You didn't have to be a Coldplay fan to realise that starring in the closing ceremony of the Paralympics would be one of the crowning performances of Chris Martin and co's careers, writes the The Mirror in a review of Coldplay's performance at the Paralympic Closing Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in London last night (9th September). Catch up on the latest tweets, pictures, videos from these shows at the Coldplay Live forum here onwards now. You can rewatch the entire Closing Ceremony again via YouTube now (Coldplay begin after about 40 minutes). Thanks to everyone who has contributed with tweets, photos, reviews, videos and comments! Read on for the rest of the Mirror's review article and another media review after the jump...
Superbly attuned to sensitivities of human achievement and endurance their questing songs were tailor-made for the patriotic atmosphere of communal celebration. An artillery of lights and effects are nothing without a regard for the human spirit and the better part of ourselves beating at its musical heart.
Gentle, perceptive and emphatic the band were everything the occasion demanded. Tenderly weighted to all shades of emotion, their spirit-raising anthems brilliantly built boldly – set up by David Arnold’s grand orchestrations and the dazzling spectacle of fellow Glastonbury regulars The Mutoid Waste Company. With their high profile pal Rihanna adding more stardust to the proceedings they pulled off the trick that has long defined the greatest pop music...
This was the sound of music to lift the world and open eyes to higher and better things. The all-star finale with the mighty Jay-Z in tow said it all – We Gonna Run This Town Tonight.
Also this review from the Guardian this morning:
It was hard not to approach the Closing Ceremony of the Paralympic Games with some trepidation. The equivalent event at the Olympics had felt slightly underwhelming, perhaps because no spectacle could possibly live up to the athletic spectacles that had preceded it, partly because the air of mystery surrounding what was going to take place led people to expect a surprise that never actually came: if you'd listened to the wild talk of appearances by David Bowie and Kate Bush and holograms of Freddie Mercury, it was hard not to be even more disappointed when it became apparent what you were actually going to get was Jessie J.
The latter issue was circumvented here by announcing who was going to be performing in advance. Nevertheless, you didn't have to be one of those people who thinks Coldplay are the cloven-hoofed musical emissaries of satan himself to have been slightly concerned about how appropriate a booking they were. On one hand, they are one of the biggest bands in the world – a suitably global success for a global event – they stir vast stadiums full of people for a living, and it is a churlish character that claims they are anything other than very good at it. On the other, the key piece of music at the Paralympic opening ceremony – the track that seemed to hit on something vital about the Games to come – was Orbital and the Graeae Theatre Company's retooling of Ian Dury's Spasticus Autisticus, a song that is brutal, startling, furious and many other things that Coldplay's music are not. Thanks to their ubiquity on TV soundtracks – tinkling away as someone departs The X Factor or the DIY SOS tells their tragic back story – a lot of their songs have become musical shorthand for "oh, isn't it a pity", designed to elicit sympathy for whoever is on screen. The Paralympics have incited a vast array of emotions in viewers, but pity isn't among them, as anyone who caught a glimpse of the frankly terrifying wheelchair rugby will attest.
As it turned out, their set got better the more upbeat it became: the triumphant arena-filling guitar riff of Charlie Brown seemed to fit the event more than the more ponderous ballads, while it would take an effort almost as superhuman as the athletes had put in over recent days not to be moved by their collaboration with the Paraorchestra on Strawberry Swing, -– one of their loveliest songs, its melody boasting a subtlety that the bands' detractors would have you believe they don't possess – or the crowd singing along with Viva La Vida while fireworks exploded and confetti fluttered from above.
The staging meanwhile, felt noticeably darker, less cosy and self-congratulatory than the Olympic closing ceremony. There was a lot of stuff with fire and steampunk costumes, rusty vehicles cannibalised from old cars and farm machinery and people pretending to be crows on stilts. A seasoned festival-goer might note that it all had a whiff of the kind of thing you see at 3am in the outlying fields at Glastonbury: a definite improvement on the Olympic closing ceremony, which carried a whiff of a bad night at the Brits.
In the event that you felt bored by Coldplay, there was always something to distract your attention: ice skating, high-wire artists dangling from motorbikes, aerialists twirling from bunches of oversized light bulbs that sprayed out fire, people running out of the mouth of a giant fish carrying huge cardboard cutouts of insects on sticks. There was interpretative dance, which was nowhere near as disheartening as interpretative dance to Coldplay looks on paper. The same was true of Rihanna's solo appearance. We Found Love is a decent pop song that's become rather a victim of its own success: one way of giving it some added interest in the teeth of its ubiquity is to have her perform it while flying around the stadium on what looked like a vast garden swing.
The other special guest was Jay-Z. With Rihanna and Coldplay, he played Run This Town. Not the most obvious choice, but recontextualized by its surroundings it felt weirdly appropriate: as anyone who visited London during the Games and noted an almost tangible sense of excitement in the air knows, that's precisely what the Paralympics appeared to do.
New photos of Coldplay performing at the Paralympics Closing Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium, London (9th September 2012):
Photos courtesy of the Zimbio online (click for more!)
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]
3 Los Angeles, CA @ American Idol show [discussion] [NEW!]
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 London, UK @ Wembley Stadium (Capital FM's Summertime Ball 2012) [discussion] [NEW!]
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]
10 St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy 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]
7 Los Angeles, US @ Shrine Auditorium (Stand Up To Cancer) [discussion] [NEW!]
9 London, UK @ Paralympics Closing Ceremony [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]
NOVEMBER 2012
10 Auckland, New Zealand @ Mt Smart Stadium [discussion]
13 Melbourne, Australia @ Etihad Stadium [discussion]
17 Sydney, Australia @ Allianz Stadium [discussion]
18 Sydney, Australia @ Allianz Stadium [discussion] [NEW!]
21 Brisbane, Australia @ Suncorp Stadium [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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