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[9-Sep-2012] Coldplay @ Paralympics Closing Ceremony, London, UK (please post your reviews for Wiki,

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beans

beans

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I really enjoyed the closing ceremony. Thank you very much to my fellow Coldplayers for keeping me awake. I am very glad to have shared such a wonderful time even though we are all over the world. I hope we will get together some time in the near future soon.

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kittybitty

kittybitty

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Since I'm in the US, I could only watch the live stream--did Brits get to watch on TV? There was nothing at all about the entire Paralympics in the US, it's kind of shameful.

 

Our boys were brilliant. It was the kind of venue and production they deserve, and they put on the show that the athletes deserve. I thought I was going to cry at UATW. I'm really glad I got to see it.

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robsmith7

robsmith7

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Here's my review:

 

First of all, what a privilege it was to have been inside the stadium tonight. It was fantastic to have seen Coldplay perform what has to have been the most important gig of their lives.

 

And what a setlist too! After seeing the leaks online I knew they'd be taking a centre stage, but I don't think anyone expected a full 16 songs! Not only that, but it was great to see a few of the lesser known songs played, especially the comeback for 42.

 

Being in the top tier it wasn't easy to get a close-up view of the band, but tonight was more about taking in the whole spectacle, the stadium filled with lights, wonderful imagery and of course, the music of Coldplay throughout.

 

Unfortunately the Xylobands were limited to just the athletes on the field, although of course the pixel squares behind every seat provided more than enough colour. That being said, it was a shame that the announcer told everyone to remain seated during the ceremony; I had to curtail my instincts to jump up at every Coldplay song!

 

The crowd were of course not a Coldplay crowd and so some songs were met with more excitement than others. Interestingly, Clocks got one of the loudest cheers of the night; suggesting it's still one of Coldplay's most recognisable songs despite the success of Paradise and Viva La Vida. Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall was the only song for which the whole crowd were standing, and despite not being my favourite Coldplay track, it worked perfectly as a closing song.

 

Thankfully I think the Rihanna and Jay-Z collaborations worked really well. I especially liked the version of Paradise with Jay-Z. Hopefully we might hear more it?

 

On a final note, a man I started talking to on the way home mentioned he had seen Coldplay before at Wembley and then talked about the LeftRightLeftRight album. I said I had been at the Wembley gig too but hadn't managed to grab a copy of the free CD. He then said he had a few spare copies, and would be happy to give me one! It turned out he works literally a minute away from my house, and so he gave me his business card so I could visit him to collect the CD!

 

All in all it was incredible ceremony. A proud night to be British, a proud night to be a Coldplayer.

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TraceOddity

TraceOddity

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Adam White ‏@AdamWhite144

 

@coldplay That was immense!!! Especially my all time favourite song...Yellow... #Paralympics http://pic.twitter.com/099bwl1q

 

11cfhbp.jpg

 

miE_O ‏@miE_O

 

Paralympics Closing Ceremony Coldplay Rihanna Jay Z| E! Online http://www.eonline.com/news/344416/paralympics-closing-ceremony-coldplay-rihanna-jay-z @eonline

 

Rodriigo ‏@rodriigoepf

 

I liked a @YouTube video http://youtu.be/iUrSjeJoYr4?a Coldplay - Charlie Brown (Live from Paralympics closing ceremon

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TraceOddity

TraceOddity

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(I haven't checked these out yet.)

 

janebuckeye ‏@janebuckeye

 

@pipsytip A link to Paralympics closing ceremony pictures. There might be some Coldplay pics in there. ;) http://www.buzzfeed.com/steampunk/the-epic-paralympics-games-steampunk-closing-cerem-3n9d

 

EDIT: There are a couple of nice Chris/RiRi pics in there. And lots of the acrobats etc.:)

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TraceOddity

TraceOddity

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Paralympics 2012 closing ceremony – music review Olympic Stadium, London

 

Paralympics 2012 closing ceremony – music review

 

Olympic Stadium, London

 

 

 

Alexis Petridis

The Guardian, Monday 10 September 201

 

Paralympics-2012-Coldplay-008.jpg

 

It was hard not to approach the Closing Ceremony of the Paralympic Games with some trepidation.

