London fan reviews & photos (part 10): Coldplay at Wembley - Friday 18th September 2009 (feat. COLDPLAYERS!) - Articles

We are now on to part TEN (knew you guys had it in you!) of the Wembley fan reviews, this time with stories from Coldplay's first concert on Friday 18th September. Some great reviews of the two Wembley shows have so far been published at the Coldplay Live forum with still more being added. Thanks to all the Coldplayers who have contributed with tweets, pictures, videos, reviews and of course masses of discussion so far. You can browse the 18th Wembley thread at this thread (all 118 pages of it!) Please add your comments if you have something to say about the show. So, here is the promised TENTH edition, and to celebrate double figures all the photos will feature the Coldplayers!

Ok, so I know it's almost a week late and maybe the wiki page is full of insightful reviews, but well, you cant' stop my fingers from typing! For this show I chose to sit and be able to relax before the show (the "chicken&chips" though pricey were yummy) and be able to have a beer. And thank God I could go and hide in the bathroom for most of Girls Aloud. I'd never heard or seen White Lies before this, but they were great; I came home and bought the album! So CP gets the points they lost by having GA open by introducing me to WL. JayZ..... I'm not a hiphop fan AT ALL, but by the end I was bouncing along with the rest of the crowd...he really has a gift for getting everyone into it. GA was terrible terrible, as you could tell from my tweets. The only reason I can come up with why they were chosen is that when it came time to set up this gig, the guys had been on tour for a while and were horny as heck, so first girls they saw, Chris was like--BOOK 'EM'!

So, the main act. I all of a sudden started getting super nervous/anxious in the minutes leading up to Cp coming on. It was finally here---the moment I'd been waiting 10months for!!! For the whole show I was very emotional realizing that one of my dreams/goals was actually coming true. It's very surreal to say "one day I will go to London, and will go watch my favorite band in their "hometown," and then for it to actually come true!!! Fanfuckingtastic. (I broke down hysterically during The Scientist, like gagging/coughing I was crying so hard, and then didn't sing a beep, just soaked it allll in--I'll never forget that moment) Another crazy/great thing was hanging with Ian(well for a bit, until he DITCHED me&Joe for C-stage) If it weren't for this site, the past year of my life would've been so different in so many ways; because of coldplaying I've made wonderful friendships and met so many lovely people, and hell I'd never just gone to London on my own, if the cpers meet up hadn't been happening. So Bossman...you rock!!!! The show as always was so much fun, and seeing the fireworks was amazing. Those big screens were awesome! I was able to get good vids (well better than I normally do!) just shooting them directly. My pics would've been better if I'd have a steady hand but I think I managed some decent shots... Ok, that's it. I'm spent! The Wembley/cpers virus has got me good, I need to go rest after posting this! [thanks cookymnstr]

well, I was there from 12 or so onwards but I had a book and music so it was alright. the fact that I was waiting to see Coldplay made it all fade away and the concert itself.... it's always cool if there are people you know to enjoy it with but honestly? I can't imagine having a better time than I already had.... since it was PERFECT!!! Jay-Z was amazing. I also liked White Lies..... I knew some of their songs so it was so cool I got to see them life! Girls Aloud was not that great for me.... had to endure it to get what I want^^the funny and absurd thing was that this one girl next to me said to her boyfriend after White Lies [she had never heard of them before] "well, they're not very original are they?" but she went mental when Girls Aloud played! it seems like quite a few people were there for Girls Aloud rather than Coldplay can't wrap my head around that anyways..... Girls Aloud are SO original, yes, indeed. I'll stop here.... don't wanna offend anybody but that made me laugh so hard when I heard her say that^^. Coldplay shouldn't make a shorter setlist because of Girls freaking Aloud! wtf?! that doesn't even SOUND right!! loool yeah there were several SCREAMERS when Girls Aloud was on stage..... I was standing there, like frozen in place, enduring my fate, telling myself "it's over soon. it has to be. then Coldplay will come on stage. focus. zen-place. zen-place". Needless to say the concert was absolutely amazing..... this was my first Coldplay concert and I spent the whole weekend in my head, pretending I was still there Friday was the worst actually 'cos I was looking at the time thinking "I got there at that time yesterday...... this is when I got in..... this is when I reached my perfect place in 2nd row...... they're probably on stage right now *aaaaah*..." [thanks maccassidy]

