R#42 blog

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

Back in Barcelona. About a year ago, we were next door, in the Palau St Jordi arena, for one of the best Coldplay shows so far (in my opinion). It was an incredible night. Next door, England fans piled into the stadium where the Coldplay stage now sits, preparing for an international with Andorra. Somehow it feels like it could have been yesterday.. familiar weather, faces, scenery. Fans are already outside waiting to come in. In fact there was a handful of them out there in tents last night..!

Hello all! Just checking in from Cinncinati, Ohio. Today has been quite the eventful day despite my thinking that a day off in Cinncinati was going to be one of those marathon-movie-watching-in-bed days that are often accompanied by massive amounts of hotel room coffee and some form of chinese take out.   We awoke around 11:30 in the morning by the declaration that we’d arrived to our hotel and that we had to wake up and get off the bus so that it could be parked off-site. Often times on days of

As we set up the Oxfam campaigns table for the first Sydney Coldplay show, we could see hundreds of fans eagerly waiting to be let in the huge glass doors of the Acer Arena, and we could almost touch the excitement in the air! On the dot of 6pm, the doors flung open, and Coldplay fans streamed through ready to see their favourite band rock out Sydney.   3 hours later our team of 20 Oxfam campaigns volunteers had handed out thousands of stickers, tattoos and flyers about our work on Fair Trade a

On the latest leg of their mammoth world tour Coldplay have hit the shores of sunny Australia. First stop was Perth, Western Australia, where the four lads from England were welcomed by thousands of excited fans at Burswood Dome for two nights of crowd pleasing awesome music! Oxfam Australia volunteers were there too.   A sizeable hop skip and jump took the Coldplay lads across to the opposite side of the country where they performed for three nights at the Rod Laver Arena in downtown Melbourne.

So the excitement continues in this part of the world.. After attending the Grammy’s in L.A., Coldplay arrived in Tokyo last night, to kick off their tour of Japan. It’s hard to believe their energy levels, despite all the travelling!   The Japanese crowd gave Coldplay a warm welcome - 16′000 crammed into the Saitama Super Arena. Fans had waited 2 and a half years for Coldplay to tour Japan. Hundreds of people were there, outside the venue, two hours before the doors even opened.. The crowd had

After 3 years, the fans were hyped, ready and waiting for the return of their favourite lads from the UK - so there was plenty of energy and interest around what our Brissie volunteers had to say and show about Oxfam’s work on the Fairtrade and Close The Gap campaigns.   The sight of our Oxfam green t-shirted brigade flashed amongst the thousands who thronged both nights to Brisbane Entertainment Centre, for their first live dose of Coldplay tunes since 2006. Quite a few in the crowd were obvio

Hello all! Tonight we’re leaving what has begun to feel like a home away from home, Pittsburgh, after three days off and a phenomenal show. I really enjoyed our time off here visiting the Andy Warhol Museum, shopping on Carson Street, and attending a Pirates game. Rolling into the venue at the early hour of 7:30am this morning I had a good feeling about the show. I knew the crowd would be a good one and that the Oxfam team would do well.   Pittsburgh did not disappoint; it was an awesome audienc

[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

Hello world! I’m coming at you from the lovely lovely Toronto, Canada on the second of two much appreciated days off. This leg has been characterized by many long drives that end with our arriving to our hotel on a day off at 7pm with just enough time to take a good shower, grab dinner, and have a decent night’s sleep on a real bed before waking up the next day and doing it all over again.   This tour has given me the opportunity to become acquainted with many of our neighbor in the north’s majo

You know, world, when I’m done writing a new entry, I click on the little square to the left of the text that says “publish” and I wonder to myself, “Self, do you think anyone is actually reading this?” However, today I was pleased to find evidence that people are actually reading and liking these entries in the form of a concert goer today. She was waiting for doors to open to the show and as I walked by the gates she said “Are you Soha? I read your blog!” Wow. Thank you everyone! Thanks especi

Hello world, I humbly throw myself at your feet in apology for not writing in a very long time. Major props to my boy Pete who is always so good about keeping in touch. Lately I have been plagued by the thought that my entries lack an underlying, unifying theme and for that they are no good. Such is the life of a perfectionist…   The rest of the crew and I have been longing for the days of torrential downpours and thunderstorms that seemed to plague us earlier this summer. The past few shows hav

Mad traffic - two words that perfectly sum up my first impression of São Paulo. Okay: we arrived just at rush hour and the city is huge, but the journey from the airport took us absolutely ages, despite the driver trying his best to find as many shortcuts as one can possibly imagine.   Anyway, we’re finally here, the crew is already loading in for tomorrow’s gig. I haven’t seen the Morumbi Stadium yet, but it’s supposed to be MASSIVE: with a capacity of over 60,000 people, I can only imagine how

Hello. It’s me. ‘Oxfam’. Oxfam America’s wonderful tour rep has stepped off the bus. The North American ’shed’ tour has come to an end. Volunteers across the continent have come together two years in a row, having countless conversations, signing up tens of thousands of people, and giving Coldplay fans the chance to take an action to help alleviate poverty. They’ve had a laugh. Smiled until their cheeks hurt. Sung until their throats were sore. Let’s hear it for our volunteers, and their intrepi

