Just counting the pledges at the Oxfam tables by section 110 at London’s O2 Arena. The Oxfam volunteers have handed in their sheets, and gone in to take their seats. ‘Speed of Sound’ is ringing through the doors, each time someone swings it open, to run to the toilet, or grab some fish n’ chips.

The total so far tonight is 1188. All those names, showing their support, can make a real difference to people’s lives. One person can make a big difference. 1188 can make a huge difference. Imagine what 6 million could do.. Oxfam is asking 6 million people to make the Health and Education For All pledge, to represent the 6 million more well trained and accessible doctors, nurses and teachers that are needed. If Oxfam can put that sort of pressure on world leaders, they can’t ignore it.. especially if over 40′000 of them are noisy Coldplay fans!

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

We made it. And it was great! The band finally made it back to the start.. (well close enough, just a few tube stops away from Brixton). It was the first of three sold-out shows at the O2 Arena in London.

This morning, I stepped off the Jubilee Line, at Greenwich North Station, looked up, and saw huge cranes sticking out of a big, white, dome-shaped tent. It was the sight of the Millenium dome. I had only ever seen it on TV, or from a distance on my way around London.. but today, the big show was inside this thing. The first thing Oxfam’s rep did, was get completely lost by going in the ’staff entrance’, going up some stairs and finding myself in a restaurant warehouse, going through a door, past some bemused bar staff polishing glasses, down some steps, and finding myself by the main entrance.. Lot’s easier.

I set up the Oxfam tables and got ready to meet the volunteers. Another great group tonight. Full of energy. Keen to get started.. Another massive crowd tonight. Waiting to applaud the band’s homecoming.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the secret special guest...

Discuss this blog entry here onwards.

Here I am, sitting outside the production office in the O2 arena. It's the first of the "Big London Shows" today, which would traditionally mean much stress and fretting all round. However, we've managed to completely circumvent any last minute nerves by being so insanely busy that worrying has fallen off the to-do list entirely.

Whilst the first of the 14 trucks are being spilled onto the arena floor at the O2 in east London, a bunch of us are way out west at BBC Television Centre setting up for a TV show. There's no band here when it's time for "camera rehearsals" so the floor manager comes over to ask the crew to stand in the band's places. Suddenly, I find myself extremely busy with something. (Funny that.) Production Manager Craig Finley is up there on the kit giving it loads - he offers a most spirited performance (particularly given the hour) - although he definitely twirls his sticks a bit more than Mr Champion does...

It's then a mad dash across London to get to the O2 for a 5pm soundcheck. I have no idea how long it took us or how the traffic was. I've reached that wonderful point of tour-weariness where every time I sit still I just nod off, so I spend the journey drooling gently over myself as the real world blurs its way past the window.

Upon arrival, it's pretty impossible not to stand for a moment and take in the size of the venue. It's a nicely grand view from the drum-riser today.

You'll note in the above photo that there's some soundcheck action up on the C-stage. Our four fellas are up there giving something special a try ready for tonight.

The more numerically gifted of you will have noted that that is actually five fellas up on the C-stage. (Not including Hoppy...)

That's because tonight, they're being joined on the C-stage by... nah, I'd better not.

Roadie #42

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the hometown show

Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks Pris]

Finally, I spend an entire day off in bed and so see an end to the misery that is "the tour cold". Everyone is suffering. Folks have either had it, just finished it, or are right in the middle of it. It seems poor old Jon Hopkins has been hit harder than most though. He's come down with something a bit heavier than a cold and he's not with us for the Manchester shows. Let's hope he's better for London. I'm really looking forward to seeing him together with Viva co-conspirator Dav at the O2...

Manchester is a bit of a strange one, in that I wake up in my own bed and have breakfast at home, then go into the gig. This must be what it feels like having a proper job....

Chris comes in to soundcheck in Manchester. He's just running through a few new things on his own which are being recorded for reference back at the Bakery. A lot of songs begin like this. I remember the first time I ever heard Lost!, it was in an empty arena in Chicago, with just piano and voice. I still have the recording I made that day. It's a lot like the version on the EP (Lost?), except with a huge swimmy arena echo backing it. It was impossible to hear it then and not be blown away.

Similarly today's tunes encapsulate the extremes of both the stripped down intimacy of one man singing on a stage and the vastness of the arena reverb. I wonder how much work will take place twisting, moulding and refining these songs before they blast their way out into an arena full of people who have the CD at home. (If indeed CDs still exist by the time the next release comes along...)

As well as new songs bubbling away, things have changed very slightly in the show on this UK leg. Firstly, the fellas now take to the stage carrying sparklers. It's gloriously low tech visual echo of the fizzing crackling synths of the Escapist intro.

There's also some old friends returning for Yellow....

Being as it's a home town show for me, I bail rather swiftly after the show finishes and manage to hail a cab before it makes it into the chaos of the leaving punters. As we get out of town and up towards 42 Towers, another cab pulls up in my street and a couple get out clutching a tour programme and assorted other swag from the show.

