R#42 blog

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 sends Pemberton video footage...   Greetings from the East. Whilst we adjust to the jetlag and the culture shock, here's a little home movie from that festival in the mountains we did a little while back. R42   Discuss the latest blog and watch the video again here [thanks melanieau]    

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 reports from Japan   I have to wonder whether it's called "the land of the rising sun" due to most visitors spending their first jetlagged days waking at 5am. Indeed, it was apparently a skewed body clock that had Chris walking round an Osaka park at sunrise when he began writing Lovers In Japan. It's cheesy and obvious, but it's impossible to wander the humid streets and not have the tune as a mental soundtrack.   Humid, now there's a thing. It's

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 muses on the band's time in Japan   Can it really be a week since we left Japan? Worse yet, I've not yet submitted my journals from those shows. "Jetlag" sounds far more glamourous and interesting than "couldn't get off the sofa", so I'm sticking with that. Somehow though, I think we all know where the truth lies.   In a nice follow-on from the previous journal, I opened my hotel room curtains in Osaka to be greeted by a building in the distance

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 reports from last night's BBC show   Like the school summer holidays, our three weeks at home went all too fast. In many ways, starting again at the BBC is perfectly consistent with the "back to school" analogy. The BBC has that wonderful institutional feel, a similar must and polish smell and a strict adherence to regulations that is at first mildly annoying, but eventually becomes quite endearing.   We're at the BBC Radio Theatre today, in the

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 reports from the first European shows   Discuss the latest blog entry here [thanks melanieau]   Well then dear reader, that's the first week of European touring done. After the US leg finally beginning to feel as though it was settling into a groove, the less experienced (or slightly more optimistic) roadie might be forgiven for expecting this run to be simply a case of coasting along on auto-pilot from where we left off. Obviously though, this be

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 sends word from the autobahn   Well, we're halfway to Berlin as I write this, with a show in Hamburg fading off in the rear view mirror. Temperature-wise it's been one extreme to another. The Paris venue seemed to have no ventilation whatsoever, making for a sauna-like gig experience.   In Hamburg, there was ice beneath the boards that covered the floor. This caused enough confusion to throw Chris off at the start of Death and All His Friends. He

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the rise of the eBayer   There appears to be a new breed, a strange distant cousin to the paparazzi. They're eBayers. Like paps, they hang around in groups outside hotels and gigs, at airports and radio stations.   They are armed not with camera, but with signing pens. They usually have half a dozen copies of the same CD cover for the band to sign. They also usually look as unlike Coldplay fans as it's possible to get - which, given the broad

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: The curious incident of the camera and the foot   Discuss this blog entry here [thanks jenjie]   Days off tend to be anticipated with a mass of good intentions and disappear before your very eyes before you've had a chance to do anything with them. Plans are made to explore the world's great cities, catch up with friends or any number of things that mean you've actually achieved something. Inevitably, either hangovers, travel, or general exhaustion en

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 has a Swede sensation   Discuss this blog entry here [thanks coldplay12]   As befits a building called The Globe, the venue in Stockholm bears a striking resemblance to a very large football. We have two shows here, which is always nice. The first goes well and is a 'walk away', which means the entire crew get to do a runner. Much letting down of hair ensues.   The following morning was to have been a full-on "Band vs Crew" football match. However

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the curious incident of the bubble wrapped office   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks mimixxx]   It's another round of cover versions in soundcheck today. As well as a now alarmingly regular Oasis tune, somebody stumbles upon the riff to Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream. Somewhat inevitably, it morphs into a rocked up version of the A-Team theme tune. Signs of a mis-spent youth indeed...   The covers theme continues into Albert Hammo

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 is your Czech mate   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks Carlaatje]   One of the nice things about touring Europe is how different things are from day to day. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't like touring the USA - nothing could be further from the truth. What I'm saying is that if touring the States is like an economy sized box of your favourite breakfast cereal, Europe is like filling your cupboard with those variety packs

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the Budapest backline panic   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks melanieau]   There were photographers and video cameras when we landed in Prague yesterday. Quite a pack of them, actually. Today, here in Budapest, there is a lone photographer and a couple of guys with a video camera and a microphone.   Chris and security chief Kelly Samuels have quite the double act worked out when it comes to pap evasion. They've slid by un-noticed

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 shows you his bunker   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks Larry & Chris²]   Sitting in the van outside the hotel in Budapest today reminds me that we're slipping gently into tour madness now. I'm not talking about hotel-trashing ad hell-raising, but the slightly punch drunk, hazy-minded feeling that tells you it'd be really nice to have some time off. It's slightly similar to sleep deprivation, in that everything begins to seem mildl

