[18-Nov-2012] Coldplay @ Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia

[Tash]

 

This is my video of Charlie Brown - sorry, don't know how to make it show up in here, so have linked it. I have watched it about a million times since Sunday night and I still cry every time. Please excuse the fact that it starts off sideways - my friend was filming it using my phone so I could enjoy the song.

 

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsSukjq0VCQ[/ame]

[saralovescoldplay92]

Any chance someone could post the setlist? I looked through the entire thread, and I didn't see it.

 

I make concert posters for my tumblr, and each include a setlist. If someone could post it, I'd be eternally grateful! :D

[Tash]

Any chance someone could post the setlist? I looked through the entire thread, and I didn't see it.

 

I make concert posters for my tumblr, and each include a setlist. If someone could post it, I'd be eternally grateful! :D

 

1 Mylo Xyloto

2 Hurts Like Heaven

3 In My Place

4 Major Minus

5 Lovers In Japan

6 The Scientist

7 Yellow

8 Violet Hill

9 God Put A Smile Upon Your Face

10 Princess Of China

11 Up In Flames

12 Warning Sign

13 Don't Let It Break Your Heart

14 Viva La Vida

15 Charlie Brown

16 Paradise

17 Us Against The World

18 Speed Of Sound

19 Clocks

20 What A Wonderful World/Fix You

21 Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall

[Tash]

Mosh pit: Coldplay

 

 

If you ever wondered how stadium rock should be done in the modern age, a visit to the Allianz Stadium at the weekend would have provided the answer. Brit-rock four-piece Coldplay not only pulled out all the usual stops - fireworks, giant inflatable balls, truckloads of confetti - but also took things to the next level by giving every punter a wristband that lit up or flashed whenever the band decided to activate them, simultaneously creating unforgettable sights and making everyone a part of the show. Combine those visual and physical pleasures with frontman Chris Martin's engaging banter and Coldplay's redoubtable stream of anthemic, crowd-pleasing songs (Yellow, The Scientist, Fix You, Viva la Vida and Paradise, to name one from each album) and you have one of the most spectacular, large-scale concert experiences you could hope for.

 

link

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[anniea89]

4 days too late, I know, but my internet decided to go awol as soon as I got back from the show. Just my luck lol! I just wanted to say that is was an amazing show. I had the biggest smile on my face the whole time.

 

Will add pics later.

[Jenjie]

Unity sweeps around a stadium if Coldplay is performing in it. Their music appeals universally, and that togetherness isn’t something only heard, you can see harmony in the hallucinogenic colours of their show. It’s a language of love the band expresses at every stop along the path of their Mylo Xyloto Tour. Their concert is a masterpiece, scaled larger than life, one that beautified Sydney’s Allianz Stadium on the windy night of November 18.

Being seated among 50,000, discerning a trend in the crowd was impossible. You could see children who knew the band’s lyrics with as much certainty as the frolicsome adults with field tickets did. Coldplay brings the demographics together. The five gigantic, ring-shaped screens that structured their stage made comparing the enormity of their spectacle to an Olympic ceremony even easier.

A triumphant orchestral score from Back To The Future accompanied the quartet’s steps on stage, before no time was wasted in switching on a display that was surely designed to melt hearts. Everyone’s bracelet, strapped to the wrist upon entry, responded to a signal, making them flash. Suddenly a fish bowl of dancing light became of the venue. Fireworks then sparked up a cracking atmosphere for Coldplay’s jumpy kick-starter, Hurts Like Heaven, the most recent single off their newest album, in which the tour’s title and set-list borrowed generously from.

All these effects in excess didn’t serve their purpose solely as an impressive opener; instead they forecasted what joyous, rainbow weathers the audience was yet to see. Lasers soon lined the sky, oversized balls bounced upon our hands and sometimes unexpected heads and inflatable pink shapes floated high. But most breathtakingly of all, jets fired inexhaustible amounts of confetti into the sky, and with the evening’s natural winds, created a swirling origami wind storm of which lead singer, Chris Martin, was often the enigmatic eye of.

If the band had all this going on, perhaps their musicianship was compromised, but the visuals surrounding them matched the mastery of their primal talents. Once every confetti piece had landed and the quartet sneakily appeared on a smaller stage at the audience’s rear, void of special effects and clad with simply their instruments, you could hear how perfect things still were. The swaying ballad, Us Against The World, tingled the spine with intimacy. But going to a Coldplay concert to focus purely on musicianship isn’t the point, their influence has evolved them beyond that – the quality is expected and executed, often without praise.

