Coldplay kick off their huge Mylo Xylotour proper tonight as the North American leg 1 begins in earnest in Edmonton, Canada tonight, with the added news that Coldplay's tour will contain filming for a new #ColdplayFilm - as announced by Phil Harvey tonight. You can check out all the latest photos, tweets and videos from tonight's concert at the Coldplay Live forum [Edmonton] now. If you want more discussion on the ColdplayFilm head over to the Coldplay forum. In the meantime, enjoy this preview article below, courtesy of the Edmonton Journal...
EDMONTON - “We’ll start glowing in the dark,” Chris Martin sings on Coldplay’s Charlie Brown, one of 14 uplifting, arena-filling songs from the band’s fifth pop-rock album, Mylo Xyloto.
Glow-in-the-dark graffiti, circular spider webs of lights, a secondary X-shaped stage, and beat-up, painted instruments are all part of the British band’s corresponding tour, which kicks off its North American leg Tueday night in Edmonton, of all places. Some of the city’s cleanliness freaks and anti-graffiti politicians might not approve, but the power of street art is one of the inspirations behind Mylo Xyloto, a concept album about a girl trying to find love in an apocalyptic world...
Phil Harvey confirming on Twitter that there will be a new Coldplay film taken from the MyloXylotour... but where?
Phil Harvey shows the full range of Xylobands on Twitter for the forthcoming tour dates
Coldplay feature on Twitter ahead of the Edmonton concert (April 14, 2012)
“ … Everywhere we go — we just came from South Africa — there’s graffiti all over the place,” Martin says in a video interview with director/photographer Anton Corbijn.
“If you start looking for street art, it’s all over the place and you realize it’s sort of the voice of not the voiceless, but people expressing themselves often on quite ugly surfaces and turning them into beautiful coloured murals. So I think we just really loved the freedom of expression, we just responded to the idea that the you can paint anything yourself, you don’t have to be a grandmaster. Graffiti has its critics, but often it changes something that’s really drab and oppressive into something else.
“That’s the idea of the record, too,” he says. “Trying to find colour within darkness and depression and all the terrible things in the world, trying to find the light. That’s what I think a lot of graffiti does, put some light into darkness.”
Alas, Coldplay seems to be giving journalists the cold shoulder these days — so we relied on quotes from some of their pals to shed some light on Martin and his mates:
Paris
Contrary to his name, Paris is a graffiti artist from Hull, England, and he’s responsible for painting the band’s instruments and stage sets. He also coloured some dilapidated buildings in the video for Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall and much of the art on the cover (and in the liner notes) of Mylo Xyloto – with help from Martin, bassist Guy Berryman, guitarist Jonny Buckland and drummer Will Champion. For a gallery of photos, visit paris1974.com/coldplay.
“There was a good 20 pages of reference that I looked at initially,” Paris says in an interview on coldplay.com.
“The band had a lot of stuff they wanted to put on the wall. I showed them how to do it and then I added my flavour to it as well. I think Guy mentioned they wanted to do paint bombs, so the next day I had loads of balloons with paint in to throw at the wall. And then we’d be scratching into it. The wall was incredible. It was like part of the Berlin Wall or something.”
Rik Simpson
He’s one of three producers who worked on Mylo Xyloto. (Markus Dravs, who worked on Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs and legendary sound collagist Brian Eno are the others.) Simpson also worked on two of Coldplay’s previous (and better) albums — 2008’s adventurous Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends and 2002’s single-heavy A Rush of Blood to the Head.
“I think the band is always pushing themselves to evolve,” he tells uaudio.com.
“They never want to stay in one place too long because they have too many ideas floating around. On this record, they’ve definitely moved on from (Viva La Vida). There are more modern electronic influences, but it still retains a very band-like feel. I think that what they’re really attracted by is using new technology to make music that really hasn’t been made or heard before, but playing it as a band. It’s not a lone artist or producer in a studio coming up with sounds. Everything is a performance based on the chemistry of four people playing in a room together.”
roadie #42
Coldplay’s mysterious roadie often provides the best insight into the foursome’s studio sessions and tour rehearsals, courtesy of his blog on the band’s website.