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the Munchen bunchen   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks Jenjie]   We arrive in Munich not entirely sure what we'll find. The crew have had a day off here in the midst of "Oktoberfest". Now I couldn't tell you exactly what Oktoberfest is, or indeed why it begins at the end of September. What I do know, though, is that it is all about the drinking. Somewhat predictably, much of the crew are looking rather tired today. I expect the fac

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 is on a Swiss roll   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks mimixxx]   Today marks the first day of the tour where I genuinely don't know where we are. We get into the van at the airport and I catch myself asking what country we're in before I realise how utterly rubbish that sounds. Turns out we're in Switzerland. Zurich, to be precise. The first time I ever visited Zurich it was snowing, I was hungover and it was my mum's birthday. For som

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 is your Italian stallion   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks coldplay12]   As we arrive at the airport in Zurich, ready to head for Bologna, we see that there are some fans gathered at the entrance. Not so unusual, except that they are the very same fans that were waiting outside the hotel when we just left. Not only do they know our movements, but they've done the same journey as us and beaten us here.   It gets even more strange when

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 and the jolly green beer man   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks coldplay12]   The "intro tape" on this run has been a double whammy of Jay-Z followed by the Blue Danube. Quite an odd pairing, I'm sure you'll agree, but it works wonderfully well. Tonight in Rotterdam, keyboard tech Neill Lambert drags me over to stage right as the hip hop track kicks in. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking for until I get there. There is a road

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 is a busy bee   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks coldplay12]   Friends, it's been a stupidly busy day or two here at 42 Towers. I won't bore you with the details, because frankly, nobody likes a whiner. But whilst the train wreck of several last minute rush-jobs piles up around me, I really don't want to neglect my duty to all of you.   To that end, here's a few photos from the other day that I took of Albert Hammond's band. We'll be s

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: An afternoon update from #42   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks mimixxx]   So there we have it - Glass Of Water is now out in the wild. The footage on the site came from Andy Bramley, the tour's wonderful video director - the entire XL video department played a blinder, I think you'll agree. I'll spare you the details of the chaos that went into making it happen at our end, but I think it was worth it and now we have the ability to do thi

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 writes from the Later studio   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks coldplay12]   It's all quiet in Studio One at BBC Television Centre. Shortly, they'll be letting the audience in. In the meantime, there's just a few of the TV crew rehearsing camera movements. In an hour or so, we'll start taping a show that'll go out on telly this Friday. This series of Jools Holland is different from those before, in that there is also a show tonight -

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 reports from an end-of-term TV show   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks coldplay12]   Will is laughing like a drain - and it's all because of Chris's socks. I've no idea when this T4 TV special will air, but I won't spoil the interview by telling you what's caused the hilarity. It's nice though, to see the fellas all together on the sofa (albeit one which keeps collapsing at Jonny's end) and all genuinely having a good laugh.   Doubtle

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: In which Roadie #42 is too modest to celebrate reaching Blog #42   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks Pris]   One by one, the band bound onto the stage for soundcheck in Ottawa. I don't use the word bound just because it's easy to type. Ten days of rest has recharged, re-invigorated and positively rebuilt everybody here. Jonny, in particular bounces onto the stage like a boxer entering the ring to claim his title.   He's beaming widely and j

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: He's Mr Yahoo! 42   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks melanieau]   Just when it looked like we were going to be settled into a long run of arena shows, out of the left field somewhere comes a theatre show for an internet company! It's a Yahoo! session and we're at the Hammerstein Ballroom. It's a beautiful venue in Manhattan, literally around the corner from Madison Square Garden. It could easily have been a real nightmare trying to shift g

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 the bootlegger   Discuss this blog entry here onwards [thanks coldplay12]   Right then folks. Saturday Night Live was a very long day. Soundcheck, camera rehearsals, dress rehearsals and so it went on. Being on the tail end of jetlag as I am, a 1am finish required a hell of a lot of coffee. The one good thing about having all that time though, is that I got a chance to dig through my laptop and have a clearout. Here's a bit of audio I found from t

Check out coldplay.com for a new blog entry: #42 is watching you   Discuss this blog entry here onwards.   I've mused before on the section of the show when the guys head up into the back of the arena for the "acoustic" bit. Although I've talked about watching the audience response as they slowly realise what's going on, I don't think I've mentioned the range of reactions from the folks that are immediately around the band once they're on the "c-stage" way up in the back of the arena. My little