R#42 blog

Half of them was anyway. The security here really stand out, in their bright yellow blazers. It was an odd sight when they all took their positions just before the doors. All these organised yellow dots, covering the arena entrances. The biggest line of yellow, being by the stage barriers. The dots of yellow were far less organised a few hours later. As balloons were thrown in to the crowd by the roadies at the mix desk, by the stage and up in the rafters. Yellow bopped and popped all around the

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 reports from two Coldplay's two Austin shows   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks _Tash]   The customs officer at Houston airport greets us with a cheery “howdy”. One of his colleagues shouts over, pointing at the entire entourage, informing him that non-specifically and collectively “this is Coldplay”. It turns out that our guy knows of Coldplay. He’s even got one of the records: “The one with all the old soldiers

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 stares down the barrel while being fired from a cannon. And Coldplay do too   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks _Tash]   So we’re officially slap bang inside the pre-release promo phase. The clearest indicator of this is the proliferation of thousand yard stares and slightly tattered nerve endings visible all around. Every album’s launch phase is its own pinball machine of utter chaos. If the recording process was

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 is watched in his hotel room and sees Queen Elizabeth moshing...   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks _Tash]   We’ve finished the most exhausting six day sprint in recent memory - and, somewhat predictably, I can’t sleep.   The final two days of this leg of promo-mayhem first take us over the desert and into Vegas. The venue is a huge arena with an even huger hotel / casino complex on top of it. We have “day rooms”

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: #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

Hello from Rio de Janeiro. Coldplay are just about to play tonight in the famous sambodromo Apoteose and Oxfam is here, as the band have asked us again if we wanted to come along. This time it’s me, Giulia, trying to make the most of this opportunity for Oxfam to be heard and to involve as many fans as possible. And I will be reporting for you on the fabulous life of the ‘Oxfam Rep’ on tour.   The tour started last Friday in Buenos Aires, with about 50,000 people in the River Plate stadium singi

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: In which Coldplay bow to pressure and play Shiver   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here [thanks marie/pims]   So we're three shows in and what belters they've been. Buenos Aires had the task of getting us back on track after a lengthy break. I can't deny I was nervous before the gig. The scale of the show and all that goes into making it happen had become much more apparent having had five months to forget which buttons to press.   With

[Notepad-typed notes on the flight to Mexico City] Two days since my last post from Brazil and we’ve already been to Colombia and gone. So here we are, on a plane to Mexico right now and Mexico City is in some way what everyone in the crew has been looking forward to: we’re half-way through the tour and also this is the only place where Coldplay will play twice in the same venue so it means a bit more time for everyone.   Last night show in Bogotà was in the huge (how many times will I use this

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the Bogota barnstormer   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks svenky]   Now, don't get me wrong, - Argentina and Brazil were both fantastic. Each wonderful in their own way (largely down to the people and the response). For me personally though, things really get interesting when we leave for Bogota. Not for any reasons pertaining to one of their more well known exports, but because I've never been before. When we

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42, the bootleg merch and the unexpected Mexican singalong   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks svenky]   Coldplay have history with Mexico. The Rush Of Blood tour finished here at the Palacio Des Deportes in 2003. The X&Y tour also finished up here in 2007. Now, we're putting Viva to bed here in 2010. Of course, there is also the fact that the artist Frida Kahlo was born here - and that she provided so much of the

This morning I’ve arrived in the Estadio Universitario in Monterrey quite early to enjoy the last day from the start. The sun is shining, someone has put Lou Reed on to test the sound so here comes the title of the post (I haven’t slept enough last night so I’m short of ideas). The Oxfam stand is not set up yet, so I’ve got time for an update about Guadalajara’s concert.   The show was fantastic: my confetti shot was the best one since I’ve been using the ‘advanced’ machines. Butterflies came ou

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42, the Parachutes song and the farewell dinner   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks tisnowflake]   As I write, we're only hours from the final closing bell on the Viva Tour. The realisation that we're reaching the end seems to have hit everyone simultaneously after the Guadalajara show. The fact that there is "just one more gig" - that the Monterrey show tomorrow is "the last one" flicks the switch and we're all faced