We've been all over the place with this tour - and by the time it finishes, it'll be a good swing over the planet we've done. It seems strange watching people who live within sight of my own front door coming home from the show. Can't quite explain why. Still, they were grinning broadly, so I guess it must've been a good one!

Roadie #42

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 place. Most of them, seemed to gravitate towards the stage. By the end of the song, Chris Martin was beating them away with his guitar, surrounded by inflatables.

The band just finished ‘Green Eyes’ up amongst the crowd, so I should get on with it and get back upstairs. I just want to add one more thing. I hear that Manchester is the home of Coldplaying.com. I also saw the names on our petition earlier. Thank you Coldplaying people!

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

I’m sitting in the same little room as I was a few days ago, writing another blog, about another Coldplay show. We have had some adventures on this tour, playing 3 different countries in 3 days.. it’s not quite the same adventure when you return to the same city, but it was another great show in Glasgow. Oxfam’s brilliant bunch of volunteers, between them, got 1526 Health and Education For All pledges, to add to the thousands of others on the Coldplay tour.

Another noisy crowd greeted the band tonight. Needing little encouragement to sing every word and clap to the beats (even if they weren’t always in time with the band). Chris Martin had to tell everyone to stop clapping at the start of ‘The Hardest Part’ (which he dedicated to his haircut), as he couldn’t figure out the timing. He got it in the end, and the clapping continued anyway.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the crazy car chase

Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks JENNY34]

On the ride into Liverpool from John Lennon Airport, there is much talk in our van (which, I hasten to add, included none of the band) about The Beatles - as though this is all that has ever happened in Liverpool. Come showtime, Chris gets part way through In My Place and reminds the crowd that half of the songs they are hearing were written here. Suddenly, it strikes me what he's talking about - and how right he is about the degree to which this city has been a part of the band's history.

Parr Street Studios in the centre of Liverpool, is the place where so many songs from the first three records took shape. Those albums were recorded there (and elsewhere) by Ken Nelson and Mark Phythian, two of the most lovely human beings you could ever wish to meet - both natives of this fine city, I believe.

The guys get to the end of Sleep Chant and Jonny drops into the riff from Lips Like Sugar - an old tune by Echo and The Bunneymen, more Liverpudlians. The fellas used to play this a lot on the Rush of Blood tour in honour of Ian McCulloch who injected a healthy dose of swagger into the Parr Street sessions for that album.

Stretching this point perhaps to breaking, I'm pretty sure that although none of the most recent album was recorded here, co-producer Markus Dravs lives just outside the city. The man's as German as it gets, but his home turf ensures that the chain stayed in some small way unbroken...

I've worked for these guys for years now and we were so busy talking about the moptops on the ride in, that I'd forgotten almost completely about their own history here. The arena we played in tonight is new, as was the recent "City of Culture" moniker. I wonder though, if this city will ever be known for anything but the Fab Four? Then again, I wonder if they want to? I guess if you're going to live in the cultural shadow of anything, The Beatles are pretty much unbeatable!

Moving on, the ride OUT of the gig is a different affair entirely.

I only become aware that we're being followed when the van that had been behind us in the convoy draws alongside. Two cars are now behind us driving uncomfortably close. At first I think they're just trying to get past and being impatient. Our two vans are blocking the road after all and are sticking to the speed limit. I also can't see why anyone would be following us, as neither of these vans actually contains any band members.

The driver of the first car becomes very erratic and begins weaving side to side and at one point actually seems to be trying to pull in between our two vans. Being as we are side by side on a dual carriageway, with only a couple of feet between us, this is not only clearly impossible but also plainly very bloody dangerous. At this point I'm utterly convinced that it's just someone that wants to get home who is annoyed that we're in the way. Once the dual carriageway ends though and we wait at the junction to take a right, this guy pulls past us and edges past the traffic light in the wrong lane to cut us off. Fair enough, I think. He'll screech off to display his displeasure at being held up and disappear off into the distance.

It's only when we turn and see him waiting that I start to worry. We are now going to pull up to the airport with him in front and the other car behind us. I'm concerned. We wait for the gate to lift and allow us onto the airfield and their car doors swing open. To my utter disbelief, they spring forth armed with CD covers and pens. At first they look a little confused and unsure of what to do now they've caught up. Next, they begin peering into the darkened van windows with only one word to say. "Sigggnnnn", "Siiiiiigggggnnnnn". It's like being set upon by some insane breed of eBay zombies. I'm completely stunned. They've driven like complete loonies just to get an autograph? Even if any of the band were here (which they're not) do they think that putting the fear of god into them by driving dangerously, like some bad car-chase movie is going to make them in any way pleased to see them? "Oh here, let me sign that for you, do you want a beer?" "Did you enjoy the show? Man, you are SUPERfans". I'm confused way beyond my normal jetlagged, tour-flu state to a point of sheer disbelief.

