R#42 blog

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 reports on the soundcheck in Paradise (aka Auckland)   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Tash]   We’ve been out for over a year now and in every country and every city we’ve visited, Chris has sung “This could be Paradise”. New Zealand though, gets my vote for it being closest to the truth. Of course we’ve arrived mid-spring, escaping a damp and chilly run into winter at home. Even so, it’s lush, it’s green and it

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 writes from his plane to New Zealand   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Tash]   Greetings from 30,000 feet, folks. I’m going to move swiftly past jokes about the mile high club and welcome you to my first blog sent from a comfy chair moving through the air at 500 miles an hour. I’m heading down to New Zealand a little ahead of the main party to see some friends of mine and there’s wifi on the plane. The future has

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: Roadie #42 and the forgotten passport...   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Tash]   The “Day Sheet” is an element of touring life that you folks may not be familiar with. It is, I’ve come to learn though, the most vital document of the day. The day sheet is written by tour manager Marguerite and outlines every key piece of information for the upcoming day: the times that everything is happening, flight details, additi

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42, the harsh YouTube judgement and the Amsterdam revival   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Tash]   YouTube comments threads are pretty well known for the massive amount of snarky negativity they can contain. In this globally super-connected age, anything you can imagine can be filmed, uploaded and then called “Ghey” by a 12 year-old in the midwest all in a matter of minutes.   I had the utter delight the other mor

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 gives us the world premiere of Graham Against The World   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks wabbit]   We head out to Boston spread across a couple of smaller planes. It would seem that there’s been some storm damage to the regular ride, so this is the best way forward. It’s impossible to sit on the tarmac looking at the similarly nippy looking plane opposite us out of the window and not think one thing: “Let’s race

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 - and a dozen cameras - experience an amazing night in Montreal   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Coeurli]   Back in the seventies (when sound systems were somewhat less refined and attitudes to health and safety a touch more vague), the sign of a good show was that the band sent the crowd home with a ringing in their ears. Montreal these past couple nights has kinda turned those tables a little.   Canadian crow

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 reports on a rare Coldplay soundcheck as the band try out some ideas   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Coeurli]   Soundchecks are something of an oddity by this point in the tour. First day back in Toronto, though, that’s exactly what we’re up to. There are plans afoot for much further down the line which require a bit of work now to start getting right. As is often the case with future plans, there’s as much tal

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 gets mistaken for a woman and spins a ripping piano yarn   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks wabbit]   So I arrive at the check-in desk at Heathrow airport and tell them where I’m going and what my name is. I always feel a little doubtful when I do this that it’s actually going to work, that they’ll look at me incredulously and demand a huge docket of paperwork that demonstrates my entitlement to travel. Years of f

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42, the DC close shave and the return of Oldplay   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Tash]   Good grief - here we are at the last show of the leg and I’ve got a bag full of untold stories and observations from along the way. I must apologise for the radio silence of late. I won’t make excuses - hows about I tell you about right now and then when I get home I’ll start picking through some stuff I missed out along the w

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the curious tale of the disappearing guitar camera   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Tash]   So here’s a funny one. I’ve been playing about with a bunch of new cameras lately. Even though it’s the cheapest of them, one of the most interesting is a tiny little video camera that was invented for sticking on skydivers heads. What better way to test it then, than to stick it to the end of the guitar that Chris th

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the hometown shows   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Tash]   In a lot of ways, hometown shows can be like a family Christmas. They’re ostensibly a time of joy and celebration. You do tend to forget though, how much stress comes along with it - and you pretty much always collapse in a heap at the end, glad that it’s all over for a year or so. London, of course, is just another gig - the same as any other. Ever

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: Roadie #42 shares a whole bunch of great photographs   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks zzz]   Hello folks, I've just turned my camera upside down and given it a shake. Here's a few bits that fell out… (Click the photos [at the official site] for hi-res versions)   REMINDER! On Saturday, Coldplay.com [direct link to follow] will be heading to the Emirates Stadium in London to spend the day blogging from backstage at

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 reports back from the start of the European stadium tour   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Tash]   It’s been a somewhat busy few days making it happen, but the stadium shows are finally underway! The British have a somewhat justified reputation for being obsessed with the weather. In our case right now though, I figure there’s an excuse. We’re doing outdoor shows. Without a roof.   The preparations in Porto for t

