I’ve collected some videos of the live performances of Clocks so far on this tour: one video per concert. Take a listen and pay attention to Chris’s voice. The first four lines will probably suffice. I added some timestamps to the links for convenience.

 

(Argentina, 31 March)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=CyjXwgSvRRw;t=27

(Argentina, 1 April)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=ris566TYIOE;t=22

(Chile)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=Y5kBSiuWmt0;t=27

(Peru)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=RXodQ0aypg8;t=22

(São Paulo)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=N4KZfHaZp9k;t=26

(Rio de Janeiro)

(Colombia)

 

Thoughts?

 

Edit: this doesn't seem to be the right subforum, I'm sorry. Perhaps someone could move the thread up one level in the hierarchy? Fixed, thanks AMDB9!

are you suggesting he's lipsyncing?

I can't be bothered to watch all of these vids trying to figure out what you find interesting :awesome:

Definitely seems like it, to me at least. If you're not convinced, the "oohs" near the end of the song sound exactly the same too. I guess it's being done because of his worsening voice, which I can somewhat understand, but it's sad nonetheless.

Edit: this doesn't seem to be the right subforum, I'm sorry. Perhaps someone could move the thread up one level in the hierarchy?

Done

Still not sure what to be listening for? I'm usually good at picking up on when they're lipsyncing and such but it doesn't seem like Chris is in these videos?

Huh. Those all do sound very similar--you can really tell with the first "oh" and the way he says "apple." Hopefully his voice hasn't gotten strained to the point where this becomes a standard thing!

i really don't think so. how many times has he sung this song that i don't think the first verse sounding very similar is unbelievable. but if anyone is really interested, they should compare the bridge on wards for similarities. but i don't have the time nor interest to :)

I'm not very happy to say it, but I think he's lipsyncing. I know all the changes he makes in Clocks, in every song actually, and seems very strange that he doesn't make any changes...of course it could be because of the rehearsals, but still. And I almost confirmed it in a very particular part of the song when he comes defased, in the "yoou" at 2:58 in the first Argentina show, 3:26 in the second show, 3:18 in Chile, 3:24 in Peru. If you guys notice it I think there's no doubt about it. We hope this is momentary because of some sort of problem with his voice. Have a nice day.

^ ditto. I dont want to believe it, but the evidence speaks for itself. In the many, many, MANY live versions that we've all heard, we know that chris has at least a little bit of variation between each show. But with these videos that OP posted, they all sound exactly the same. Disappointing yes, but now i'm more concerned about Chris and his vocal health. He's not hitting Hymn for the Weekend well. He's not hitting Army of One well. He seems gassed in all the shows i've seen him in lately. And now this....Well, he has a month off of tour to reevaluate, and perhaps readjust his live shows so they aren't too taxing on him.

Ok, I'm more on the side that he's not lip syncing...

 

I know this much: In every video above where he sings "Oh and I beg" he sings the I on the beat (so there is a little bit of syncopation). However, on the last video (Colombia) he sings the beg on the beat (so no syncopation). He holds the I longer in the other videos. So that's a little variation there.

 

There's probably more, but I would need more time to listen through them.

I really don't want to believe this. Coldplay are such an amazing live band that this seems completely counter-intuitive. Chris must know in the age of camera phones and social media that this will obviously be picked up on. Either he A) Doesn't care (which doesn't seem like Chris at all to be honest) or B) Has some serious vocal issue.

 

Of course this is Coldplaying.com so there will be posters who will deny until the cows come home but the evidence is very damning. All you have to do is listen for variation on certain word pronounciations from video to video (You find there is none) or sync (No pun intended) the videos together and play them at the same time.

 

It begs the question what other songs is he also lip-syncing? Surely if he can't hit the notes on Clocks there's not a hope in hell he can hit the notes in Fix You? I'll have to do some more investigating but if he's lip-syncing Clocks to protect his voice one minute and jumping up and down belting HFTW the next that shows a certain attitiude to the older music........

I don't know about this. If he is lip syncing that is quite sad even if he's voice is strained (which is understandable). I mean I might have to believe it since for all those videos he's nailed to "youuus" in falsetto which he's never done especially with his fatigue voice and him getting older

Very worrying if true, which seems to be the case.

Ok, so I just listened to all the videos, segment by segment, and I must say Chris's voice in every segment sounds identical (except the little part which I mentioned in my above post--I don't have an explanation for it). It's very unlikely that this is a coincidence, so now I'm fairly confident that this is a recording of Chris's voice playing.

 

I used just my ears for this. I'm not sure if there is technology to check this, since each video has different background noise and occasionally even different instrument music (guitar, piano).

 

I have to say this is super-duper interesting...

Now that more full song listens and comparisons are coming out, it really is worrying if that's the case. The thing is, you can see that most of the concert is very interactive and live. I haven't watched all the generally performed songs live on this tour, but seems like this is the only song where Chris' is tucked away from the ordience without much interaction. (And the lack of interaction with the audience is damning too). If coldplay are doing this, and just for one song, Chris voice might really be suffering/strained. And this tour is turning out to be a very long and exhaustive one too! Maybe that's part of the reason.

i check it for myself, and yes :( it sounds to much identical. But to be sure, we need recordings from two different concerts recorded with the same camera or audio recorder at the same place with the same volume, to delete the phase. its hard to explain for me in english, sry ;)

I really hope this is just a temporary measure because of bad voice conditions... It would be a real shame if this became the norm because of his voice getting strained.

just listened to it... and it does look like he is! if you listen to "shoot an apple off my head" sounds exactly the same.

Hm,this is worrying. I hope after this tour the band goes on a small hiatus so Chris' voice can rest(and so the whole band can get to spend more time with their families). Even though this will make me a little sad because I hope to see them live soon someday I think this is needed.It's logical for this to happen after him singing for so many years and having so many concerts without really having any time to properly heal his voice.I just hope he manages to make it through this tour(because it seems like an exhausting one) and then finally take some time to take care of himself!

^yeah, theyve only been on tour for about a month. After another month off, they'll be going 'til September at least non-stop.

I just find this extremely disappointing more than anything else.

I just find this extremely disappointing more than anything else.

Me too. I am very sad and disappointed. Something I could never accuse Coldplay of was faking their live performances, but now I kind of feel cheated. What have they come to ? :(

Me too. I am very sad and disappointed. Something I could never accuse Coldplay of was faking their live performances, but now I kind of feel cheated. What have they come to ? :(

I Ran Away, did you get to watch these? I haven't, but I know you are very observant. This is so sad, assuming it's true. I really am worried about how Chris will make it through this tour. We've all heard of cases where singers can't make it through a tour. I hope he takes care of himself.

I Ran Away, did you get to watch these? I haven't, but I know you are very observant. This is so sad, assuming it's true. I really am worried about how Chris will make it through this tour. We've all heard of cases where singers can't make it through a tour. I hope he takes care of himself.

 

I haven't watched the entire videos but compared different lines and to me they sound the same :(

I also compared it to my own video of Clocks in New York City, and I was relieved to hear that this performance at least was real !