Manchester fan reviews and photos (part 2): Coldplay at LCCC (12th September 2009)

Going back a couple of weeks, there have been some exceptional reviews and photos of the Coldplay concert at Lancashire County Cricket Club on the 12th September 2009, posted at the Coldplay Live forum. Here is the second part of the Manchester fan reviews. The first part was published a few days after the concert. There will be another episode soon. Pictures below are by Jayzo...

Gig was incredible!! Was right by the C-stage and they ran straight past us. That Jackie security woman was manic, she is pretty f*cking scary! She was barking orders around at everyone. We got pushed forward just before Jay Z while they roped at bit of space off next to the c-stage but we stayed close to the barrier and the three songs they played there were fabulous. The audio wasn't great, Chris sounded so quiet but Will doing the high parts of Billie Jean more than made up for it. They all looked like they were really enjoying themselves up there, laughing and smiling and Chris looked quite cheeky and mischievous. Him singing Trouble to Will was awww cute. [thanks squareone13]

What a fantastic day,we managed to get at the front of the b-stage so had a brilliant view of the band,the only downsides where whilst waiting for the bands to come on a girl behind us sitting with her back right against my wife's legs so she couldn't move them it was only when The white lies came on that she could move properly,also flying bottles of piss one of which sprayed my wife on the shoulder on the person next to her on the head.Beside that really enjoyed the whole day and wish I was going to Wembley. Thought Jay Z was brilliant but wasn't that keen on The white lies,Oh and one other thing we didn't manage to get a cd so if anybody has a spare please let me know. [thanks hooper68]

Well my day got off to a bad start... 5.30am is never a good time to hear the alarm on a Saturday morning, but I had a date with the Coldplayers so I dragged myself out of bed, drove down a very foggy motorway and found Ian, Chris, Min, Mich, Mel & Lori outside the venue at 7.30am. They had already been there a while, I was running a bit late (bad Coldplayer ) but it would be hours before Pete rocked up to join us... Pete has a more relaxed approach to life Crazy as it sounds, the first five hours whizzed by... Chris got a tattoo from Mel. We made the podcasts, got banned from playing football and ate a lot of jaffa cakes. It was midday before many more people showed up and joined the queue. Time really only started to slow at about 2pm when those at the back of the queue started to move forward... two hours before we were going to be let in.

Mich & Mel are clearly veterans at the queuing business. They got us organised with a plan to get everyone in to the front row... this involved sprinting... not a talent of mine. When we got through the ticket & bag check, the running started. By the time I got to the stage there were already two rows of people but Chris was frantically waving at me and pointing to a me-sized space in the front. Being a shy girl, I didn’t like to push past people, but Chris asked a couple to stand aside and reminded them how long I’d been there – thanks Chris, you’re a gent! We then had nearly two hours of waiting before White Lies arrived on stage. Mich was kept occupied by a couple of Scouse stewards, the rest of us just tried to forget our aching feet and backs and eventually White Lies came on and gave a very confident performance. And the singer’s quite a cutie!

After a very quick turnaround, the stage was set for Jay-Z. Earlier I had confessed I was slightly more excited about his appearance than Coldplay, because I’ve already seen them, and never thought I’d get the chance to see him. Sometimes anticipation leads to disappointment, but this was not the case here. He delivered a blistering performance, cranking out as many hits as possible in his hour slot. The crowd at the front went mad... must have been quite a sight for him to see us all bouncing along and for Jigga What, Jigga Who he even started a little battle between the two sides of the crowd (Jigga What won by the way ) It wasn’t quite the hostile crowd that he faced at Glastonbury, but Jay-Z’s music and his style was new to a lot of people, not that he seemed concerned. He came out with all the swagger of a true superstar and could barely contain the grin on his face – clearly he loves performing live. His backing band all threw themselves in to the show too, with a fair amount of flirting going on between the guitarist and a rather stunned blonde girl behind me.

As Jay-Z’s set concluded, the stage was suddenly swarmed with about 30 crew members frantically transforming the set for the main attraction. It was really impressive to see them all work together and do so much in such a short space of time. After no time at all, the dancing roadie came out to huge applause and then it was time for The Blue Danube. With two members of the crew leading us in a waving/clapping routine, one or two people behind me seemed a little bit confused as to what they were looking at ("Who does she think she is?” One perplexed newbie asked) But as the classical piece ended and Life in Technicolor began, we saw the sparklers emerge from the wings and the band we had stood THIRTEEN HOURS for, finally took to the stage. What can I tell you that you don’t already know? Yes the set list is familiar, but for those who hadn’t seen a stadium show already, the change in set and the swelling crowd numbers made it a very different show. The huge video backdrop, the lights and effects were stunning, this was a Coldplay Supersize show. And bigger venues mean more space for Chris to throw his crazy shapes. In My Place is my favourite song, partly because of how powerful it is in the live shows. In Manchester there mustn’t have been an inch of space that he didn’t jump on – he threw himself around on that song so much that I’m amazed he had the energy for the rest of the show.