From Feb. 11, 2011: “It’s a strange thing to witness, when the band are working with Brian (Eno). Just his presence affects the way that they play. And even more than that, it affects the way that the band listen. For starters, the volume goes way down, which you would expect to take all of the excitement out of things. It very definitely has the opposite effect, though. Suddenly, every tiny sound, every nuance in the timing of the notes becomes audible and begins to burst with possibilities. It’s a little as though he encourages everyone’s antennae to open up higher and wider.”
From Dec. 3, 2011: “One thing I couldn’t help but notice, though, is the most major difference between this and previous production rehearsals: it seems to mostly be about the audience this time. When a song stops and changes are discussed, it’s not in order to throw more impressive technology, staging or effects at things. The comments from the stage are all about the folks who will be out there up in the seats. ‘Hmmmn, if we put that there when we’re down here, what’s the view going to be like over there?’ ‘Actually, in this bit of the song, it needs to feel more human, lets turn off all of this, this and this and just let it be about them.’ ”
Anton Corbijn
This renowned Dutch photographer and director (Control, The American) not only shot a webcast of Coldplay’s 2011 concert in Madrid, Spain, but he also directed the video to the title track from Coldplay’s Viva La Vida. The song was inspired by Depeche Mode’s king-climbs-a-mountain video for Enjoy The Silence — shot by Corbijn in 1989.
“Chris wrote the lyrics because of seeing that (Depeche Mode) video and then he asked me, in a way, to make a complement video ... ” Corbijn told a crowd at the Venice International Short Film Festival in 2008. “So we did the video in The Hague, in Holland, where the Queen lives, and I got the same outfit as we did for (Depeche Mode frontman) Dave Gahan. And we had Chris Martin walking through The Hague.”
A second, slicker version of Viva La Vida was shot — featuring the four musicians, looking like cracked oil paintings, performing in a studio. As Corbijn explained, Coldplay’s label, EMI, thought his video “looked too independent and they think Coldplay is the biggest band in the world.”
The Mole
According to The Daily Mirror’s secret source, Chris Martin recently recorded a track with Scottish DJ and dance producer Calvin Harris, who happens to be performing April 27 as part of they two-day Elements Music Festival at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
“Despite what people think about Chris, he’s a secret raver,” says the mole.
“He loves to dance like crazy, get lost in the music and zone out. It’s a big misconception that Chris is some square, piano-playing bod. He’s all about letting loose on the dance floor.” [Article ends]
Don't forget to check out your tour discussion thread if you are getting Coldplay tickets or just getting excited for the European & North American 2012 shows and other forthcoming appearances:
FEBRUARY 2012
8 Los Angeles, CA @ Club Nokia (iHeartRadio) [discussion]
9 Los Angeles, CA @ Jimmy Kimmel Live [discussion]
10 Los Angeles, CA @ GRAMMY Week MusiCares Person of the Year tribute [discussion]
12 Los Angeles, CA @ 54th Grammy Awards, Staples Center [discussion]
16 Sydney, Australia @ 2DayFM, Mobile Live Set (intimate show) [discussion] [CANCELLED]
17 Sydney, Australia @ Sunrise (intimate show) [discussion] [CANCELLED]
21 London @ Brit Awards 2012, O2 Arena [discussion]
MARCH 2012
2 New York, NY @ Good Morning America [discussion]
4 New York, NY @ The Secret Policeman's Ball, Radio City Music Hall (Amnesty International) [discussion]
APRIL 2012
17 Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place [discussion]
18 Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome [discussion]
20 Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena [discussion]
21 Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena [discussion]
24 Portland, OR @ Rose Garden Arena [discussion]
25 Seattle, WA @ KeyArena [discussion]
27 San Jose, CA @ HP Pavilion At San Jose [discussion]
28 San Jose, CA @ HP Pavilion At San Jose [discussion]
MAY 2012
1 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl [discussion]
2 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl [discussion]
4 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl [discussion]