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: They think it's all over...   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks marie/pims]   So there we have it folks. There goes the final whistle. The fat lady has sung and the world's Vida has been well and truly Viva-ed. Summing up two years of your life in a few words is a little like trying to mow a lawn using only scissors. I could try, but I'd pretty soon have sore fingers and give up. All I know is that I'm ready for a day

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: Chris has got a little project for #42   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards.   I've talked before about differences between what I've experienced when touring with the band and work here at the studio. Mostly, it's the fact that you're not sure what's coming next. Touring is fairly repetitive; the scenery changes a great deal, but the daily routine is pretty much set in stone. Here in the studio, it isn't like that. As you'd ex

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 returns with more news from the studio...   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks SueDeNimes]   Greetings to you from Budapest. I'm nearing the end of a two week break from the studio. We're back in on Monday. I greet you hanging my head and begging forgiveness. Yes, seven weeks is an obscenely long time to be leaving you hanging. Apart from this couple of weeks of being a civilian, my primary distraction has been that

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 watches as Coldplay create   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks coldplayisawesome]   Greetings folks, from back inside the Beehive. I'm at my desk, which is tucked away behind one of the pianos. Over my shoulder are two rather beaten up old sofas. This "lounge area" is where every recording day starts - beginning, as every day should, with strong coffee.   I talked in the last blog about different ways in which the

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: Our man on the inside is back...   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks AnnaElisabeth]   Oh yes, I should have mentioned that we were going away for our summer holidays.... But today, like legions of kids across the land being dragged away from their Xboxes (or their surfboards...) we're back to school. Interestingly and somewhat predictably, we've spent the last ten days prepping the studio ready for what we thought woul

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 goes for smiles and smiles   Congratulations to Elena35 who wins the 6th round of Roadie sweepstakes! Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks zzz]   I guess it's inevitable that after a couple months away from the recording process, the first couple of weeks back would feel a little like being thrown into a wind tunnel. When the fellas get the bit between their teeth, things start to move very quickly. And then they acce

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 fancies a cuppa   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Lore]   Tea. Daily studio life can come to revolve around it.   To borrow someone else's story for a moment, it's claimed that uber-producer Flood earned his nickname very early in his career whilst working as an assistant on an album with The Cure. Legend has it that he was one of two assistants working alternate days in the studio. The two chaps apparently had v

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 on Christmas Lights, shivering and Shiver   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Kris W.]   Bloody HECK, but it's been busy. I'd forgotten what it's like when they release a record. I've experienced 3 album launch campaigns with this band and I swear that the mind blocks out the memories. It's only as your brain starts to feel as though it's doing the wall of death round the inside of your skull that the vague recolle

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 is busying himself for festival season   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Natascha]   We had an email go around recently from our fearless new production manager (you’d bloody have to be…), Wob Roberts. It had the subject line “More changes - No change there”. Now, that could come across as snidey moaning, but given Wob’s unflappable nature, it’s clearly just the knowing wink of someone who’s seen it all before. T

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the family and friends rehearsal   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks SueDeNimes]   Back in 2002, I did my first ever day’s work for a band called Coldplay. They were doing Production Rehearsals at The Forum in Kentish town. For those who have never been there, The Forum is a theatre sized rock venue, with a stage almost exactly the same size as the one in the Christmas Lights video. It also happens to be right

Check out the 2007 section of Coldplay.com for a new star...   7/11/07 This is a very short film. WC   You can discuss this star and watch the video here onwards [thanks melanieau, Loretin, Joyhannah, GazeboflossUK]  

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 reports back from the first show of the festival run   Discuss this blog entry in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Natascha]   We all meet up around noon to head over to the first festival show. Coincidentally, it's the exact time that the new single breaks cover and hits the radio waves for the first time. Everyone wanders into the lounge with different news: "They gave it a rewind - so good they played it again straight away"; "Twitter ha