I liked White Lies too! I know most of their songs pretty well and they were also in Nijmegen (supporting CP). They played a shorter set in Wembley, which was a little disappointing... especially because they had to make it shorter because of Girls Aloud. And yeah, there were lots of (too many) Girls Aloud fans. There was also this (I assume, gay) guy who went completely mental when GA came on and sang along with every song. Amsterdam is a great city, lots of tourists, lots of shops, lots of water, lots of drugs! [thanks Stefan-C8]

OK finally home and rested and have uploaded my pics and videos. Friday was just amazing. I think I was almost as excited about Wembley Stadium as I was about Coldplay. I so wanted some grass off the pitch but the flooring was locked down. squeeeee it's Wembley. Anyway. We got there early. I had bought the tickets for the first night so I went to queue at the box office while everyone else went and got in the different queues so we could have someone in each line til we found out which line we had to be in. Ian soon joined me at the box office. The ticket companies really screwed the pooch on these shows. Turns out it was all for nothing as it didn't matter how early you lined up as much as which line you were in or rather which crew was running your queue because although we were right at the front of our queue, our gate wasn't let in as quickly as others, so we ended up 6 rows back. White Lies were good. I have heard some of their stuff but didn't know that much about them. Their singer turned out to wayyyyyyyyyy prettier than I expected. Girls Aloud. I see why no one in the US has heard of them. What a pile of kack! I didn't think anything could be worse than the pussy cat dolls, but I was so very wrong. The ginger one is a man, I am almost sure of it. I think the fact they kept talking shit about how everyone came out to see them was the worse part. NO ONE CAME TO SEE YOU ****S, GET OFF THE FUCKING STAGE!. The colors...it was like an Easter Egg exploded. None of them can sing. None of them can dance. WTF! How could William Champion allow this to happen?

Jay Z was just out of this world fucking awesome! He had the crowd in an instant and really worked the crowd. Just brilliant. Coldplay was their usual brilliant selves. I was a bit worried that Chris would still be sick especially since he came out with the scarf on, but I thought he sounded great. Down sides: The security on this night was lame. People smoking all around us. We had to beg and plead for some water. Someone pissed in a cup. But the worse part was the guy next to me smelled like a dead fish. Not a little smelly, but the most putrid thing imaginable. Finally I couldn't take it any more and had to move back because it was making me sick. I had to wash the inside of my nose with toothpaste back at the hotel to get the smell out. I didn't shoot my usual amount of pics and videos because I just wanted to enjoy these last two shows. [thanks TheAngie]

After a wonderful night spent along with a lot of Coldplaying and Coldplayzone users, i woke up at 6.30 with a sentence in my head: 'TODAY WE DO THE HISTORY'. So, i tried to organize everything to be in the very first line. In five minutes i'm in a store to buy cookies and water for the queue waiting moment. And then in the Tube, trying to reach Wembley as soon as possible. I was feeling excited! Due to some technical problems, i had to go out of my tube line 1 km far from the stadium. Doesn't matter: 'TODAY WE DO THE HISTORY'. The group is Gabriele (Coldplayzone's webmaster), his great friend Giovanni, Simone (.:Fix You:. on this board) and me. The best fellowship i could ask for. At 10 am i'm in the queue, entrances B or C. I'm the 15th, more or less. There there's someone from Coldplaying yet: airieslady from Orlando (i took a photo with her to demonstrate how a passion is strong to every italian on Twitter), a nice girl from Alaska (i don't remember the nickname, sorry, but she was with her mom) and Jiamin and her friend. And obviously Denise Iriden, the most important roadie for Coldplayzone (12 gigs attended during this tour).