Whilst I'm in our van considering a slightly aggressive response, Chris's brother (who just happens to be along for the ride today) displays the Martin family "irrepressibly bright outlook" and bounds out of the van behind us. Now, Chris's brother has the appearance of someone who's been dragged through a Rolling Stones tour backwards. He does however, under the shaggy hair and leather jacket, bear a strong resemblance to Chris - and more importantly his speaking voice is (not surprisingly) uncannily similar. They must have thought initially that Chris had undergone a complete transformation into Rock God in the fifteen minute drive. I think at first that he's signing stuff for them, but apparently he's taking the CD covers and promising to 'get it sorted out for them', at which they back off and return to their cars.

Amidst all this confusion, the gate has come up and we move onto the airfield. I continue even now, to be utterly baffled by their behaviour. I've talked before of eBayers being the new paps. This is sheer insanity though. I remember some years ago, a high speed paparazzi chase in Paris ending in the death of a very high profile public figure. I climb onto the plane thinking that our potential accident would have been somewhat less of a media event.

I can see the headlines now....

"Assorted entourage of well known pop group die in crash after high speed pursuit by blokes with marker pens. Band OK".

Roadie #42

The capacity of the Liverpool Echo Arena is 8000 tonight. 2044 of them made the Health and Education For All pledge, in just under 3 hours, thanks to our incredible Oxfam campaigners. For many of them, it was their first time volunteering with Oxfam. That’s a pretty good first time campaigning, by any account.. 1 in 4 signed up. Wow.

Chris Martin is currently singing ‘The Hardest Part’. The volunteers effort tonight has certainly ensured that Liverpool is not the hardest part of this tour for me. I think it’s great when so many people join in. That’s like the whole floor area of the arena standing up at once, in unison, against poverty. All those people believing that governments should do more to provide people with their basic rights to good quality healthcare and education. Imagine if you just took away all the running taps, plasters, first aid workers, and hygienic cooking areas in this venue. The show probably wouldn’t happen. If nobody had access to an education, there might not even be anyone working here. But they are. Why couldn’t the same thing happen anywhere? Good quality and affordable healthcare and education are some of the things many countries’ prosperity is built on. It’s not a new idea. Oxfam believes it’s about time everyone had the same chance.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the nasty flu

Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks coldplay12]

Don't get too close, readers. I'm full of cold. Being ill on tour (OK, I know, it's only the sniffles and a sore throat...) is a pretty rubbish experience. If I had a sensible job, I would have called in sick and spent the day under the duvet feeling sorry for myself. That's not really an option in my line of work, so instead, I've turned up to a cold and draughty arena and felt sorry for myself here. Really, I should get the juicer going in catering and load up on healthy vitamins. Maybe later. For now, tablets, vitamin water and self pity are the order of the day.

So what's been happening here? Well, we finished up in Birmingham. The third night's crowd are memorable particularly for a rather excellent bout of Mexican Wave-ing (if indeed such a term exists) before the show. Then, after two glorious days off, we arrived up in Glasgow.

The SECC in Glasgow is where we started the UK arena shows on the Rush Of Blood tour. It all seemed very huge and grown up back then. The show that we have today is immense in comparison and the band on stage are no longer finding their feet and learning their craft. They now seem very comfortable, confident and capable on an arena stage. Of course, the one thing that hasn't changed is the Glasgow crowd - ever reliable as some of the best voices on the planet. They're in fine voice this evening and not only belt out the biggies like Fix You and Viva, but they're singing melodies from within all the songs - not just the vocals, but the guitar parts too. Good work folks!

We get back to our rather splendid hotel, a grand old manor house, and find that there is a wedding party in. We're all sitting around the bar for a swifty when someone's acoustic guitar comes out and the voices are off again. Will and Jonny shyly decline an invitation to give them a song, but this doesn't dampen their enthusiasm one jot and they're giving it loads deep into the night. There's definitely something in the water up here....

Right, I'm going to find a flightcase to curl up on and I'll catch up with ya again in a couple of days. Meantime, I should leave you with a quick tale of Roadie glory. Bash is Will's drumtech. He's been with the band for a very long time now and is one of the most colourful characters on the road (which is saying something...). In Bash's younger (and more single) days, the back lounge of the bus was referred to as "Bash's office" for reasons we'll draw a veil over for now. So when this leg began and the 'core crew' found themselves on a "star bus", the choice for who got the insanely oversized bedroom at the back was obvious. Here's Bash enjoying his new home....

Roadie #42

I’m sitting on a road case, which says C O L D P L A Y, in spray paint across the top. On my right, is a label which says ‘Coldplay. Viva. Viva La Vida 2008/2009. Location: Warm-up room. Truck: Backline. Contents: Piano.’

It’s the ‘Dressy Piano’ case, ready for the band to warm-up for another show on their world tour tonight. Today, we have made it to Liverpool’s Echo Arena. It sits proudly overlooking the Docks, and this famous city of music. It’s also European Capital of Culture this year. A week today, the hosts of the venue will be Sue Barker and Gary Lineker for the annual BBC Sports Personality awards ceremony.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

Actually. I’m not sure they were wooden. That’s probably classed as a fire hazard. There was plenty of stomping on metal bars though. Fantastic atmosphere tonight. The Scots came out to party in Glasgow’s SECC. Coldplay were the life and soul. Soon enough the whole room was all, sort of.. yellow.

