Dusseldorf fan reviews (part 1): Coldplay at Esprit Arena (with new photos)

More comprehensive reviews of Coldplay's concert at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf that didn't make the review article on Friday morning have been posted at the Coldplay Live forum. There is also a huge review by Anna (SueDeNimes) with pictures which you can view here, and a seperate review of the 'Adventures of Kris' in Dusseldorf. Here are some more of the reviews...

We arrived at the ESPRIT Arena at 4:15 pm, but didn`t queue up, because we had seats. There weren`t many people queuing up at that time though. At 5 pm, the gates were opened, and we were interviewed by a reporter of the WDR while we went inside, so we`ll possibly be on TV this evening! (Aktuelle Stunde at 6:50 pm today). Inside we bought a tour book and some VIVA cups(You were supposed to bring them back, but we didn't). Kilians started playing and they were quite good, but the Howling Bells were terrible...

After they finished, the crew removed the curtain and prepared everything for Coldplay. Then Coldplay started playing. The sound was really good for an outdoor arena. But when Chris sang Violet Hill and Clocks, you could hear that he was a bit sick. Clocks sounded terrible, in fact. Chris' falsetto was great, but he had problems hitting the "normal" notes, and sang everything a bit to high! They also had technical problems during the first songs, but the crowd was great, and so we had a good time anyway. Even most people in the seats were standing, singing and clapping all the time.

The show got better and better. During The hardest Part and the C-Stage songs Chris sounded great, and Viva la Vida and the Encore songs were amazing, they put so much energy into their songs. Chris was talking in German to us very often, and changed a lot of the lyrics. They even played a short 30 second song about the gig and düsseldorf after Til Kingdom come! Overall, it was a great concert and it was over way too fast. We left as soon as the Escapist was playing, because we wanted to get a copy of LeftRightLeftRightLeft, they were handed out at the exit. On the way out, I was able to pick up a piece of butterfly confetti that was lieing on the ground! [thanks dasdull]

Okay, here is a short review how I got Chris' shirt. Months ago I joked with TickingClock about a banner for my concerts.We had stupid ideas like "Chocolate or bondage?" and such things ... Finally, I ordered a banner on the Internet with "Chris, please let's make a deal - you give me your shirt and I give you some chocolate?!" I didn't really believe that he would give me his shirt, but I found the text well and "If you never try you'll never know" Yesterday I managed to exist in the first row and stood next to Chris Piano. And as he sat down and began to play"Clocks", I held up my banner. He saw it, stopped short, read it again, looked at me and nodded briefly. I thought "Okay, he has seen it and now?" At the end of the concert, when all four guys came forward, I held it up again. Chris looked at me again and nodded again. The guys then came back to play the encore and I saw Chris was wearing no shirt under his jacket (the jacket was buttoned). Chris sat down at the piano and told about LRLRL and suddenly I saw Phil running at me. He held something in his hand, remained in front of me and said, "That's from Chris for you" and gave me the shirt. I must have looked stunned at the moment. I said to Phil "OMG, thank you and that's for Chris," and quickly gave him the chocolate. I held the shirt pressed close to me. The band began to play, and Chris looked at me again to see if I got the shirt. I beamed at him and screamed as loud as I could, "Thank You!" He grinned at me and sorry, at least since the moment I was definitely dead... [thanks aniskywalker]

At present there are very few rock bands with so numerous and different fans as Coldplay. Whether he or she is a schoolchild or an old rocker, whether she is a housewife or a student - who left the "Esprit Arena" after the Coldplay concert this Thursday evening had the same enthusiastic / euphoric look upon his or her face. Enchanted by Coldplay. Many fans had also travelled far in order to see and hear the band around lead singer Chris Martin "live" for the first, second or more times. Chantalle and Mariette travelled to the concert from Luxemburg, Björn and Nadine from Meschede, Natalie and Daniel from Bad Homburg. Like almost everybody else they found the long travel worth while. "The versatility of the band is beyond description", Joachim Richter from Brilon in Sauerland says very enthusiastically and continues: "The variety of the songs, the many instruments that they play, Chris Martin's charisma - simply high-class." For a long time it has not been necessary for Coldplay to be afraid of / avoid being compared to the leading forces within the music industry. Jens from Essen sees it in the same way: "Coldplay is much, much better than U2. Both the songs and the show are sensational and cannot be exceeded as regards imaginativeness." Each fan picked out his or her personal bon-bon of the evening. It could be the British band's interconnection with the fans ("fan intimacy") - in spite of the Arena being so huge - it could be the bombastic stage show, or it could be the songs' high degree of emotion (emotionalism). Or it could also simply be the good organisation inside and outside of the Arena: The trams / streetcars were running smoothly - much to the delight of the fans who got home much easier than feared. Maybe because many of the concert-goers had left the Arena before the last couple of songs - they were almost running away to make sure that they could catch a tram / streetcar. It turned out to be unnecessary as traffic was running relatively smoothly. [translated by Nancy Boysen.]