Next up was Yellow, with the X Factor finish that you’ll all have read about by now. Chris led the crowd in song to be judged by Mr. Mean, Simon Cowell. As the insults were hurled, Chris kept a straight face and played his part well, but Jonny, Will and Guy couldn’t help but laugh. In fact, I’ve never seen Mr. Berryman smile as much as he did last night (and believe me, I look at him... A LOT ). Whether he’s happy to be back in the UK or glad that that the tour is almost over, he seemed very relaxed, which was good to see (and the Berrygirls will also be pleased to note the hair is a bit longer now). Fix You has never been a particular favourite of mine, but this performance really moved me – maybe it was because I was so close to the action, or maybe it was the nagging thought that it will be a long time before I see the band live again, but it was a highlight of the show for me. Jonny was as reliable as ever (does that guy ever make a mistake), and the crowd enjoyed singing along at the end. After the B stage action, it was back to the main stage for Viva La Vida, and again the song was enhanced by superb visuals. The stage was awash with colour.

Another highlight for me was Billie Jean on the C Stage – wherever that was! I couldn’t see a thing, but it sounded fantastic, stripped down to acoustics with Chris & Will somehow managing those Jacko “heehee’s” between them. It was then back to the main stage for perennial crowd pleaser Politik and the glorious Lovers In Japan. Unbelievably, there are still some people who don’t know about the butterflies and to see the smiles and hear the laughter just added to what has always been my favourite part of the show. After DAAHF the boys took their bows and headed off stage to change in to the bright Sgt Pepper-esque outfits and there was time for just two more numbers: The Scientist and Life in Technicolor ii. Again, the screen blazed in to life as images from the album artwork collided with explosions of colour. It was another highlight and a fitting end to such a magical, celebratory evening. And then they were gone... for how long, who knows? I won’t be at Wembley so this will be my last Coldplay experience for a very long time. It was an amazing experience, not only because I was in the front row for my favourite band performing at the peak of their powers, but because I got to share the experience with such a fantastic bunch of people. Thank you to Ian, Jen, Chris, Pete, Min, Lori, Mich, Mel (and Ria who joined us on the Saturday all the way from Japan) for being such great company throughout the weekend. My butterflies are crumpled and my photos are blurred, but you guys gave me memories that I will always treasure. [thanks RedGirl76]

This was my 1st Coldplay gig, and was amazed with the performance overall and the visual displays. Loved the Yellow balloons with Yellow bellting out, the butterflies with LIJ, and who was lighting those chinese lanterns flying overhead?? I seen someone outside had blagged one of the balloons, bet that is taking pride in her household now! Just trying to see if anyone has managed to upload some audio onto bootlegs from the concert, but no such luck yet. Is there anything out there on the same lines as that gig, but with good audio? Was lucky enough to have one of the free CD's offered on the night kindly given to me by ejectthetape of bootleg.com. Thanks again for that! The better half is going to make a photo book of the whole gig and am taking some pics of this site, hope people dont mind? Don't worry I won't be putting anyones personal pics into it, just ones of the band and such. Just browsing ebay now for some wembley tickets, think I may be hooked lol. [thanks daisbuys]

After a glorious evening beforehand with other Coldplayers, meal and a few drinks, I'll admit, I was feeling worse for wear . I could see the venue from my hotel room which was cool, until they started testing the lights at like 1am which annoyed me greatly . Alas, I awoke at 6:30am after a few hours sleep and headed to the LCCC for the gig. The cab driver nearly killed me, but to be fair, it made me wake up. So we all queued up that day, conversation flowed, we did some podcasts, joked around, bit of football until we got told off. Bit of sunburn for Ian if I remember correctly . It was really good queuing up until about 3pm when as usual people started pushing itching to get in. Some of the girls looked really worried like they were about to get test results from the doctors. Pete looked like he wanted a beer. Ian looked like he was chilling out. Eventually the gates opened and after a bit of run walking, and saving places, we all got to the front.

We waited a while until White Lies came on. The bass from their set nearly killed us all. Still, good band and very talented singer. Then we waited a while in the scorching heat until Jay-Z came on. He was very good indeed, great energy from the crowd. Towards the end of the set he noticed my Australia headband and gave me a shout out! This was the start of Jay-Z and myself becoming best friends (see the Wembley threads for more info ). Coldplay finally came on, I won't bore you with details because its already been said. Was a great night, and being with Coldplayers really made it! After the gig me and Pete went for a drink, then said our goodbyes to Mel, Mich, etc. Then we went out for more drinks, and before we knew it , it was 4am in the hotel bar . We had some really good conversations as well haha, what a great way to end the evening!! Top bloke is Pete. Gig rating: 5/10. Positives: It was Coldplay! Negatives: Chris was sick (not his fault obviously) no Lost+, show didn't flow at times, limited crowd interaction, bass was too loud, lack of crowd energy. [thanks Jayzo]