Stockholm fan review: Coldplay at Sweden's Olympiastadion

A comprehensive review of Coldplay's concert at the Olympiastadion, Stockholm, Sweden (22nd August 2009) has emerged online, courtesy of Rock Revival. Here is the review and some of the photos, more of which you can see at their blog (links provided):

Before Coldplay walked on stage they played U2’s Magnificent over the PA, followed by Jay Z’s I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me) during which one of their roadies came out on the catwalk break dancing! What a great way to get the crowd fired up! This was followed by the mandatory Blue Danube during which a crew member up front directed the audience to wave their arms and clap at the right points.

Then it was time for Coldplay! There was an animation of the earth on the screens that zoomed in on Stockholm. The band took the stage behind a transparent black curtain, all holding up sparklers. First song was Life in Technicolor, the perfect opener in my opinion. This was followed by Violet Hill, Clocks, and In My Place - what a great way to start the show! During In My Place, both Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland came out on the catwalk right by us! That was so cool! We got some great pictures of that. When they left the catwalk Chris said “Tusen tack allesammans” (”Thanks everyone”).

The first four songs were the same as Coldplay’s last concert in Sweden on September 18th 2008. For Yellow, the crew brought out all these giant yellow ballons filled with confetti to the audience. It was fun to see them bounce around during the song. Chris actually popped a couple of them with his guitar when they flew up on stage.

It was nice to hear Glass of Water live, it had a really cool space-type animation on the screen behind the band. Towards the end of Fix You, Chris came out on the catwalk again doing his bit where he stumbles around before falling backwards on to the stage. Great fun to witness up close!

Just like last year they did a couple of songs out on the other catwalk. I think it’s really great how the band strives to give everyone in the crowd an up close experience. I do however find it a bit disappointing that they keep doing the “techno” version of God Put a Smile Upon Your Face. What’s wrong with the original one?

After this little segue it was back to the main stage and what I consider the highlight of the show: Viva La Vida. I absolutely love this song, Coldplay’s absolute best piece of music so far. It’s so cool with drummer Will Champion playing symphony drums and a bell! When the whole audience join in on the oh-oh-oh part it’s just amazing!

After the fantastic Lost!, the entire band walked down the catwalk and right in front of us on their trek to the b-stage in the back of the stadium. It was great to get to see all four of them so close. The b-stage part was great. They did Green Eyes, and Will sang Death Will Never Conquer, which I really enjoy. Then Chris asked everyone in the audience to turn on the lights on their cellphones and instructed us all to do the wave with our cellphones. This looked very cool - I think the days of waving cigarette lighters at concerts are officially over. For the last song on the b-stage they did Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean. This is the third MJ tribute I’ve seen this summer; both U2 and Madonna tipped their hat at the King of Pop as well. I thought that Coldplay’s acoustic full-song tribute was amazing! It really shows what a great singer Chris Martin is. There are some quite high notes to hit in that song, and he did it flawlessly.

Back on the main stage it was time for Politik. I hope they will always keep this song in their set. It’s so explosive, and Chris Martin really gets into it, rocking back and forth on his piano seat. Next up was Lovers in Japan, complete with butterfly confetti. Towards the end of the song Chris walked out on our catwalk with a japanese-style umbrella, which he ended up leaving on the catwalk. Out of all the epic songs from Viva La Vida, Lovers in Japan is the perfect closer for the main set. Talk about ending on a high note.

For the encore they started with The Scientist. It was great to hear a full band version of this, since last year when I saw them it was done as an acoustic number on the b-stage. Coldplay came full circle by ending the night with Life in Technicolor II. As fireworks went off above the stage Coldplay walked off, and The Escapist came over the PA.

Read the full excellent review and see all the pictures at Rock Revival now.

Coldplay at Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden (22nd August 2009):