12 Coldplay Months Of 2013: July (in which Bakery discussions get rather hot)

[suzanafg]

July (in which Bakery discussions get rather hot)

 

Continuing March's full month of charity work, in July, Chris took part in two charitable events. July is also the birthday month of our dear Will. In 2013, this month also saw the celebration of Parachutes’ 13th birthday. The highlight of the month though was Bakery-related discussion and visiting reports.

 

A Curious Night at the Theatre (July 1st)

 

 

Keeping the band’s long-term involvement in charity work, July kicked off by Chris taking part in the fundraising gala A Curious Night at the Theatre, an event organized by the English actor Luke Treadaway and director Katy Rudd, along with the The National Autistic Society and Ambitious about Autism. The name of the event, which took place in July 1st, is a nod at the stage adaptation of the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Written by Mark Haddon, the novel, among other things, references various forms of autism.

 

The night centered on a new version of the play, but also included stand-up comedy and musical acts. The latter group was joined by Chris, a surprise guest. He was reported as having played acoustic and un-miked renditions of Viva La Vida and Paradise. He also donated £10,000 to the event, which raised over £100,000 for the aforementioned organisations.

 

 

Chris’ performance was described as follows (x):

 

Mel [Giedroyc – hostess of the event] had teased all evening about a special guest, giving clues such as they like hummus, and the person sees a GP an awful lot. Imagine the surprise from the audience when on strolled Chris Martin with a guitar! He performed two songs – Viva la Vida and Paradise – without a microphone, during which his trousers came undone (cue anecdote about them doing the same thing when he performed with Rihanna) and the audience joined in when his voice cracked on a high note. He informed everyone that so far an enormous £83,000 had been raised, and he wanted it to reach £100,000 by the end of the evening.

 

Check more reports and photos at the main site and at the forum.

 

Whizz-Kidz Awards (July 10th)

 

Whizz-Kidz is a “UK charity that supports young disabled people with mobility equipment, life skills and campaigning and leadership tools” (x).

 

In July 10th, the organisation held its annual edition of The Kidz Unlimited Celebrating Achievement Awards, which “celebrates the achievements of young disabled people across the UK” (x).

 

 

Chris participated in the event by presenting Conor McKenna with the Inspirational Young Person award, a category that acknowledges commitment and contribution to Whizz-Kidz.

 

Chris expressed his delight in being able to take part in the event (x):

 

Thank you so much to Whizz-Kidz for letting me be come and be part of this very special event – in a place my dad always wanted me to work, but I never could make it! It’s an honour to present the amazing Inspirational Young Person of the Year Award to Conor McKenna. Having lost so many awards you wouldn’t believe, I can tell you to be nominated in itself is amazing – so well done to everyone.

 

Commenting on Chris’ participation, Ruth Owen, Whizz-Kidz’s Chief Executive, said:

 

Whizz-Kidz is honoured to have been joined by Chris Martin […] to celebrate young disabled people’s hard work, talent and dedication to their communities. Our annual Kidz Unlimited Awards demonstrate the fantastic role models young disabled people can be for their peers and other youngsters.

 

Later on that day, Phil also commented the event via Twitter:

 

chris and i met some truly inspirational kids at whizz kidz awards today. including nathan who runs this site: http://www.accessibleleeds.com PH

 

See the full discussion at the main site and at the forum.

 

Bakery pilgrimage discussion

 

Ever since the band studion location was discovered, fans have been regularly visiting it, hoping to meet the band there or, at the very least, to get to know the place “where the magic happens”.

 

In July (continuing the pattern already present in "]June), one of the Coldplayers who visited the Bakery was mayurshikotra, who brought back some news on the progress of the recording of what is to the band’s sixth album. He reported his meet-up with Will as follows:

 

Got there just before 12. There were people coming in and out of bakery and beehive. About 20 min of waiting I saw a bike come in to the bakery drive way. I looked around so see who it was and was Will. Wasn’t sure if he was going into to their or beehive so waited and he came out on to the street. I asked if I could take a picture and he was very kind and took one with me and asked him to sign my AROBTTH and MX cover. I then asked how new album was coming along and he said good. And when I asked him about when they think its going to be out he said he wasn’t sure but hopefully next year. He was just about to leave and I quickly asked him about Car Kids and he said it was on the back burner at the moment BUT they may rethink it soon. After that he said thanks and left.

 

(Check his full report and photos here. Photos from other July Bakery meet-ups are linked here.)

 

After the end of their MX tour, the band had been spending a lot of time at their headquarters. No wonder then that we witnessed an increase in the visits to the Bakery and the Beehive (to mention only those places and to mention only actual visits…). This triggered the discussion forum as to whether or not the fan-visiting was getting rather excessive.

 

Under this general theme, various discussion threads emerged. Some of our Coldplaying fellow members emphasised the importance of raising awareness to the issue, while others doubted that abstract discussion could cause any change in the actual behaviour of Bakery visitors.

 

Still others argue that Coldplay fans that visited the studios were friendly and respectful, so that the increase in Bakery and Beehive traffic wasn’t cause for concern. A variation of this idea was that Coldplay members, when meeting fans didn’t seem to mind it. As a matter of fact, the band were thought to be quite happy during the encounters. The conclusion drawn from this was that the visits weren’t threatening to get out of hand.

 

On the other hand, it was underlined that the band’s politeness and consideration couldn’t really be taken as a necessary sign that some lines hadn’t been crossed. In the same extent, it was pointed out that some fans were indeed going many extra miles by waiting for the band for many hours at their workplace and/or by going there repeatedly.

 

Although the discussion hasn’t reached a proper conclusion, the poll results suggest that most of Coldplaying members think that it’s advisable to take a step back when deciding to visit the Bakery and Beehive and attempt not to disturb the band, even though they might not seem to mind it.

 

Double birthday: Will and Parachutes

 

To round things off, July saw the celebration of two birthdays. It goes without saying that in July 31st, our favourite drummer-multi-instrumentalist-all around talented-bright-lovely Will Champion completed 35 years old.

 

 

Prior to that, on July 10th, Coldplayers celebrated the 13th anniversary of Parachutes (x), Coldplay’s debut album and a definite fan-favourite.

 

A very happy birthday to Parachutes, which was released 13 years ago today! A pic.twitter.com/WzYwdQXyrt

 

 

In a nutshell, there were some worth-mentioning events in July 2013, most notably, the debate on fan behaviour regarding visiting Coldplay's workplaces, the importance of which is highlighted when we consider that the pilgrimage doesn't show any sign of abating.

[suzanafg]

Oh, damn, I forgot to correct the title of the thread to "in which Bakery discussions get rather hot". Could it be done, please?

 

One day, I'll do reviews without making any silly mistake, but not today :P/:disappointed:

[Tash]

Oh, damn, I forgot to correct the title of the thread to "in which Bakery discussions get rather hot". Could it be done, please?

 

One day, I'll do reviews without making any silly mistake, but not today :P/:disappointed:

 

Fixed : )

[Black Rose]

Nice review Tash :-)

[Tash]

Nice review Tash :-)

 

Don't you mean Suzana? ;)

[Black Rose]

Yes I do.

[suzanafg]

Fixed : )

 

Thank you!

[Coeurli]

Great review!