12 Coldplay Months of 2012: April (In which Chris and Jonny fly a kite)

[zzz]

 

April: In which Chris and Jonny fly a kite

 

Unfortunately for me, April was a busy, busy month for the band. Especially with the Mylo Xyloto world tour kicking off in Canada on April 17th! Something everyone had been waiting for. The band played 8 shows across Canada and the US that month.

 

April 17th: Rexall Place, Edmonton, Canada

The first show in Rexall Place, Edmonton, Canada was an instant hit and received very well among fans and critics:

 

 

Fucking. Amazing. Another night to remember as I was at the last concert they had here in 2009. Both amazing shows. .....Warning Sign totally caught me offguard, HUGE smile on my face! [thanks Escapist99]

 

GigCity: Time stopped for the few fleeting moments we were with Coldplay. Ninety minutes, to be precise. It’s such a shame for us to part, but we have no other choice but to share them with the rest of the continent for the rest of the year – but we still got them first.

 

7 more shows followed filled with lasers, balloons, mx shaped confetti and how could I forget, the awesome view of glowing xylobands that by now is burned into the mind of every coldplay fan around the world.

 

18/4 A lovely review of last night's Edmonton show - http://t.co/AWXBR8pY A

 

I could review all those shows,but that would probably get boring so I’ll go for the Anchorman approach: In April the band played several show in which they performed lots of songs, the crowd went crazy and it didn’t matter if it rained because all shows were indoors.

Let’s have a cool picspam of these shows instead :P Here are some pictures hand-picked by yours truly.

 

8 Coldplay shows in pics:

 

 

 

 

 

Tweets

The band also enjoyed the shows, which resulted in lots of tweeting (we all love their personal tweets, don’t we? :heart: )

 

16/4 Waking up in Edmonton, Canada .. The new tour is ON. Need suggestions for acoustic bit in middle of the show. PH

16/4 swallowed in the sea.. One of my all time favourites. I'm gonna make it happen! PH

16/4 I'll be amazed if Chris remembers how to play see you soon. But it d most definitely be great. PH

16/4 lovers in Japan acoustic, good call!

17/4 This was coming into Canada. Very excited about tonight. We have the best audience in the world. Thank you. CM http://t.co/Np5KROVg

 

 

17/4 Three handsome men and a singer rehearsing... CM http://t.co/2ofEYRJY

 

 

17/4 Mylo Xyloto world tour kicks off today. Make it loud #Edmonton! PH

17/4 #coldplayfilm coming later this year. our first concert film since 2003. but where to film it? PH

17/4 would LOVE to come back to south africa, very happy memories from 2011 PH

17/4 mexican crowds are hard to beat...PH

17/4 Atlanta midtown festival was pretty much my favourite show last year PH

17/4 Guess we really are in Canada now, eh? A warning sign in Edmonton. R42 http://t.co/9Rs7Ptnp

18/4 Falling in love with #Metronomy here in Edmonton. PH

18/4 Edmonton you have my total love and respect . What a great night. PH

18/4 Thank you Edmonton for giving us a great start. Also check out "How Do I Know" by Here We Go Magic. I love it. http://t.co/Ree34CaK CM

19/4 Fucking love Canada PH

20/4 R.I.P. the wonderful Levon Helm. Listen to The Band "I Shall Be Released". http://t.co/CMidIGBS CM

20/4 RIP Greg Ham. You gave the world something great. PH

21/4 These Canadian crowds just get better and better #bestjobintheworld PH

21/4 SPARKS = good call. Not out of the question ! PH

S21/4 Tour going great! Now the jetlag has subsided it's even better! Guy

22/4 O Canada, our home from home out west. True, you have proved that your audiences are the best. W

23/4 Happy earth day from San Francisco. CM http://t.co/K74NIHKK

23/4 a fan of ours 'chuitar' is a york city fan & made this to help them at wembley. it's almost as good as the original http://t.co/ZeKXEiF1 CM

23/4 Something beautiful http://t.co/0YfpHHzb PH

24/4 On golden gate bridge. CM http://t.co/yIiJFV0S

 

 

25/4 PORTLAND! thanks for giving us a fucking amazing start to our US tour. I'm buzzing. PH

25/4 Soundcheck in Portland, Oregon. JB http://t.co/zcFC8JgB

 

26/4 Guitar sounds. Seattle Key Arena. Right now. R42 http://t.co/Jkm1RS5B

 

27/4 Jonny and kite. CM http://t.co/VW84xGor

 

27/4 Kite-flying with Chris, San Francisco. PH http://t.co/J8yg6fqC

 

28/4 What? Never seen someone dressed as a lion dancing to Metronomy before? Right now, San Jose. R42 http://t.co/xTwuSaHO

28/4 Congratulations to the Saints, back where we belong, at last. W

29/4 check this out, kanye is getting younger http://t.co/tWVWNtLS CM

 

 

Interview: Paris, Coldplay's artist in residence

 

 

In April Coldplay posted a two-part interview with their artist in residence Paris, the graffiti artist behind the Mylo Xyloto artwork.