Tonight’s surprise was a bunch of yellow balloons, which the band kicked out onto the crowd at the beginning of that song. It was a great sight. I’m always facinated to watch people’s reaction when something like this happens. Some people completely stop watching the show, and concentrate every part of their body, on trying to touch one of those balloons. Then there are others, who don’t seem too fussed, and keep getting hit on the head by them, as they drift down. I saw one boy leaving the venue proudly clinging to his balloon. I guess it will proudly sit in his room, as a reminder, until it wrinkles and shrinks to little more than a yellow shower cap.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

After an overnight drive up to Glasgow, we are here at the SECC.

There’s frost on the trees and that kind of cold clear blue in the air. The Oxfam case is out in the ‘cold-zone’ as Fin described it earlier. That is right behind the stage. It’ll be good when that crowd show up later on and warm the place up a bit! Just a little short blog.. to say.. “brrr”.

Read more blogs at the Oxfam Blog website here

Three nights in Birmingham, 4 UK Coldplay shows in 5 days. 7177 people have already joined Oxfam GB and made the Health and Education FOR ALL pledge. Thank you to all those amazing Coldplay fans for adding their small action to a global movement. Thank you to our 69 awesome Oxfam volunteers so far, who have given up their evening’s to spread the word, talk to fans, and make all those little actions, add up to an incredible 7177!

The first day in Birmingham, the sign-up record tumbled. The second day in Birmingham, that record tumbled again.. In fact. It was smashed, by over 400! A massive, and inspiring 2448 people made the pledge in just under 3 hours. That’s more than 1 in 5 Coldplay fans walking through the door! Special mention must go out to our new record holders.. the 20 Oxfam volunteers from Birmingham NIA, December 2nd, 2008.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

Blog #3: The third and final instalment from our guest blogger, Soha Yassine. Soha took the reigns for all things Oxfam, for the final 3 US shows of 2008. Phoenix was the last of these 3 shows, before the UK tour kicked off.

We arrived in Phoenix at what seemed like an ungodly hour for a tour caravan that hit the road at 1:30am. As I rolled out of my bunk in the ungraceful manner that I do every morning and headed into the venue for some much needed coffee, I stopped by the stage area. It wasn’t even noon yet and my bus-mates have the skeleton of the stage already constructed! Confetti butterflies had already littered the ground. They tend to get stuck on all of the equipment from the night before and fall off everywhere they go. They don’t bother anyone though; who can get mad at butterflies? As I stared at the butterflies in my pre-coffee state, I realized the familiar pattern of metal puzzle-pieces on the floor of the venue. This could only mean that there was an ice hockey rink beneath us and my pre-coffee-Californian-self could only think of one word: gnarly.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

Blog #2: Second instalment from our guest blogger (Soha Yassine), who took the Oxfam reigns for the last three shows in US of 2008. November 25th. 2008. Anaheim. CA.

Tonight we are in the backyard of Los Angeles, Anaheim, California, which is centrally located in Orange County. A few days ago the band rocked the American Music Awards and tonight we’re in the home of the Mighty Ducks.

Here’s an image from the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs with the palm trees shining under the California sun. This is what California looks like about 350 days of the year but not tonight- its pouring rain! Tonight the gods are preparing the weary group of roadies on my bus for the cold and fog that’s to come next week when the band heads out to England. When I helped Pete with the canvassing at the Coldplay show in Boston on the day before Halloween, Chris Martin commented during the show about how Coldplay had been in Boston twice this year, but haven’t had a single concert in their home country! The same is true for California; tonight is Coldplay’s third concert in Southern California since July!

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 on being back in Blighty

Discuss this blog entry here onwards.

I've often said that I never feel as British as when returning from a long stint away. We've been out of the country for so much of the last six months though, that for the first time ever, it actually feels a little odd to be back in Blighty. Without wanting to get all cliched and "life on the road" about it, I have to admit to finding my own country feeling a bit foreign and unfamiliar when we get home his time.

It's difficult to put my finger on exactly what gives me this feeling. One thing that I notice myself doing almost constantly when abroad is gazing out of the windows as we travel. Just being in a foreign country makes everything interesting. Everyday things such as bus stops, payphones and letterboxes are all a little different. I often watch folks going about their everyday lives and form a (most likely quite inaccurate) idea of what it would be like to live here (wherever "here" happens to be on that particular day). For the first time ever, I'm looking out of the window at the UK in the same way.

Maybe it's the jetlag. Usually, when I'm this disorientated, we've just landed in Tokyo and the whole world seems like a slightly odd dream. Today though, we're at Heathrow, which is a place I've been more times than I care to think about and hence should feel comfortingly familiar. It seems that it's not just me that's feeling confused though. We're all saying our goodbyes and "see you tomorrow"s when Jon Hopkins (Viva collaborator and creator of wonderful audio visual chaos in his capacity as support act) looks quizzically and insists that tomorrow is a day off. He has plans for a day of recovery, phone off, curtains shut. Once we tell him what day it is, he slowly comes to realise that it is indeed the first UK show day tomorrow. No rest for the wicked, indeed....

