multicoloured Xylobands (previously previewed in Madrid)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLQjhdNSErE]Coldplay glowbands - Glasgow SECC - 3 Dec 2011 - YouTube[/ame]

The following day at the Manchester M.E.N gig early bird fans were invited to s̶l̶a̶v̶e̶ help out backstage with opening, organising and counting the bands in exchange for shelter from the cold, early entry into the arena and signed photographs of the band, this continued for the remainder of the tour.

The start of the tour also saw the mysterious http://www.myloxyloto.com (apparently registered in 2009) finally revealed:

Initial visits to the site promised the digital content would be available on Monday 4th December…

:wacky:

Seems the mulled wine was free flowing in the Coldplay web team offices… :drunk:

The content became available on Monday 5th December and included handwritten lyrics, the Mylo Xyloto song icons and an exclusive backstage video from the Manchester show:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtQg21gQ9tk]Manchester 4.12.11 (Digital Tour Pack Video) - YouTube[/ame]

The tour itself began with the additions of Daylight and What If to the setlist, What If remained pretty much a staple however Daylight bit the dust after a Manchester (perhaps due to a slight butchering of the beginning :P). There were one or two setlist changes during the tour (including Don’t Panic and Christmas Lights)

However despite hints from Roadie 42 and various reports of it being heard in soundchecks DLIBYH never saw the light of day and the setlist remained pretty much the same throughout :lipsrsealed2: :whistle:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCXQGz0BA88&feature=channel_video_title]Don't Panic at The O2 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpunx9lcopU]Coldplay - Daylight - Live @ The MEN Arena Manchester - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePu83PsFl2A]Coldplay - What if - live Manchester 4 december 2011 - HD - YouTube[/ame]

We also saw the ‘X’ ramp (also used in Madrid) become a permanent fixture:

Used much like the ramps on the Viva tour, ie. for Chris and Jonny love, as a second stage for slower numbers and of course for Chris to run and jump and collapse upon throughout the show. The X stage also came complete with a disappearing piano:

Finally it seemed not content with wearing shoddy costumes themselves (:P), they inflicted them on their loyal roadies with these oh so fetching Mylo Xyloto boiler suits:

(sure hope the Christmas bonuses were fat this year…)

Tour Dates Announced: North America and Europe

Mid December saw Coldplay announce 2012 dates for a North American arena tour followed by a stadium tour in Europe two days later.

High demand of both sides of the Atlantic led to a further 9 dates in North America and 2 dates in Europe being added.

Charlie Brown Video(s)

We got what we thought was a sneak peak at the Charlie Brown video on December 7th:

Happy memories of playing this song at festivals over the summer. 'Proper' Charlie Brown vid coming later... youtu.be/aq-7UBc3BPk Love Will

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq-7UBc3BPk&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL]Coldplay - Charlie Brown (Live) - YouTube[/ame]

However when news began trickling in from the video shoot it quickly became apparent we were getting a very different video indeed! Not one with the band hanging out in Japan as the first video suggests, but rather one with 50+ dancers splattered in neon paint wearing Xylobands:

The Sun newspaper even lead us to believe that the dancers would be topless and had been offered £100 more if they were prepared to whip their bras off!

However, the maker of the Xylobands, Jason Regler tweeted this that this wasn't actually true:

He also stated the video is due for release in the new year.

One off gigs: Dingwalls for Radio 2 and Under 1 Roof at the O2 Arena

Dingwalls

Late November Coldplay announced that they would be returning to Dingwalls in Camden to record a special Christmas gig to be broadcast on Radio 2.

Dingwalls, of course, was the venue hired by Phil, whilst he was their manager, for a show on 25 May 1998. The money raised that night helped pay for the recording of the band's first release, The Safety EP.

Tickets were to be applied for via Radio 2 and the lucky 200 selected would see Coldplay up close and sweaty on the 6th December to be broadcast on the 15th.

The set was somewhat shambolic, with two false starts it was necessary to reshoot the entire introduction, entrance and MX/HLH at the end of the gig. There were also a fair few curse words, bum notes, giggles and quips about having more cousins than the capacity of the venue...good job it didn't go out live!

Despite everything they pulled it off and the gig was broadcast via radio and Sky TV's Red Button on 15th December:

Caught Live: Coldplay @ Dingwalls (The Sun)

COLDPLAY last night returned to the tiny London venue they played 13 years ago as an unsigned band raising cash for studio sessions. Flyers for their 1998 Dingwalls gig billed them as The Coldplay, tickets cost a paltry £4 and only a handful of people showed up. By contrast, more than 60,000 fans applied for free entry to the band's Radio 2 show at the 500-capacity club last night. And they proved that size – and, in this case, concert revenue – doesn't matter to them as they embarked on an exhilarating set. Frontman Chris could have solved the UK drought crisis alone if he'd bottled the sweat he shed throughout the gig. "We're supposed to be a professional band for f***'s sake," he said after several false starts before opening tune Hurts Like Heaven. He explained it was a struggle for them to "acclimatise" to playing such a tiny place, telling the crowd: "I've got more cousins than this where I come from."

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVsBeoVKq3U]Coldplay - Full Concert (Radio 2 In Concert, 2011) [HQ Audio] - YouTube[/ame]

Under 1 Roof

Coldplay's much publicised Under 1 Roof charity gig, featuring Emile Sande, Tinie Temper, Rob Brydon and Alan Partridge took place at London's O2 arena on 10th December.

As well as performances from all of the above (including an almost complete Coldplay set) fans were treated to one or two surprises along the way.

