Coldplay played their penultimate festival of their gruelling summer tour last night at Atlanta's Music Midtown Festival (24th September 2011). They now take a week break before heading to South America to play the Rock In Rio festival on 1st October and then South Africa to play two huge concerts in Cape Town and Johannesburg, starting on 5th October.
Last night, Coldplay performed an REM cover of Everybody Hurts which replaced Us Against the World in the usual setlist. Only hours earlier, Warner Brothers had confirmed through a press release that the rumuor concerning the breaking up REM was official. The R.E.M. members announced their decision to 'call it a day as a band', on their website. According to their statements, the disbandment is amicable as the members will continue to remain close friends. You can watch the cover of Everybody Hurts at the Coldplay Live forum and see what Chris Martin said about their friends.
The setlist also included a short excerpt of Georgia On My Mind just before Fix You (a rendition that replaced Amy Winehouse's Rehab tribute). Some excellent photos from the front are available courtesy of greeneyes1207 at Facebook and also jennafu at Flickr. More live discussion on this show is at the Coldplay Live forum (reviews start around page 6 onwards). Thanks to everyone who has contributed on the forums, Youtube and twitters. We'll have more on this show over the next few hours/days!
Setlist (confirmed): [thanks hahninator]
MX / Hurts Like Heaven
Yellow
In My Place
Major Minus
Paradise
Lost!
The Scientist
Violet Hill
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
Everybody Hurts (REM cover - acoustic/piano)
Politik
Viva La Vida
Charlie Brown
Life Is For Living
---------
Clocks
Fix You (Georgia On My Mind intro)
Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
Photo courtesy of greeneyes1207 / Facebook
So, after all this time, I finally got to experience Coldplay live tonight at the festival. One of my best birthday presents yet! Got as close to the front as we could (had a friend with me). The bass was blowing me away at times, but it was a totally awesome, unforgettable experience. "Mylo Xyloto", "Hurts Like Heaven", "Major Minus", "Paradise", "Charlie Brown". . . all the new ones they played sounded great. Yes, even "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall". It was a shame that they didn't play "Us Against the World", but the tribute was nice anyway. I can't wait for them to come back around this way (Alabama/Georgia) again so I can see them for a second time. And, I've got to say, even if you don't like some of the new songs from what you've heard, hearing them live is a totally different experience that changes everything about the song. In the end, you haven't truly heard the song until you've heard it live and in person. Great job to the boys and I can't wait to see what they do next! If anyone wants to know anything about the concert/festival, feel free to ask! Cheers. [thanks Rainy Day]
Everybody Hurts replaced Us Against the World on the set list, which kinda sucked for me because UAtW is my favorite of the MX songs. Also, instead of Rehab, Chris introed Fix You with Georgia on my Mind. There was no Up in Flames. Otherwise, the setlist was ACL with the above changes. [thanks HollandX]
It's so hard to enjoy yourself and record at the same time. I sang my little heart out every single song. We showed up at 3:30ish while Joy the Formidable were still performing, and we kept moving up until we got very close to the stage, not front row back I had a very good view. After the band took a bow 3x at the end of the concert, Chris actually got on his knees and bowed 1x again. He has said that Atlanta is a special place for the band. I don't know if my old mind can recall the set list. Paradise was played early in the set, no US Against the World. I know they started with MX/Hurts Like Heaven, Yellow, In My Place. After that I can recall the order, but they went on to sing Major Minus, Lost, The Scientist, Violet Hill, God Put A Smile...., Life is for Living, Politik, Tribute to R.E.M., Viva La Vida, Charlie Brown, For the encore, Clocks, GA On My Mind intro to Fix you, ETIAW. coldplaymom]
New here, first Coldplay show after 150+ shows by other bands...blown away. Been following extensively since the Rock im Park / Rock am Ring shows. Great great promo run so far for MX, stoked for the album. Had so much fun at the show. My gf lives a mile away so we just walked.hahninator]
First off I have to thank AFeather for the ticket. I got to Atlanta around 11am and headed to the park. I had to pick up tickets from will call, which took forever as Coldplay was the last band to go on, so they were printing their guest list last. While waiting in line I met a guy who I later found out was the bass player for The Constellations. Turns out everyone had to wait a long time to get credentials, even the artists. The will call was next to the box office by the way. The whole event seemed unorganized, but I got my ticket and heeded for the gate. Once there I was told I couldn't take my backpack in (a backpack I had already received approval for the day before). However the 'nice' lady working the event told me about a secret side business nearby at the bicycle check in. They were also checking in bags for off-the-books 2 dollar donations. The hush-hush way they went about it made the event even more odd and unprofessional, but I didn't have a choice, so I did it. Once inside I spotted people with larger backpacks and dslr's with no press pass. Still wondering how one girl snuck in a 70-200mm lens. The only thing that made this event worthwhile was Coldplay. I was lucky enough to be among the first few rows near Jonny's side. The guys seemed to be very comfortable this time around. Guy was all smiles and I even caught him laughing at something he spotted in the crowd a few times. Chris also looked to be a little more loose than normal. He was making funny faces the entire night and looked to be interacting with individual people in the audience. They made a few mentions about how important Atlanta is to them. The switch outs from the regular setlist were definitely crowd pleasers. Overall I got the feeling that their confidence was really high. I haven't had any real sleep in a few days so I know there is a lot I'm missing, but once I go through pics and videos, I'm sure I'll be reminded of some more great moments. One thing I won't miss is how muddy I got there. It was like a mini Glastonbury as you got closet to the stage. [thanks JimmyD]
Amazing show. They were the best I've ever seen them. Perhaps it's because one of their idols from REM was in the front row, Peter Buck. It was awesome seeing him there. Their cover of Everybody Hurts at the show was beyond amazing. Also, Chris I've never seen Chris this energetic before and he was looking at the audience very weirdly, but in a playful manner and it was funny. JONNY was going CRAZY, I have NEVER seen him like this before and I've watched all of the recent festival steams. Also, they changed what plays on the screen a little and it's pretty cool. I've seen the boys before, but THIS performance, was the best thing I have EVER seen. I sense that the MX tour is going to be off the charts. [thanks Forty Two]
More Coldplayer reviews to follow...
New photos of Coldplay @ Music Midtown Festival, Atlanta (24th September, 2011):
More photos available via greeneyes1207 @ Facebook
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