Normally, there would be a week to ten days between touring legs. Someone somewhere has decided though, that it's time to see what we're made of. A lot of folks on the crew flew pretty much straight out of the Phoenix load-out and hit the ground running putting the UK rig together in Sheffield. We haven't really had a good bout of jetlag-twisted working since the promo run right at the start of the tour. Everyone is fried and adrift going into the first show. Communication for the first couple of days is limited mainly to grunts and nods. As I write this in Sheffiled, the clock on the wall says 6pm, but my body insists that it's two in the morning. By the time the first show is over, it'll be well past 6am where my body thinks it is. Coffee, how I love thee...

It's hard to tell how the first show back here in the UK went. When I arrive a couple of days later in Birmingham, there is a newspaper review doing the rounds in catering claiming that the band were on form but the crowd were a little disappointing. Who knows, perhaps they were jetlagged too? During the acoustic section of the first Birmingham show, Chris admits to the crowd that after doing 80 shows this year without doing a single proper gig in the UK, he felt a little like an unfaithful lover returning home - not knowing whether his key would still work in the front door. I think it's fair to say that their possessions haven't been thrown out in the street, but it does feel like they're getting a bit of a stern look.

It's really hard to tell though, whether it's just a case of cultural differences. The crowd seem to be enjoying themselves plenty, it's just felt a little quiet. Perhaps the whooping and screaming that would have seemed so over-the-top when first arriving in the USA or the bonkers football-style chants that greeted them in France and Italy have all become "the norm" now. The British are famous for being slightly polite and reserved. Perhaps we only come to realise exactly why that is when we've been away long enough to notice the difference?

Perhaps the crowds just need a little encouraging to loosen up and join in? It's clearly hitting the band though, - when Chris closes The Scientist (now being played in full down on the main stage) by dropping into a cover of Take That's Back For Good, the line "Whatever you want, just tell me the song and I'll sing it" seems almost a genuine plea. As ever, when there is a challenge, the engine room of the band in the shape of Mr Champion, goes into overdrive. He's not giving in, giving up or putting up. He's giving the kit absolute hell in his complete determination to bring the room to life. If he wasn't already called "Will Champion" you'd really have to suggest a name change...

The joy of three shows in one venue is the fact that there is a glorious day in the middle with no load in and no load out. For the crew, this is utter luxury. Also tonight, we're all staying in the same hotel, so there's chance for a bit of a social. As ever, there is much drinking involved and a late finish. Special note must be made of Mr Dave Favorita, the lighting crew chief, who decided after a hard day at the gig and at the hotel bar, that a long hot bath was in order. It transpires that in his somewhat relaxed state, he woke in the bath to realise that he'd drifted off with the taps still running.

Quite how much time had passed is unclear, but it was enough to not only put the bathroom under an inch of water, but also to soak his luggage - which was all the way over on the other side of his hotel room. Dave apparently went to the front desk and calmly asked for a new room as he wasn't happy with the plumbing where he was.

In celebration the following day, the wall in catering was adorned with a picture from the newspaper of a man trudging through a flooded Venice waist deep in water, annotated with the words 'Disaster Dave'. It has also been suggested that he now be referred to as Noah. Myself, I think that falling asleep in the bath is very dangerous (and by his own admission, he does it regularly). I have added a snorkel to the runner's shopping list tomorrow which should ensure he stays with us for a long time to come. Safety first....

So the day rolls around to showtime and we're a little unsure how it's going to go. The band though, are clearly up for the challenge tonight. Yellow draws to a close and Chris turns his mic for the crowd to sing the ending. He makes it clear that he wants to hear the last line sung to the rafters. "Not loud enough, one more" can be seen as a terrible singer's cliche, but quite simply, it works. by the third time, they're fully alive.

It's the kick that everyone needs to start the engine - and they're off. It seems that indeed, what's required is a little encouragement. Tonight then, marks the first show when the culture shock of being home has worn off, - when the band have remembered how to play to a British crowd. Fix You ends with the proper choir of voices and the show goes on to get better and better. We even get the glowstick mobile phones tonight - and when the fellas return for the final encore, the Viva chant is in full force. Chris sits at the piano and joins in, then stops immediately to express his complete shock. "No way, you're perfectly in tune" he says hitting the first chord again just to confirm it. They are too. Simply amazing. Confidence restored and a job well done.

With no load-out and one more Birmingham show tomorrow, I decide to walk straight back to the hotel. I get outside and I'm immediately caught up in the huge procession of folks leaving the venue. I can't remember ever having done this before - and it's great. People are walking along the canal bank four deep chatting about how good a show it was and how much they enjoyed it. I have to say, I'm in agreement.

Well, that's a very wordy blog, so to make up for it, here's a clip of Life In Technicolor ii closing the second Birmingham show.