So we were out there again in the lobby and entrance area, distributing flyers and talking to Coldplay fans about the FOR ALL campaign. 18000 people came out to Saitama, despite it being a weekday!   Hundreds more of those fans, signed the petition. Oxfam Japan was also interviewed by the TV crew from Channel 4’s evening news program, NEWS ZERO. The main focus of the program was about Coldplay’s charity work, and how it has made an impact on the lives of so many people. All those fans that sto

Leapfrogging through the country’s again. It’s an odd feeling. Waking up in a different landscape, country, culture, currency every other morning, but in the same bunk. I open my curtains, soon after the bus rolls to a halt, and look out of the front lounge at the view. First, I usually see a dusty carpark and a lost looking roadie taking directions from an in-the-know bus or truck driver.   Those guys seem to have a permanent compass and map in their heads - knowing where everything is and neve

While Coldplay are busy rocking Australia, New Zealand is getting ready for the concert event of the year. Oxfam will be there next week to greet the masses for two sold-out shows. We’ll have 20 volunteers at Vector Arena each night, talking to people about Oxfam’s work to provide clean water and sanitation in some of the world’s poorest regions.   Keep an eye out for people carrying 20 litre buckets on their heads, and text us to enter the contest for great prizes. In the meantime, you can che

No I don’t mean the early March storms that blew across Aotearoa, I mean the Coldplay drought! It’s been 6 long years since the band plucked a single note on these shores and tonight’s sold out crowd at Vector Arena in Auckland didn’t let them forget it for a minute. The evening started off with our posse of Oxfam campaigners, 20 strong, heading downtown on busses, trains, bikes and feet to tell people about our work…and to rock. I’m happy to report we did both.   Big ups to the band for providi

Hi world! When I received the tour travel itinerary early in May, I became aware of the fact that I’d be with the tour in Calgary on June 17th, which happens to be the day that I’d be turning what I call “the adult side of 25.”   I’m sooooo not the person to broadcast my birthday, especially not to an entire blog readership! How many of you do you think are out there? Sometimes I feel like it could be 5 people, other days it feels like it could be 5 million people… who knows? The point is that I

Hello world! …And we’re off! Leg 2 of the Viva La Vida summer tour! I’m coming at you from The Gorge in the beautiful state of Washington. Check out the view from behind the stage. Not too shabby right?   Oxfam America’s goal is to have 30,000 new people take action with us this summer and we are right at the half way point! Do come and visit the Oxfam table and learn about how you can fight hunger, poverty, and injustice in your community! You can also sign our petition urging the President to

Lovers and friends, How’s everyone doing while the Viva tour is on break? For some of my crew mates and I, it’s already beginning to feel like that point in summer break where you admit to yourself that you’re bored with all the time off and want school to start again so you can see all your friends.   This is evidenced by the text messages and Facebook posts that immediately began being exchanged that say, “I miss everyone already!” or, “I’m already listening to Howling Bells to me get myself b

*Here;s a note from Bern a couple of days ago.. originally scrawled on a scrap of paper*   I’ve just run out of the pouring rain. My hoodie is soaked and my trousers, rolled up, to avoid soaking up any more puddles. Out of the front lounge window, on the tour bus, I can see a constant flow of people hurrying home. Like a river of people flowing out of the exits of the Stade de Suisse, and splintering off into tributaries. The reverse of what I was taught about river systems in Geography.   A few

It is now. For Manchester at least. The VIVA tour is not quite done yet.. 4 shows to go. 3 Countries. 2 national stadiums. 1 week. The bands have left. The crowds have dispersed from the pitch. The trucks have started their engines, and the Oxfam road case, has been loaded on it’s way to Dublin.   Coldplay. Jay-Z. White Lies. Blackmanalishi. Tone-Acity. ortoPilot. That was the line-up for today’s concert in Manchester. The last three of those played on a slightly smaller stage to the one graced

...in Australia who have supported our work. It was a bittersweet moment in Sydney on Sunday night as we bid farewell to the Coldplay lads at their last concert in Australia on their Viva La Vida world tour.   Oxfam volunteers were again out and about at Acer Arena taking full advantage of the chance to talk to Coldplay fans about our Make Trade Fair and Close the Gap campaigns. Many Coldplay fans were eager to hear about Oxfam’s work, and the efforts of our volunteers in Sydney resulted in over

Sitting in Goffertpark, Nijmegen. Surrounded by autumnal tinged green trees. It’s a beautiful late summer’s day in The Netherlands. To my right, I can see the big stage star-light VIVA balloons being hoisted up onto lighting towers. Speaker stacks being raised by the riggers. Fork lift trucks keep rumbling past me carrying fencing, cases, portaloos and various other loads, as Goffertpark prepares to host two days of the Coldplay festival.   By my feet are the keys to the little green Oxfam Novib