Thanks to Barbara and Jiamin, we started to give the yellow glowsticks to anyone in the queue. The majority of the people don't know how it works, probably they didn't read anything on Coldplaying or Coldplayzone. Shit! By the way, at 3.50 we started to reach Wembley GA. Excitement in all the ways! At the end, i'm in the second line along with my fellowship proud men and a lot of italians. Chris is in the very first line. Happy to see him there! White Lies moment: absolutely great! The drummer is awesome, but in general they will be the best opening act of the night. Girls Aloud moment: only a question: Why Girls Aloud had the chance to perform in Wembley? They're only four top models and one singer, stop! Jay-Z moment: for R&B and hip-hop lovers, i think he's a god! Very good singer indeed, i have to say the truth. But i want Coldplay there, 'cause TODAY WE DO THE HISTORY! And, after Blue Danube (a lot of arms thru the sky), they are there! Life in Technicolor guitar startet to be played, and 80.000 were in the seventh heaven! Best moments: In My Place chorus, too big! - Glass Of Water, great performance and great images on the big screen - Simon Pegg - Politik, absolutely the best live song in the best gig - Jay-Z recognize myself during the final credits thanks to my paper crown! - Viva La Vida first note after Postcards, i think that if someone has to die, it's much better to die on that note! Worst moments: mistakes during The Hardest Part (as always happened) - GPASUYF/Talk section, a shit for every Coldplay gig IMHO - too far from Coldplaying users - Jay-Z featuring on Lost! [thanks coldpatrix]

Rap superstar JAY-Z stunned his pal CHRIS MARTIN on Friday (18Sep09) when he joined the rocker and his band COLDPLAY onstage during their London concert and began wrestling him to the ground. The Run This Town hitmaker, real name Shawn Carter, has been entertaining fans as the support act on Coldplay’s current U.K. tour - but he had a surprise in store for Martin when the Violet Hill stars performed at Wembley Stadium. According to reports, Jay-Z appeared on stage as Martin was playing a song on the piano and embraced him in a bear hug before playfully tackling him to the floor. The friends rolled around on stage before Martin managed to climb to his feet and resume his set. A source tells OK.co.uk, “It was a strange moment, Everyone went wild when Jay-Z joined the boys on stage but seeing him grab Chris away from the piano and on to the floor was a bit weird to say the least.” But that wasn’t the audience’s only surprise - Star Trek actor Simon Pegg also joined Coldplay at their London gig and showed off his skills on the harmonica during the band’s rendition of Trouble. Jay-Z and Martin have been close friends since collaborating in the studio together in 2006 and the pair is regularly spotted out on dinner dates with their respective wives Beyonce and Gwyneth Paltrow. [via: http://blog.taragana.com]

I just can’t believe that exactly a week ago I heard the “Ladies and Gentlemen, the turnstiles are now open” announcement!! It’s another world… a great one!!! I think I'm addicted to concerts now... Friday morning I picked up Perrine at the train station and we made our way to the Bakery as it was Perrine’s only possible “time slot” to go there. Guess who we met? Maria and her husband! London appeared so tiny already after accidentally bumping into 3 coldplayers on Thursday! We had a lovely time walking to the tube station together and talking in about 3 languages at once. We went back to the hotel, dropped Perrine’s bag in my tiny (but hey, it was clean!!) hotel room and waited for Carol and her friend to arrive. Just minutes after checking in the 4 of us were on our way to Wembley! I had bought Frank’s spare pit ticket on Thursday and gave my other ticket to Perrine. This way she could see the concert and we didn’t have to make plans for her what to do during the concert! Once arrived we briefly said Hi to all the lovely people in yellow shirts and Noelia and me sat down on my yellow blanket in the queue. Perrine, Carol and her friend stayed with us, which was nice as they had seats and had to go to a different entrance later. There was music being played through the speakers outside and I started dancing there already. Josh from Australia approached us and spent some time in the queue with us.