Roadie #42

Blog #1: Just in from our mystery guest blogger (Soha Yassine), who took the Oxfam reigns for the last three shows in US of 2008. 22nd November 2008. Salt Lake City. UT.

“… So come over, just be patient, and don’t worry” can be heard clearly enough that I forget for a moment that i’m standing in the middle of the concourse at Energy Solutions Arena. I take a peak inside, as the building-sized banner, that reads ‘VIVA’, drops behind Chris, Jonny, Guy, and Will. Audiences always seem to be moved by this moment, and the band does not at all seemed dwarfed by the towering banner.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

If my memory serves me correctly.. It’s been 22 shows since the last time I was able to say this. We have a new world record sign-up number for the Viva La Vida tour 2008! Oxfam has had an amazing night so far at the 1st Coldplay show, here at the Birmingham NIA.

An incredible 2050 amazing Coldplay fans, signed to pledge their support for Health and Education For All. That’s almost a fifth of the audience! Thank you to our amazing 20 volunteers, organised by Kay, our star regional coordinator.

My condolences to the Ottawa volunteers, who held the record for over 6 weeks. I am sure that you will be able to see the positive side though.. thousands more people calling on their governments to act and continue supporting education, healthcare, sanitation and water improvement programmes for the worlds poorest people.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

I walked across to the arena today, watching Christmas lights being strung up around trees. It’s the first day of a freezing cold December, in England. You know, when you go outside in the cold and then get back indoors, try to speak to someone, and your mouth doesn’t work properly.. like your cheeks are freezing up. When you stand talking to a friend, and your breath in the air makes you look like two boiling kettles. That’s the kind of day it is out there. Inside, everyone is wearing wolly hats, beanies and big coats. It’s a few degrees warmer than out there, but still pretty chilly.

The Birmingham NIA stands proudly overlooking the canals and down across England’s second largest city. Posters line the walls, advertising all sorts of big shows to come.. Coldplay own the stage here for the next 3 nights though, and will play in front of over 32′000 people before we even get the Thursday. I’m sure those fans will go home happy and looking forward to the huge stadium shows next year.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

I never get to see the end of the show from there. I’m usually upstairs, but just now, I watched as the band bowed, left the stage, bolted for the door, and the Oxfam sphere lit up, illuminating the clearing seats, so that the masses can find their way home, and find their way to take action with Oxfam.. It’s already emptied out in there, the contents of the arena, heading out into the misty Yorkshire night.

The stage is already cleared, and being torn apart. Rick marches down the catwalk, blowing away the butterfly confetti, with a leaf-clearer fit for any enthusiastic gardener. Every trace of tonight’s show will soon be gone. Band, crew, trucks, cases, stage, amps, lights, Oxfam tables, butterflies, empty beer mugs and tomato ketchup pouches.

It was just a small team of Oxfamers tonight. 9 of them from the Leeds Outreach group. Between them, they got an awesome 623 pledges for Health and Education For All. That’s awesome stuff. Just think what we can do with the 60 volunteers in Birmingham over 3 nights of Coldplay shows..!

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the pumpkin soup

Discuss this blog entry here onwards.

Marguerite drops into her seat at dinner in Anaheim looking as though she's just been mugged. The explanation is simple enough - it's LA and consequently, she has just submitted a guest list that outnumbers the attendance at the band's first ever gig by a factor of three to one. Shows in London, New York and LA tend to be ever thus.

They're not just gigs, they're mini music biz events. There is an aftershow tonight though and it is unusually good. Maybe I'm just a grumpy old man, but aftershows tend to do little to excite me. They're usually full of people who I've never met before - it's rather like gatecrashing a stranger's wedding reception. Tonight is nice, though. The music is chilled, the sushi is excellent and the company is most agreeable

We're on the ground in Phoenix for less than six hours. I arrive with boxes, bags and other various items of cack that I've ammassed through this touring leg. I need to ram it into any available flightcase, but realise that I'm in competition. Everyone has been buying Christmas presents, treating themselves and otherwise accumulating stuff just the same way I have. Every flightcase is absolutely stuffed to bursting. Around the venue, folks are sitting on flightcases in an attempt to get them to shut. I manage to cram all mine in and pray that the plane actually manages to get off the ground and we see it all again in Sheffield.

It's the last show in the USA for a while, so the fellas bid the nation as a whole farewell with one last blast through the setlist. 'Til we see ya again - so long folks!

It seems somewhat fitting that we're celebrating the end of our work here in the US (for now at least), with a meal celebrating a holiday that, as Brits, we have no understanding of whatsoever. We're all sat in the hotel until the evening flight, so Franksy has organised us a Thanksgiving feast.

It strikes us partway through the meal that not one of us around the table is American. Thanksgiving though, is about celebrating the fact that the hard work is done, that the harvest has been good. The shows and the whole touring experience this time out have been excellent. It definitely feels as though we've arrived at a point to take stock, to slump on the sofa and pat our bellies. It would feel this way that is, if the UK tour wasn't starting as soon as we're back. In the meantime, the pumpkin soup is excellent.