Coldplay is a big fish in the mainstream of music because the theme of inclusion in their work is inescapable. That was obvious when their most familiar songs, Yellow, Viva La Vida and Clocks were performed, all sounding like the rock anthems of life they truly are. Particularly the thumping, revolutionary themed Viva La Vida. Hearing the audience echoing its howling chorus made you feel a part of something colossal.

Martin caressed every heart, seated or standing, with his self deprecating wit and humble humoured nature, explaining to us he’d met a youngster during his Australian stay that declared Coldplay good, but “not quite as good as Angus Stone”, a sentence he cleverly sang into the honestly written Warning Sign, a set list selection pleasing fans that weren’t simply there to sing-along to the hits. Another sweet surprise came as he sang the opening lines of Same Cooke’s Wonderful World over the opening chords of their tear-jerker ballad Fix You. It was easy to believe the world he was singing about was what Coldplay had created and contained within the stadium alone.

Coldplay makes you feel good. If any indication of that were needed, it came in the form of elated concert-goers that flooded the streets after the concert, running with arms outstretched, or couples piggybacking each other along Paddington’s footpaths. All were yelling the famed lines from Coldplay’s Paradise, and a paradise it was. [thanks Matthew Harden] [2]

[Jenjie]

Sure it’s true that for some people, it has gotten to the stage where it’s cool to hate Coldplay on account of their shameless attempt to be the biggest rock band in the world – but who cares especially if they produce songs that can be universally appreciated by the masses. As was the turnout, completely packing Sydney Football stadium, from the very young to the elderly, and Coldplay were exactly where they were meant to be.

Shortly after the lights went down, the show began, as fireworks erupted from the stage, the oval was showered with confetti, and the stadium lit up with each audience member’s wristbands, flashing in sync. It was difficult not to get caught up in the lights and sound that was Coldplay, as they played one of their singles from Mylo Xyloto, Hurts Like Heaven. And if this wasn’t enough, they then unleashed the elaborately decorated giant balloons, and lasers during Major Minus. The energy was high throughout the entire evening – the band were clearly enjoying themselves. It was hard to tell whether the audience or the band were happier to be there. their songs brought infectious smiles towards the audience, especially The Scientist and Yellow. A more rock-oriented version of God Put a Smile Upon Your Face was played, which worked very well. There was a good mix of newer and older material, including Warning Sign also from A Rush of Blood to the Head, a nice contrast to how much the band’s sound has changed since their early days. The audience couldn’t wait to join in at every possible opportunity, singing along with Chris Martin to Viva la Vida, and Paradise with not a care in the world.

The encore was played on a smaller stage in the midst of the standing audience as everyone on the floor scrambled to get a good view. Us Against the World and stripped down version Speed of Sound were both played beautifully. Returning to the stage, they played Clocks, a heartfelt Fix You, and finished off with the more upbeat Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, which was accompanied by a final display of pyrotechnics for the trip home, and a night well spent watching (and joining in with) a quartet of true performers. [thanks aforestfire] [3]

[Jenjie]

There is a time that comes around every few years, that time is when Coldplay tour. Recently they just completed their Australian leg of the Mylo Xyloto World Tour, and I of course was there! For those who know me, they know Coldplay is my favourite band, end of. This time I went to see their shows in Sydney and Brisbane, this blog is about the best week I've had since they last toured. First stop, Sydney.

I flew down to Sydney on Friday the 16th of November, James a friend I met on the previous tour was kind enough to let me stay with him while I was there, big thanks to James and Susan. I spent Friday afternoon getting myself to James' house through Sydney public transport, which is interesting for someone who never uses public transport, might I add Central Station is huge! Once I got to James' place we just chatted and caught up on the past few years since I was last down for The Temper Trap at the Hordern Pavillion, James also showed me his impressive music collection, one of the best I have ever seen. James had to go and see Grizzly Bear in the city so I tagged along and roamed the streets solo, winding up down at Circular Quay, it was raining all night, but something about a city as scenic and beautiful as Sydney in the rain makes it all the more pretty, romantic even.