 

The equivalent event at the Olympics had felt slightly underwhelming, perhaps because no spectacle could possibly live up to the athletic spectacles that had preceded it, partly because the air of mystery surrounding what was going to take place led people to expect a surprise that never actually came: if you'd listened to the wild talk of appearances by David Bowie and Kate Bush and holograms of Freddie Mercury, it was hard not to be even more disappointed when it became apparent what you were actually going to get was Jessie J.

 

The latter issue was circumvented here by announcing who was going to be performing in advance. Nevertheless, you didn't have to be one of those people who thinks Coldplay are the cloven-hoofed musical emissaries of satan himself to have been slightly concerned about how appropriate a booking they were.

 

On one hand, they are one of the biggest bands in the world – a suitably global success for a global event – they stir vast stadiums full of people for a living, and it is a churlish character that claims they are anything other than very good at it. On the other, the key piece of music at the Paralympic opening ceremony – the track that seemed to hit on something vital about the Games to come – was Orbital and the Graeae Theatre Company's retooling of Ian Dury's Spasticus Autisticus, a song that is brutal, startling, furious and many other things that Coldplay's music are not. Thanks to their ubiquity on TV soundtracks – tinkling away as someone departs The X Factor or the DIY SOS tells their tragic back story – a lot of their songs have become musical shorthand for "oh, isn't it a pity", designed to elicit sympathy for whoever is on screen. The Paralympics have incited a vast array of emotions in viewers, but pity isn't among them, as anyone who caught a glimpse of the frankly terrifying wheelchair rugby will attest.

 

As it turned out, their set got better the more upbeat it became: the triumphant arena-filling guitar riff of Charlie Brown seemed to fit the event more than the more ponderous ballads, while it would take an effort almost as superhuman as the athletes had put in over recent days not to be moved by their collaboration with the Paraorchestra on Strawberry Swing, -– one of their loveliest songs, its melody boasting a subtlety that the bands' detractors would have you believe they don't possess – or the crowd singing along with Viva La Vida while fireworks exploded and confetti fluttered from above.

 

The staging meanwhile, felt noticeably darker, less cosy and self-congratulatory than the Olympic closing ceremony. There was a lot of stuff with fire and steampunk costumes, rusty vehicles cannibalised from old cars and farm machinery and people pretending to be crows on stilts.

 

A seasoned festival-goer might note that it all had a whiff of the kind of thing you see at 3am in the outlying fields at Glastonbury: a definite improvement on the Olympic closing ceremony, which carried a whiff of a bad night at the Brits.

 

In the event that you felt bored by Coldplay, there was always something to distract your attention: ice skating, high-wire artists dangling from motorbikes, aerialists twirling from bunches of oversized light bulbs that sprayed out fire, people running out of the mouth of a giant fish carrying huge cardboard cutouts of insects on sticks. There was interpretative dance, which was nowhere near as disheartening as interpretative dance to Coldplay looks on paper.

 

The same was true of Rihanna's solo appearance. We Found Love is a decent pop song that's become rather a victim of its own success: one way of giving it some added interest in the teeth of its ubiquity is to have her perform it while flying around the stadium on what looked like a vast garden swing.

 

The other special guest was Jay-Z. With Rihanna and Coldplay, he played Run This Town. Not the most obvious choice, but recontextualized by its surroundings it felt weirdly appropriate: as anyone who visited London during the Games and noted an almost tangible sense of excitement in the air knows, that's precisely what the Paralympics appeared to do.

 

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/sep/10/paralympics-closing-ceremony-coldplay-review?CMP=twt_gu

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TraceOddity

TraceOddity

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Paralympics get rousing send-off

 

090912-OLYMPICS-paralympics-closing-ceremony-LN-PI_20120909194752925_660_320.JPG

 

Updated Sep 9, 2012 7:53 PM ET

 

 

LONDON (AP)

 

Coldplay and Rihanna rocked the Olympic Stadium to give the biggest-ever Paralympic Games a rousing send-off Sunday night, wrapping up an unforgettable summer of sports in London.