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 reports back from the Hollywood Bowl and American Idol   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Tash]   I’ve got to admit, there just *are* some venues in the world where you just can’t help thinking “This is fucking cool”. I tend to rebel against the more obvious prestige ones, but sometimes everyone raves about how good something is because - well, because it really is that good.   Of course those of you familiar with

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the P45 microphone   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Texasluvsjonny]   Sometimes, you’re just better off not knowing.   I was in the van after the second San Jose show, thinking to myself what a great time the fellas appeared to be having onstage lately. I couldn’t help but wonder why that was? Are the new songs more energetic, more celebratory? Have the crowd reactions been stronger? Maybe it’s the fact that

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the joys of an off-stage band member   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks _Tash]   My God, can we be a week into the tour already? We’re sitting on the tarmac waiting for departure to show number six.   It has to be said that this first week has felt not entirely unlike a jet taking off. The rush of getting the first few shows happening has much the same adrenaline inducing surge that you get as the engines kick

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 reports on the first shows of N. American tour   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks _Tash]   Aaaaaand we’re off!   I’ve said before that a tour is essentially a huge machine, powered for the most part by an extraordinary amount of human effort. Considering we haven’t really done any “proper touring” since before Christmas, we’re really trying to get this massive contraption in motion from a stationary and cold start

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the Secret Policeman's Ball   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks _Tash]   Coldplay played Radio City Music Hall back in the Parachutes days. I know this because I recently found a box of Guy’s first ever camcorder tapes. On this tape they were all looking *incredibly* young and fresh, wandering around the stage before soundcheck marvelling at how immense the place was.   It is indeed a hugely impressive building

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the 3.30am Good Morning America lobby call   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks _Tash]   Now, a 3.30am lobby call is usually a pretty cruel blow. However, in a wonderful demonstration that two wrongs sometimes do make a right, the London-NYC jetlag has me up and about and feeling fine before the alarm even goes off.   It’s all in the name of Good Morning America, of course. The band are performing on air at 8.30

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 gives his perspective on last weekend's Grammy Awards in LA   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks _Tash]   They’re a funny thing, awards shows. I guess then, that if Glastonbury is the “Beatles of festivals” as CM once quipped, then the Grammys is pretty much the toppermost of the poppermost when it comes to awards shows - and hence the funniest of funny things.   In my more sour roadie moments, I’ve likened working

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: Coldplay round off the tour in Berlin by working on a brand new song   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks _Tash]   I hadn’t thought about it until Chris mentioned it on the B-stage. He thanks the Frankfurt crowd and mentions that Germany is where this tour really started, back on Rock im Park all those months ago. Fitting then, that we bring the show back here just before we break for Christmas.   I don’t think there ca

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: Roadie #42, the errant smoke machine and the soundcheck experiments   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks _Tash]   I’ve got to be honest, I was expecting the Rotterdam audience to be somewhat - um, “laid back” I guess is the right phrase. It just goes to show that you never can tell…   It’s a good noisy crowd that sing through the show at the Ahoy - none more so than when the band are on the B-Stage and the cheer for Wil

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: Roadie #42 blogs about Paris, Cologne and an unexpectedly flashing wristband...   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks zzz]   What a difference a few weeks can make. We had shows in Paris and Cologne during the album launch period. We’re back in those same two cities now and we’ve reached the light at the end of the tunnel that got us through the past six months or so of promo chaos. Yes, we’re finally “just doing gigs”.

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the Charlie Brown video shoot   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks _Tash]   Following the directions from the car park to the video shoot location, I pass the pub that’s noted on the map. I look in the windows to see if there’s anyone I recognise in there. The pub is completely awash with folks covered in luminous paint. Clearly I’m getting close.   They’re quite a striking sight, all crazy hairdos, raving outfi

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 muses on a triumphant TV performance and two homecoming shows   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks _Tash]   Back in 2002, very shortly after I joined the Coldplay travelling circus, we found ourselves in a tiny club in San Francisco. I remember the soundcheck having been somewhat eventful, almost ending in fisticuffs over nothing of any great import. Shortly before showtime, I dived into the dressing room to clarify