Roadie #42

On a train to Sheffield, England. The accents have changed. The scenery (or what I can see of it), is very different. There’s coffee fumes in the air from the buffet car. Bleary-eyed Saturday shoppers are shuffling along in the carriages, for a boost of morning brew (with chocolate sprinkles).

Autumn looks like it’s been and gone. Trees stripped bare of leaves. Frost on the wiry grass. Thick.. Thick, fog. To be honest, I can’t see a lot at all. Aside from the occasional rooftop, lonely-looking horse, or another patchwork field. It’s all quite poetic. To think that it was the start of the summer days, when Coldplay took the stage for their live return in Brixton, London, back in June. When ‘Viva La Vida’ crashed into the charts worldwide, and the band began to take the world by storm. I remember back in April, when I got my new job. Preparing for the tour, back in Oxfam House. Designing t-shirts and collecting boxes of materials. The buzz of waiting for the tour to begin.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

Here’s one from a couple of days ago..

Waiting in the Denver arena, looking through the glass at all manner of Denver Nuggets merch. It’s going to be a good night. I can feel it. I looked out at the setting sun, through swirls of rollercoasters.. to the huge Broncos stadium, and rugged line of mountains cutting off the sun. Now that sun has gone down, the temperature is in plummet mode again. I’m going to need some gloves for that trip outdoors.. This cooler air, is a good way to acclimatise before the UK tour..

The Oxfam volunteers had free reign on a huge arena. 3 Levels towering up high. During the show, I took a seat in one of the closed off sections behind the stage. It’s an incredible sight to see all those people staring towards you, but not looking at you at all.

Read the full blog entry at the Oxfam Blog website here

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the random rememberings

Discuss this blog entry here onwards.

Gah! I hate leaving the blog for a few days - I forget all the tiny details of what happened. Hence, if this installment reads like a random list of unrelated rememberings then that's because it's exactly what it is!

Lets see, where were we up to? OK, I'd got as far as leaving Texas.

The Denver show brings a guest at soundcheck. We are joined by a chap called Ricardo Leon, who's here with the Make A Wish foundation - his wish being to play drums with Coldplay. He makes his way to the stage on a motorised wheelchair, which does make one wonder how he'd manage with a drumkit.

Once on the drumstool though, there's no question. It soon becomes clear that not only is he an excellent timekeeper, but he also has the parts down to any Coldplay song they care to mention. They give Politik a crack, then he suggests Amsterdam. Chris sheepishly admits that he can't for the life of him remember how to play it (even though Ricardo will clearly know it inside and out). They move on to The Scientist, before getting a bit more rock with Sleep Chant. By this point they're chatting like old mates and after giving Fix You a go, they sit chatting for a while before Franksy pops up to remind the fellas that we're running over our soundcheck time and need to let Jon Hopkins and Sleepercar on. It was a lovely afternoon, and Ricardo is an all round top chap. Thanks for coming down mate.

On then, to Salt Lake City. It's been an great leg in terms of how enjoyable the travel has been this time. Five weeks in one country is a long time, but thankfully the US has some pretty broad extremes to keep things interesting. A few weeks ago, I was looking out of the window of my Manhattan hotel room wondering how so many people could possibly fit into one small space. Today, I'm peering out of the round aeroplane window looking out across miles and miles of desert, wondering where the tiny pickup trucks I spot on the thread-like roads could possibly be going. Who exactly lives in those four dots of houses I just saw? And what the hell do they do when they run out of milk?

As we ride into the gig, Tour Accountant Yasmine (who wishes to point out in relation to a previous entry that she toured with The Who in the past few years, she is not in fact, older than the sun), looks around at the miles and miles of open space and wonders: "Where are fifteen thousand people who want to see Coldplay actually going to COME FROM round here?" She has a point.

But come they do. And not only do they turn up, but they make plenty of noise too! Folks in more out of the way places can often be the most exciting and excitable audiences. Tonight does nothing to disprove that theory. Most pleasantly, it seems like the mobile phone glowsticks in the Viva remix are now a permanent fixture of the show. I have a feeling that this will never get old. I even spot Mr Champion sneaking out from behind the drape to check it out for a while before they come back on for Politik.

After the show, we continue to plough west, as we bail for LA. The joy of traveling west of course, is that we're gaining an hour every few days. 25 hour days are very handy in a job where you're constantly in motion and always trying to catch up with yourself. It suddenly strikes me though, that our progress out west is like the stretching of a rather large body-clock catapult. Once the show in Phoenix is done, we get fired right back into the UK shows, across eight time zones. Can't wait to see how little sense the world makes once we get to Sheffield!

The AMA awards are suddenly upon us, which brings an opportunity to continue my research on the effects of combining extreme boredom with an excess of caffeine. Every time I find myself excruciatingly bored, (roughly, at five minute intervals) I go get another cup. Every time I finish a cup, I find myself jangling with nervous energy and in need of something to do. Inevitably, until the ten minutes of frantic activity associated with getting our fellas' stuff onstage comes round, the only thing TO do is...... get more coffee.