Comic Rob Brydon returned to the stage to join Chris in a Tom Jones-esque rendition of White Christmas by Bing Crosby:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfKowcMm1t0]White Christmas - Rob Brydon and Chris Martin Viva La Vida live - Coldplay - YouTube[/ame]

Then during the encore Coldplay's very own Christmas Lights was interrupted by Alan Partridge who came on and chastised Chris Martin for being so morose at Christmas time, what followed was a hilarious debate about religion and the meaning of Christmas. The pair then agreed to team up and sing their version of Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hcEaa6rZVU]COLDPLAY 'CHRISTMAS LIGHTS' & 'LITTLE DRUMMER BOY' DUET w. ALAN PARTRIDGE @ O2 ARENA, LONDON 2011 - YouTube[/ame]

Paris Photoblog

December 14 saw another Coldplay.com photoblog and of course another thread full of rabid, crazed F5'ers tied to their computers all day watching it all unfold.

This time Anchorman and co accompanied the boys to Paris to watch them perform at the Bercy, and of course feed us pretty pictures of our precious...

:P

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5URw4DJKOzs&feature=player_embedded]Paris Viva chant 15.12.11 - YouTube[/ame]

Mylo Xyloto Pop-Up Edition Finally Ships

After being delayed from 12 December to 19 December the pop up edition of Mylo Xyloto finally shipped and arrived in the mailboxes of Coldplayers around the world just in time for Christmas :santa:

Kind Coldplayer load created a gallery of excellent shots of the album for those Coldplayers not yet in possession of one:

Mylo Xyloto named as Album of the Year by The Sun

The Sun Newspaper's Friday Entertainment Section (Something For The Weekend) named Mylo Xyloto as their album of the year. The news came complete with an interview with Chris:

"The unusually titled Mylo Xyloto – the fifth album from music giants Coldplay – was the sound of a band with a new confidence. And it's rightfully Something For The Weekend's number one album of 2011. "We're SFTW album of the year — that's fucking incredible. Come on!" shouts Chris Martin down the phone, en route to a show in Paris. "I don't know who bribed you and I can't believe we beat Adele. But it's definitely not because of our album title because no one can still pronounce it!" he laughs."

Coldplay's Annual Christmas Greeting (plus a bonus one from Oxfam on Tour)

This year we were treated to a pro-shot performance of Christmas Lights taken from their Berlin gig on 21 December:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI_w6a8UfXw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL]Christmas Lights (Live in Berlin, 21 Dec 2011) - Coldplay - YouTube[/ame]

Additionally Oxfam on Tour (who accompany the boys around the world and blog in support of their Grow campaign) shared a wonderful video of Coldplay performing White Christmas, also taken from the Berlin gig, as they explained on their blog:

"Coldplay have been so impressed with the GROWing numbers on our fan wall that they decided to reward fans and supporters of the GROW campaign by gifting Oxfam an exclusive video if we could reach 3000 by today (Friday). And thanks to you guys, we hit the 3000 mark early Thursday!"

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KDBF0sX5QE&feature=player_embedded]Oxfam on Tour presents Coldplay's White Christmas - YouTube[/ame]

Coldplay to Score First UK Number 1 Single of 2012?

Amazingly, according to mid week sales data Paradise is on course to be the first number 1 single of 2012, given that Paradise was released in September this is quite a feat!

"The Military Wives Choir may have held the No. 1 Christmas single but Coldplay has knocked them out of the top spot mid-week. Coldplay’s “Paradise” has peaked at No. 1 on the midweek charts, with “Dance With Me Tonight” by Olly Murs coming in at a close second. Coldplay had to contend with the likes of Rizzle Kicks, LMFAO, Labrinth, Rihanna, Flo Rida, Little Mix, and Ed Sheeran to reach the coveted spot." Newsquod

Coldplay themselves seemed to be completely unaware of their impending achievement as it was only after they retweeted our tweet that they caught on :P

We'll know tomorrow at 7pm GMT whether they manage to do it.

Coldplay to Play NYE Gig in Abu Dhabi

Tonight Coldplay will play a New Year's Eve gig in the UEA capital (which according the NME.com will pocket them a cool £1 million):

"Presented by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and brought to the capital by FLASH Entertainment, the band will perform live at a unique venue adjacent to the purpose-built ‘Volvo Ocean Race Destination Village’ on the Corniche Breakwater – where the Volvo Ocean Race will take place from 31st December 2011 until 14th January 2012."

Technically I should've waited until the Abu Dhabi gig was done before I posted my review, however I will be um...indisposed then so will come back and edit tomorrow (or realistically, Monday :drunk: :P)

Meanwhile there has been a few articles in the lead up to the gig with Chris, Jonny and Guy all speaking to various sources.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVAkeBaIQx8&feature=player_embedded]COLDPLAY to kick off VOLVO OCEAN RACE & New Year Celebrations Abu Dhabi - YouTube[/ame]

And the best of the rest...

Kelly Clarkson apparently can't read, but enjoys Coldplay

DigitalSpy vote Coldplay Best Rock Band

Calgary Herald don't care about being cool

Chris Martin has great taste in men

You Me At Six have great taste in bands

The Sun make a bad pun about Coldplay and Rihanna at The Brits

Coldplay auction meet and greet for Dutch Fans, Platinum Disc and a Pencil Drawing

Prospekt Dies

Roadie 42 Blogs

Blog #156 - #42 gives us the inside line on rehearsals for the arena tour

Blog #157 - #42 reports back from the first two arenas shows and the tiny Dingwalls gig