You can read the entire interview here http://t.co/AC4cKPw4 and here http://t.co/i6OJg0Gd

 

 

 

Coldplay announce performance at KROQ Weenie Roast in May.

 

Anchorman announced that the band would perform at this year's 20th Annual KROQ Weenie Roast y Fiesta on Saturday, 5 May, at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, California.

Check out May’s review for any news on that.

 

 

 

Madrid UNSTAGED show up for Webbys

 

Coldplay were up for Best Event/Live Webcast at @TheWebbyAwards for the Madrid UNSTAGED show. We could once again vote, so again we voted like there was no tomorrow. Sadly they didn’t win though. So just let’s forget about this whole nominee thing.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BU-1ukQ3vo&feature=player_embedded]Coldplay - Fix You (UNSTAGED) - YouTube[/ame]

 

Paradise video reaches 100m views

 

 

The adventure of the unicycling elephant aka the Paradise video had been watched 100m times in April! What an incredible achievement!

 

Of course you’ve already seen it 100m times, but just watch it once again:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G4isv_Fylg&feature=player_embedded]Coldplay - Paradise - YouTube[/ame]

 

 

 

 

7-inch release for Record Store Day

 

To celebrate and support this year's Record Store Day, Coldplay's label, Parlophone, released a series of limited vinyl records. One of those releases was a 7-inch single of Up With The Birds / U.F.O. - of which just 2,000 copies were available worldwide, distributed amongst the participating independent record shops.

Congrats to all those who managed to get a copy, which wasn’t very easy for many!

 

 

 

 

Coldplay up for Billboard Music Awards

 

Coldplay.com reported that the band had been nominated for three awards at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards. They were up for Top Group/Duo, Top Alternative Artist and Top Rock Artist. The ceremony took place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Sunday 20 May. Check out the May review to see if they won any of these nice and shiny awards.

 

 

 

Capital Summertime Ball appearance

 

 

Coldplay.com also announced that the band would perform at this year's Capital FM Summertime Ball, on June 9th 2012. It would be a busy day for the band who were also playing their own show at Manchester's Etihad Stadium that night. Helicopters would probably be badly needed. Check out June’s review for more details.

 

 

Metronomy interview

 

For the first few shows of the North American tour, Coldplay were joined by terrific UK electronic popsters Metronomy. Coldplay.com interviewed the band's bassist, Gbenga Adelekan.

You can read the entire interview here:

http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=939&page=120

 

 

Roadie #42

Roadie #42 was also still alive, even though we almost thought he had left us for the happy hunting grounds since his last blog dated from March 9th (although later he left us hanging from august until november (!!!!!) without a single blog :angry: (I hope you read this Mr. 42)). Luckily he was still alive and left us 2 great blogs in April. :P

 

#42 reports on the first shows of Coldplay's North American tour

 

Roadie #42 blogs from the very first show and leaves us a pretty but psychedelic video:

 

You can read the entire blog 167 here

 

 

 

 

#42 and the joys of an off-stage band member

 

Roadie #42 talks about the tour taking off, Phil and the trend of fans making videos during the concert.

 

You can read the entire blog 168

here

 

 

 

 

Dry Your Eyes ft Chris Martin - The Streets

 

There was also some blast from the past news about a song Chris recorded with rapper Mike Skinner from The Streets in 2004 (holy crap). The Streets frontman Skinner recorded a version of his track ‘Dry Your Eyes’, featuring Chris on vocals, in 2004 but people who think they are important at EMI blocked its release. Skinner suggests the executives were adamant the track was no good and Chris Martin disliked his voice on the song - and they were vindicated when a different version was released as a single and hit Number One on the UK chart.

 

In his newly-released memoirs (hence the new reports probably), Skinner states, "When I wrote ‘Dry Your Eyes’ I thought the chorus would work well with Chris singing it, so I sent it to him. We met up in Primrose Hill (north London) and recorded the vocal, which I was really pleased with. But then the guy from EMI said he didn't think the song was a hit, and Chris didn't like the sound of his own voice on it, so that version got pulled."

 

Have a listen if you haven’t heard the version with Chris yet:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2clk5xPxJYc]Dry Your Eyes - The Streets feat. Chris Martin - YouTube[/ame]

Do you think it’s better than the original version without Chris?