I stood under the Harbour Bridge for the first time, it was a humbling moment, so massive, a truly amazing piece of architecture and engineering. There was a big cruise ship, the Carnival Spirit, never seen a ship so close, this baby was monstrous, like a floating city. I made my way around the other side toward the Opera House, out to the end where Coldplay were performed for Sunrise. It was quiet, hardly a soul around, but not so long ago would of been filled with a sea of people. I sat down there and watched as that huge cruise ship pulled out and left the Harbour, it was really cool to watch. I made my way back into the city to meet up with James and head back to his place, grabbing a Sydney kebab too, much better than any Kebab I have had in Queensland.

My alarm went off at 6:45am, I got myself ready and tackled the public transport system to Moore Park, where Allianz Stadium is for that nights Coldplay show, my first show of the tour. To my surprise, even at 7:45 I was the 34th person in the queue, I thought I was going to be first, how wrong was I. Turns out a girl named Mel was there from 2am! (Last tour the queue at Acer Arena was all of 3-4 people at 9am, but I have came to the conclusion that seeing as two of the four previous Sydney shows were announced later, which were the ones I attended, that the bulk of the die hard fans would of been seeing the other shows, hence why when I went I had thought people started queueing at around 9am and didn't realise that they actually queued up a lot earlier, lesson learnt) After sitting down for all of 20 seconds a lovely girl, Olivia greeted me with a sharpie in her hand, she explained that we were all doing numbers on our hands to keep the order of the queue so people couldn't push in, I thought and think that is a great idea, and it works, albeit sometimes less effective given the crowd.

I was bored out of my mind, there was no one to talk to, I was flying solo, to the left were chats of how amazing One Direction were, and to the right were people sleeping or reading, so I just sat there, counting down the hours. Soon enough the queue was stretched out to about 50 people, and venue security moved us out to line up infront of Gate A, reason we didn't line up there first was security needed the space to move in trucks and what not. I couldn't stand to be sitting there going stir crazy and plucked up the courage to talk to Olivia up the front, they all seemed to be having a good time, certainly better than me picking at the ground. This is where it was at. These were the people to know, interesting conversation, good people, the kind of die hard fans Coldplay are known for, the people I will remember and want to see queueing up in another 3/4 years.

It was a hot day, the sun beating down on us, the ground was asphalt, hot and dry. Water and food was a good 20 minute walk away, right down past the Hordern Pavillion. About 4:30 a buzz comes over the crowd, like it always does, everyone gets yet another wave of adrenaline hit their system, the queue would be over 1000 people long, the security presence builds, the tension build, because gates will soon be opened. The security team gets us ready to enter, telling us all the usual speech of not to run and all that. They start to open the gates and the crowd surges forward, your heart is beating a million miles per hour, to the left of me the crowd is stopped, but the right is open, I show the security guy my ticket and he lets me through. I'm not even looking back. I see that the crew I met at the queue are all good and I reach the turnstile, practically fumbling with my ticket, trying to get through that turnstile, there are people handing out Xylobands and they are getting slammed, I see there are about 10 people handing them out, and instead of waiting for the few people infront of me to get theirs, I just walk around and grab mine from one of the 6 or so people just standing there. Down the players tunnel and I get my Field A wristband from more people, same principle as before, get it from the person at the end and don't hold up the queue or wait behind anyone. There is the stage, there is the spot I want, and I got it, next to me is Mel and Olivia, success, time to let it sink in.

The crowd slowly increases in density, and surprisingly doesn't try to push. A first for any crowd when I have been on the barrier. The first support act comes on, The Pierces, and I like them, I probably wouldn't go out of my way to see them, but I do enjoy their music. The sun starts to fade on the horizon and the temperature drops, a chill is in the air, then red lights flood the stage and a noise swells as The Temper Trap enter, playing a set half Conditions and half from the new album, which I am personally not too keen on. They do get the whole crowed singing with Sweet Disposition, arguably their best song and last of their set. The stage is reset again and the bassy house music is turned up while the roadies prep for the main event, at one stage Bash (Will's Drum Tech) came down and I managed to score what is apparently one of 200 MX branded picks.