5 Los Angeles, CA @ KROQ's Weenie Roast y Fiesta [discussion] [NEW!]
18 Porto, Portugal @ Dragao Stadium [discussion]
20 Madrid, Spain @ Estadio Vicente Calderón [discussion]
22 Nice, France @ Stade Charles Herman / Nikaia [discussion]
24 Turin, Italy @ Olympic Stadium [discussion]
26 Zurich, Switzerland @ Letzigrund [discussion]
29 Coventry, UK @ Ricoh Stadium [discussion]
JUNE 2012
1 London, UK @ the Emirates Stadium [discussion]
2 London, UK @ the Emirates Stadium [discussion]
4 London, UK @ the Emirates Stadium [discussion]
7 Sunderland, UK @ the Stadium of Light [discussion]
9 Manchester, UK @ the Etihad Stadium [discussion]
10 Manchester, UK @ the Etihad Stadium [discussion]
22 Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center [discussion]
23 Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center [discussion]
25 Houston, TX @ Toyota Center [discussion]
26 Houston, TX @ Toyota Center [discussion]
28 Tampa, FL @ St. Pete Times Forum [discussion]
29 Miami, FL @ American Airlines Arena [discussion]
JULY 2012
2 Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena [discussion]
3 Charlotte, NC @ Time Warner Cable Arena [discussion]
5 Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center [discussion]
6 Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center [discussion]
8 Washington, DC @ Verizon Center [discussion]
9 Washington, DC @ Verizon Center [discussion]
23 Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre [discussion]
24 Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre [discussion]
26 Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre [discussion]
27 Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre [discussion]
29 Boston, MA @ TD Garden [discussion]
30 Boston, MA @ TD Garden [discussion]
AUGUST 2012
1 Auburn Hills, MI @ Palace of Auburn Hills [discussion]
3 East Rutherford, NJ @ Izod Center [discussion]
4 East Rutherford, NJ @ Izod Center [discussion]
7 Chicago, IL @ United Center [discussion]
8 Chicago, IL @ United Center [discussion]
11 St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center [discussion]
28 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Parken Stadium [discussion]
30 Stockholm, Sweden @ Olympic Stadium [discussion]
SEPTEMBER 2012
2 Paris, France @ Stade de France [discussion]
4 Cologne, Germany @ Rheinenergie Stadium [discussion]
6 The Hague, Netherlands @ Malieveld [discussion]
12 Munich, Germany @ Olympiastadion [discussion]
14 Leipzig, Germany @ Red Bull Stadium [discussion]
16 Prague, Czech Republic @ Slavia Eden Stadium [discussion]
19 Warsaw, Poland @ National Stadium [discussion]
22 Hannover, Germany @ AWD Arena [discussion]
Read also: European Stadium Tour announced! (general discussion thread for the Europe tour)
Read also: North America Tour announced! (general discussion thread for the US/Canada tour)
Read also: 2012: Live Appearances - Easy Thread Finder (last updated - 12th January 2012)
Read also: 2012 tour date rumours (please post dates for ALL countries in here)
Kit yourself up for the forthcoming MX tour and get spotted with Coldplaying's new range of merchandise! [click on the items for the full shop]
The new range of Coldplaying merchanise (unofficial of course to the official shop) has hit our stores, with our biggest range of goods so far. Prices are as low as they can be for a Cafepress shop so more people will be able to afford them. We don't take any profits for the sale of the merchandise as a result. Take a browse in one of the online stores nearest to you: UK | US | Canada | Australia | European (shipping is worldwide, but you can choose what currency to pay in) - simply alter the country dropdown menu at the top of the shop page. [thanks to TracieMorgan and zzz]
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