Noelia, Joe, Ian and me wanted to enjoy the concert from the seats… best decision ever. Everything was so relaxed! Most people wanted to stand in the pit anyways which gave us the free choice of where to sit down. Later we were joined by Barbara as well! The time passed so quickly until White Lies came on stage!! I really really liked them the first time already and bought their CD on Sunday before the picnic. Before I went to work today I bought my ticket for next month’s concert near my town to see them again!! And it’s a small venue this time… Can’t wait to go there and sing from the top of my lungs “Let’s grow old together….”. Noelia and me even went down in the pit during their set to dance a little. A visit to Kirsten et al. at the C-stage made Ian and me think... there was still enough space! So before Jay-Z went on Ian and me went to the C-stage!!! That was one great decision. It was funny to get to know some fellow smokers as well. We kept the poor security guys busy… but it was so funny when there was a shot from further back during Jay-Z’s set: Soooo many clouds of smoke. I was hugely surprised about myself just how much I enjoyed Jay-Z. I guess I annoyed some people coughKirstenandIwonacough with my dancing. Sorry girls, I liked it!! Especially “Empire State Of Mind”. During the break I prepared my text message to Chavi, I promised to write when Magnificient comes on… but there wasn’t. So I edited and texted when the Blue Danube was being played… Means it’s time for the boys to come on stage!

To be honest I just started listening to the LRLRL CD to help my brain come up with some more memories. I can only say that I enjoyed myself a lot and to see the animations during Glass of Water from further back was just awesome. I filmed Yellow completely… so funny with the X-Factor bit! Oh and it was a great relief to see that the crowd was into it. Nothing compared to Saturday in my opinion but then I wasn’t at the same spot on Sat! Around VLV it became more and more crowded around the C-stage… so I didn’t get that much of Lost+ as I would have wanted but what was about to come was worth it though! Ian said he’d take pics so I filmed the C-stage. Maybe you’ve seen Iwona’s video of Jackie checking out Kirsten’s banner, this is when I started filming as well. It was so surreal to see them walking up to the stage directly in front of us! But then the big disappointment came: They were barely audible. All the sound came from the front!! Which means that we could hear the actual sound of their instruments but not really what it was intended to sound like. And I won’t upload that video until I found a good video of someone else to replace the sound with.

I know many of you wanted to hear them play Trouble but I just don’t like that C-stage version. Any other song would have been better in my opinion. But that’s the only negative thing I want to say. It was over all too quick! Ian and me said bye to the others and went back to our seats where Noelia and Joe were. You two are the best!!! It was great to see the last part of the concert together with you! What is stuck in my mind the most is Joe saying “OMG I love this song so much” when Lovers in Japan started. During the Scientist I just made way for allowing Noelia and Joe to cry together. After the concert we went outside and it was so funny to see OUR girls handing out the LRLRL CDs!! My friend Patz was working at Wembley on both nights, so funny! She had wristbands which allowed her to walk around in all levels with the date printed on and although she didn't get WHY I wanted to have them... she gave them to me. It's a nice souvenir. She liked the concerts as well btw. It was so funny that you could spot people with VIVA bags or T-shirts all the time, wherever you went in London - there was someone around who had been to a Coldplay concert! [thanks SueDeNimes]

The third trip to Wembley Stadium this year for a gig, and this time for three acts I don't actually own a CD by them. A weird mix granted but we got there in time for Girls Aloud. The High def big screen did them no favours, all members over made up and manky skin. However, they have great pop songs opening up with Sound Of The Undergroud and the great 'Sonething Kinda Ooh!' with a cover of the Pretenders I Stand By You sandwiched between they were good fun. Jay-Z on the other hand has a style of music I just don't get. He wanted the audience to bounce in a triangle shape in each song and therefore I spent most of his set near the bar! (bargain £4 a pint!) Coldplay have some good tunes but Chris Martin, the singer, is just so objectionable. In the audience participation bit at the end of Yellow, a Simon Callow from X-factor clip was shown on the big screen, something that no doubt seemed hilarious in the pub didn't quite work in practice. There was a b stage which we got right down the front at and here they played a cover of Billie Jean with actor Simon Pegg on harmonica. Good but ultimately fairly bland was my overall verdict. Hats off to the chiltern line however meaning we had time for a late beer in Marylebone! [via: faceofcheam.blogspot.com]

We had two bitches trying to aim for the barrier pretending to be GA fans but, once on second row, claimed they were there for Coldplay..everyone started complaining and at the end security told them they should go back or be pulled out, great team work other than that there was no pushing at all, just people jumping and enjoying themselves. [thanks iriden]