99 Problems by Jay-Z comes blaring from the PA, the final song before Coldplay come on stage, we are all singing along, the front row of the barrier is pinging. The video screens throw up a "Please put on your wristband, it's part of the show" referring to Jason Regler's Xylobands, the whole crowd gets the idea the band is moments away from coming on stage. The track ends, house lights turn off and the Back to the Future theme plays, concentric neon circles flashing up over the five large circular video screens. The track finishes and the band walk on and the crowd roars, Chris gets on the piano and begins playing Mylo Xyloto, the title track from the album, toward the end fireworks tear up into the sky and Hurts Like Heaven begins, everyone singing along, an amazing moment. The rest of the concert was amazing, I could go into it, but there are already some amazing reviews out there, and really, you had to be there to understand how awesome it really was.

The gig finished through a spectacular fireworks display during Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, and security ushered us all out. I spent some time after with Olivia and Mel discussing the gig, and then made the trek back into the city, me not being a city guy and not to crash hot with public transport decided to walk it, worth it too, only 30 minutes and I get to see some of the lovely architecture Sydney has on offer. Finally back in bed and set my alarm for 5am, only three hours sleep.

 

James and I got up at five and left to pick up his cousins, making it back to Allianz Stadium by 6:30am I think it was, to be fourth in line! April claiming the #1 spot and seasoned gigging couple #3,4. Unlike the Saturday barriers were already in place and we were infront of Gate A, the team at Allianz Stadium seemed more onto it. The crowd took a lot longer to build in size compared to Saturday, but it was still just as hot, no shade, no water, no food nearby, nothing. And toilets that remained ferral for a long time which meant the closest ones were nearly 20-30 minutes away, top effort guys. The concert went the same except this time I took Guy's side of the stage. This time however only 50 or so were let to stand wherever then they blocked the stage left off and let the right floor section fill up before opening up and letting the rest of the floor to fill up where we were, while they held the crowd back I managed to take this photo, quite surreal because usually you don't leave the barrier at all once you get it.

The gig went off without a hitch, April claimed an MX pick too from one of the Coldplay crew who personally came down and handed it to her! The final fireworks rained down and just like that, Coldplay and Sydney were finished, crew started bumping out the gig and we all left, with one final gig to go, Brisbane, and what an epic day that was.

 

Up we got and made the drive into Brisbane, arriving just before 4am, both April and Olivia were there along with a group who made the journey up from Hobart, it was great to be with these guys again and I had the feeling that this was going to be a day to remember. Suncorp Stadium staff were on hand all day, they had medics there, full shade over the queue lanes, food vans, cloaking, pre wrist banded and officially numbered by the staff so there was no arguments over who pushed in and no one could as each ticket was numbered. Between Olivia, April and Myself we attracted both TV and Radio attention, appearing on the Channel 10 news and being broadcasted on B105.

Bob Molden and Graeme Kan made sure all we all got in safely and in order, hats off to them both, they really made the day so stress free and one I will never forget. Bob personally walked us down to the floor and it all went like clockwork from there on. There was a great crew of us on Guy's side, April to the left of me, my Mum on the right, and Georgie and Jess next to her, Olivia and Con and the Hobart clan on the other side of the centre runway. Nothing better than having great people to chat with all day and have next to you on the barrier.

First off to hit the stage was Chris Martin himself! Introducing the support bands, great to have a little cameo appearance from him. The show was amazing, probably the best for me on this tour. Chris even sung a line from Swallowed in the Sea from Con's sign! The show wrapped up for the last time, and one of Guy's picks was thrown down, the security guard picked it up and he knew instantly who it was going to, April. Even though others tried to take it, she got it, and we were all stoked she did, if there is another Guy Berryman fan bigger than her I challenge you to find that person.

We all left the floor and I started asking everyone if they were keeping their Xylobands, because I wanted one of each colour, after many death stares and no's plenty of people didn't want them and I now have one of each colour! We saw the band leave, but they didn't stop, understandable given the size of the band now. We all headed our separate ways home, seeing each other off until another time. Such an amazing day, such amazing people. My heart goes out to these people, I have left last names of certain people incase they are uncomfortable. In no particular order.

April, Olivia, Mel, Con, Georgie, Jess, James, Susan, My Mum, Chris, Nadin, Natalie, Coldplay, Jackie Jackson, Bash & Matt, Jason Regler, Bob Molden, Graeme Kan along with Belinda and Megan from Suncorp Stadium.

 

[thanks Sam Webster] http://samwebster.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/coldplay-live-2012.html