 

 

 

I Don't Want You to Die ft Chris Martin - The Flaming Lips

There was also more collaboration news in April. This time not talking about an ancient song, but a song for The Flaming Lips record: “The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends”

 

Wayne Coyne from The Flaming Lips said: "Yeah, we've known Chris Martin since "Yellow" went to number one in the UK. As the years have gone on, me and him have made an effort to stay in touch. When we were finishing up this compilation, I just texted him and said, "Hey man, we should try to do something." I sent him a song that sounded like it could be a Chris Martin-type of song-- you know, it had piano chords on it, and it was sweet and sad or whatever. Five hours later, he'd recorded this thing on his phone and sent it to me. You'd think someone like Chris Martin would be like, "We have to set up studio time," but he just did it right on his fuckin' phone and sent it to me.

When we were mixing Heady Fwends, all these people were at the Grammys-- Chris Martin, Bon Iver, My Morning Jacket. But even on the night that Chris Martin was at the Grammys, during rehearsal with Rihanna, I was sending him mixes back and forth saying, "What do you think?" He'd make little comments and sent them back. I didn't realize he was even at the Grammys until I started seeing tweets like, "Hey, you know Coldplay is going to win." I'm like, "Win what?"

 

The track in question is called: I Don’t Want You to Die.

 

“The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends” arrived pressed on two high-quality, multi-color vinyl discs housed in separate custom art jackets and poly bagged together. Each disc looked different. The double album was limited and being released exclusively for Record Store Day.

 

Below you can see a video which shows part of the recording process and a small clip of Chris covering The Flaming Lips during the Viva tour:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4saGwlVkV4]Flaming Lips' Heady Fwends Sessions - "I Don't Want You To Die" - YouTube[/ame]

 

And here you can listen to the entire track (including Chris’ fanboying at the end):

[ame=http://soundcloud.com/slowonerveoaction-4/the-flaming-lips-i-dont-want]The Flaming Lips - I Don't Want You to Die (featuring Chris Martin of Coldplay) by Slow?Nerve?Action 4 on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free[/ame]

 

Do you like the collaboration with The Flaming Lips? Vote in the poll.

 

 

Interesting downloads

 

 

2012-04-27 HP Pavilion, San Jose, CA, USA [AUDIO FLAC]

2012-04-26 Chris & Jonny Interview on ET Canada [VIDEO]

 

 

 

And that’s a wrap for April. I hope you enjoyed reading and do check out tomorrow’s review!

 

Disclaimer: I apologize for any grammatical or spelling mistakes. It has probably been a decade since I wrote anything this long in English so my English writing skills have grown a very long beard in the meantime. :lol: :santa2:

[busybeeburns]

fantastic review of April, thankyou! :D :D

 

I voted for the R#42 blogs as they were an endangered species this year :lol:

[suzanafg]

Wow, so many lovely tweets in April! Thanks for the review :D

 

If there was a poll for favourite moment in the review itself, I'd choose "I’ll go for the Anchorman approach" :lol:

[Batman]

This little thing you did there is freaking adorable:

 

[Raphaele]

thank you:)

[Texasluvsjonny]

Jonny and Chrissy out flying their rainbow kite in San Francisco. How poetic! :dazzled:

[lili_pt]

Thanks for the review :nice:.

I really love the kites thing and I was wondering: wasn't there an answer from the Oracle where it was referred that the fact that they were wearing their MX clothes for the kites meant that we were going to learn something more about this in the future? Somehow I got this idea but please correct me if I'm wrong.

[zzz]

Thanks for the review :nice:.

I really love the kites thing and I was wondering: wasn't there an answer from the Oracle where it was referred that the fact that they were wearing their MX clothes for the kites meant that we were going to learn something more about this in the future? Somehow I got this idea but please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

There was indeed a question for the oracle about that:

 

May 9, 2012 - submitted by Eline, Belgium

 

Q. I saw photos of Chris kite-flying. Does he always wear the MX-shirt? I thought it only was for concerts. Have a nice day! BTW: setlist is great! Please come to Belgium!

 

The Oracle replies:

 

The only time the guys wear stage gear is for on stage, video shoots, photo shoots and interviews. I would put money therefore on those photos being taken at one of the above - but obviously not a live show.

[zzz]

Wow, so many lovely tweets in April! Thanks for the review :D

 

If there was a poll for favourite moment in the review itself, I'd choose "I’ll go for the Anchorman approach" :lol:

 

haha yes, that was a bit of an inside joke for those that were in the review thread :laugh3:

 

This little thing you did there is freaking adorable:

 

 

Thanks! :cheesy:

[nancyk58]

Thank you for an amazing review.

 

 

I find the Paradise video absolutely amazing so the fact that so many have viewed it is absolutely :elephant:astic - and got my vote, but I was close to going for Chris & Jonny flying a kite.