 

Jay-Z joined the three-hour party at a packed 80,000-seat arena that has played host to memorable moments across both the Olympics and Paralympics.

 

Honoring the spirit of festivals throughout British history, the show gave the world a chance to celebrate 11 days of Paralympic competition that have shifted perceptions and shattered stereotypes.

 

Central to the ceremony - called the ''Festival of the Flame'' - were the 4,200 Paralympians from 164 nations who encircled the field of play from the start, waving flags and taking in the extraordinary atmosphere.

 

''I think it's been an absolute triumph from start to finish,'' said British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose disabled son Ivan died in 2009. ''I think back to Ivan. As every parent, you think about all the things they can't do, but at the Paralympics they are superhuman, you see all the things they can do.

 

''It's been a golden summer of British sport.''

 

The 2012 Paralympics have broken all records, with 2.7 million spectators cramming into venues and more than $70 million raised in ticket sales - both unprecedented figures as the British public displayed a previously unseen enthusiasm in the 52-year history of the Paralympics.

 

The games were broadcast in more than 100 countries.

 

The wide exposure introduced the world to Paralympians such as Dutch wheelchair tennis player Esther Vergeer - who extended her nine-year unbeaten streak to 470 matches by winning the women's singles - and David Weir, a wheelchair racer who won four golds. It also cemented the reputation of iconic double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius.

 

In total, 251 world records were broken over the 11 days.

 

''I think people are going to look back at this Paralympic Games and for the first time really, truly believe that Paralympic sport is not just inspirational, it's hard-core sport,'' said Pistorius, a South African who became the first athlete to compete in both games and won two golds in the Paralympics.

 

A moving tribute to wounded British servicemen and members of the British army opened the show. Luke Sinnott, a captain who lost both legs from above the knee in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2010, hung the Union Flag at the top of flagpole in the middle of the stadium and the extravaganza kicked off.

 

Proud flag-bearers from all competing nations marched in before a motorcade of 25 trucks, in a variety of shapes including peacocks and fish, stormed the stadium and kick-started Coldplay's set list.

 

Top-selling hits like ''Clocks,'' ''Viva La Vida'' and ''Paradise'' were belted out by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, with artistic director Kim Gavin keen to reflect the four seasons at the heart of the show.

 

''Being asked to play at the Paralympic closing ceremony in our hometown is a huge honor,'' Coldplay said. ''We can't actually imagine a bigger honor.''

 

White confetti rained down as snow, black crows on stilts encircled the stage, flaming butterflies swirled in the air and a flying motorbike driven by highwire artist Laszlo Simet with disabled dancer Lyndsay Adams powered across the stadium.

 

''Being at the Paralympics is the biggest honor,'' said Rihanna, dressed in a flowing orange gown. ''These athletes are gladiators and are a true inspiration to me.''

 

She sang ''We Found Love'' while swinging high above the stage, a performance sure to give her insurer a heart attack.

 

Such was the global attraction of performing at the closing ceremony that organizers were able to turn down approaches to appear. Rihanna, Jay Z and Coldplay - acclaimed artists who have sold millions of records among them - were being paid a nominal one pound ($1.60) to play.

 

The ceremony was to finish with the cauldron - made up of 200 petals - being extinguished, ending the games in London and passing the baton to Rio de Janeiro for 2016.

 

''On Aug. 29, we opened with the theme of `Enlightenment,''' said Sir Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee. ''Tonight, we are enlightened and armed with a superior knowledge of what can be achieved. The legacy of these games will be long-lasting.''

 

Mary Zakayo, a Kenyan javelin thrower and shot-putter credited with changing the face of Paralympic sport in Africa, and Michael McKillop, an Irishman who won two middle-distance golds in the Olympic Stadium, were chosen as the athletes who best exemplified the spirit of the games. They earned the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award.

 

Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/coldplay-rihanna-jay-z-london-paralympics-closing-ceremony-090912

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