By mid-afternoon, the venue has settled into a bit of an "Upstairs / Downstairs" situation. Upstairs on the stage level, it's the lair of the roadie. There are more black T-Shirts and baseball caps up here than travel on our entire merchandise truck. Meanwhile downstairs in the dressing room corridor, it's entourage central. It's like some kind of frantic mass-shootout between Blackberries and iPhones as management, personal assistants, wardrobe folks and security swarm about sweating the details.

Brook's butterflies are in full effect at the AMAs and are to be found all over the venue following the performance. They're in bunches all through the corridors and being trampled through the dressing room corridor leaving a trail of Coldplay all over the venue. There's also many of LA's finest wandering about in the guest area clutching their very own souvenirs from the show. It's good to leave your mark!

One of the most pleasant things that has evolved on this tour is the "day off footy league". The band so far, have an unbeaten record against the crew. Today though, the Roadie Gods are smiling and it's close right up 'til the final whistle, but the crew take it at 4-3. The UK leg grudge matches are being booked as we speak...

Roadie #42

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the Texan cable massacre

Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks coldplay12]

"If you're from Tex-as, won't you le-e-e-et me know...". Chris ends Violet Hill with this line in Houston and they spend the whole night doing just that. The Houston crowd are extremely vocal. It's not just the line from Chris that sets them off either. I was musing the other day that some crowds give a cheer when the house lights go off but then get very quiet through the intro to Life In Technicolor - only truly erupting when the four shadowy figures make their way up the steps and onto the stage. It's almost like they don't believe that the band are even in the building until they can see the whites of their eyes.

In Texas though, they explode at the house-lights dropping and they pretty much stay in berserk mode until the fellas wander off after Yellow. Once the tour settles in as it has, it's the crowd reactions that truly differentiate one show from another. Tonight in Houston we get a truly standout show. As ever, a powerful performance from the crowd brings out the same from the fellas. Lovers In Japan particularly, seems to take flight tonight like never before. There's something about the way Will is pummelling the shuffling snare drum pattern that gives it immense power - yet at the same time a wonderful, supple grace. It's kind of like being kicked in the head by a ballerina in army boots. I'm fairly sure though, that Mr. Champion wouldn't thank me for painting the mental picture of him in a leotard...

All of this is not to say that the Houston show is without its faults. The "techno" God Put A Smie very nearly takes place in a hole in the stage. On a good night, the "lit dancefloor" with the B-stage gear on it rises gracefully to meet the "ramp" that comes down from stage left into the crowd. Tonight the switch is flicked and the stage resolutely stays at floor level. Much roadie cursing and scrambling for cables ensues.

I'm led to believe that the necessary big wire is reconnected and the stage begins to lift only as the band are on their way down from the main stage. When I mention this later to the band, turns out they were oblivious to it all. Come the C-stage though, there is the small incident of the singer standing on the guitar cable that is altogether more difficult to miss. As with all the best shows, mishaps and problems just turn into amusing extras. It's just another thing to make the show unique from all the others. I reckon Will's reaction is priceless - it's good to see Laurel and Hardy alive and well...

Dallas brings with it another soundcheck party. As we arrive, the band's blacked-out vehicles are held up in the loading dock behind a large passenger bus. As the vehicles wind their way around it to drop the fellas behind the stage it slowly dawns on everyone that the bus must be full of the competition winners that are attending the soundcheck. This means that they're first treated to a "band getting out of the vans party" - talk about getting your money's worth!

Being as we're in Texas, it's a good time to talk about Sleepercar. Top fellas one and all, they've been a great opening act for the past few shows. The first time I saw them, I was in my bunker under the stage getting ready for the gig. I saw their final song, after which they turned around and began unplugging their gear, before carrying it off stage themselves. Not many folks would go about things that way in front of a 15,000 seat arena. Maybe it's my roadie perspective, but it stamps them as hugely down to earth in my book and I'm intrigued. Today, they spend part of their soundcheck playing a cover Wild Horses, which just happens to be one of my favourite tunes of all time. That's it for me, I'm hooked, good and proper!

The Dallas crowd is a little slower to get going than Houston, but once Viva kicks in, it's a glorious uproar. I guess in many ways, this song has become the band's trump card. Obviously, the "classics" such as Clocks, Yellow and Fix You all get huge cheers and responses. Viva though, is something completely different. Every gig ignites at the point where the opening chords first emerge from the sound system. It's been accepted and celebrated by such a huge cross-section of folks in so many places all around the world that it's utterly astonishing.

Obviously, time will tell how the track fits into the band's history - it's impossible to know whether its freshness will fade, but from this particular point in time, it feels as though they've hit a new peak. I've read about many bands admitting that their latest records were essentially made as an excuse to go out and tour all their old "golden era" material. Maybe these guys will get to that point one day (although I have a feeling they'd rather knock it on the head than become their own tribute band). What I can say with one hundred percent certainty though, is that we're about as far from that point as it's possible to get right now. And that friends, is a very good place to be!

Roadie #42