Larry

Na, was ist denn plötzlich los mit dir Julia? :D Oh man, ich würd mir genau wie Sarah und Felix so sehr wünschen, dass du noch nach Köln hin kannst. :)

Here's the translation! Again, sorry for any mistakes! ;) It was a tough one this time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coldplay with a sense for dramaturgy From Thorsten Keller, 03.09.08, 14:40 h, updated 03.09.08, 14:42 h 13 000 fans celebrated the British band Coldplay in the Mannheim SAP Arena. Right at the beginning the musicians penetrate with "Violet Hill" directly to the heart of the current CD "Viva la Vida" - vigorous, rhythmically complex and less introverted, as you knew the English band previously. Before Coldplay start their tour in Germany in the Mannheim SAP Arena Viennese waltz is running from the tape for minutes, like in a bad "Sissi" movie. While 13 000 fans in the sold-out hall still reflect on what deeper meaning this break music could possibly have, the four Coldplay musician even come on the stage, but during the first number "Life in Technicolor" they only appear as a shadow behind a transparent curtain to be guessed at. After this timid prologue the curtain goes up and with "Violet Hill" Coldplay penetrate directly to the heart of the current CD "Viva la Vida" - vigorous, rhythmically complex and less introverted, as you knew the English band previously. Singer Chris Martin and guitarist Johnny Buckland also visually tie in with "Viva la Vida" due to their stylised circus uniforms - the outfit one knows from the advertising photos for the current album. Solid soft rock According to a survey of tourist internet portal Travelodge, Coldplay is the band people in Great Britain prefer to listen to in the evening before closing the eyes, music to fall asleep with in a narrower literal sense. One might think about this survey in Mannheim, when Chris Martin sits down at his piano (or rather lays down as his nose almost touched the keys) and alludes the new song "42". Solid soft rock, Coldplay old-school - that's the first impression. But after just two minutes the number tilts, followed by an intermediate game with wild technoid convulsions, then it goes back to the starting point. The pepped up sound doesn’t stop over older repertoire as well: With "God Put a Smile on Your Face" the band dismantles a hit from 2002, like if it were a remix by Brian Eno, with pounding bass and glaring, cheeping special effects. Of course Coldplay also establish those solemn, ponderous stadium rock (prototype: "In My Place") on the current tour, with whom they conquered an audience of millions, even on the hard to break through U.S. market which is difficult for British bands. Thereby, however, the band proves fine sense of dramaturgy. During the first single-hit "Yellow" the complete arena is flooded with yellow spots, a light mood like on a Belgian motorway. The big video wall behind the musicians shows a shot of the brightly lit interior - an extremely effective mirror trick, which just doubled the audience. Close contact with the fans In contrast to the open-air shows of the year 2005, when Coldplay only rattled off their programme distantly and tired, there are two blocks integrated in the current production, in which the band move closer to the fans. The ballad "Hardest Part" is played solo by Chris Martin on a mini-stage, like an island stands out from the interior, in this moment he doesn’t appear as a hard-boiled rock star, but more as a sad pianist in a dubious hotel bar. Viewers in block 211 in the lower tier of the arena have booked the best places to have this evening in Mannheim. There Coldplay turn out on another temporary stage for a short acoustic set, only with guitars, mandolin and harmonica. Besides, they blow some steam from the bulky song "The Scientist", less (or none) keyboards is clearly more in this case. Of course it wouldn’t be Coldplay if there were no ideological social programme. Between taps for "Eichbaum-Pils", sausage shops and the well-assorted stand with fan merchandise there are also tables in the foyer with full information about the British organization Oxfam, who stands up for development assistance and fair world trade. Despite of pithy slogans and direct speech ("It's time for justice", "You've got power") the crowds remains modest at these stalls - Saving the world in a pop and entertainment context is just a laborious business.

I can do it for you, no problem. :) Haha I know the scene with Homer in the outer space. Is it this song? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6F2TywnQW8 That's what I just found on youtube lol.

Ganz ehrlich, ich hab mittlerweile nen schlechtes Gefühl, dass ich dir Julia mein zweites Berlin-Ticket nicht einfach geschenkt habe. :( Aber glaub Berlin wäre für dich doch auch mit enormen Kosten verbunden gewesen (Anfahrt, Hotel), oder? :( Ich würde dir wohl auch Geld leihen, wenn du willst. :)

Jenjie, do you also need a translation for the new article? You kill me! :D :P Well perhaps I'll find the time to do it tomorrow. It's a bit longer. :) Is that true? :stunned: It says that they played a kind of Viennese Walzer music in the background before the show officially started? Why did they do that? Never heard of it before...

Warum haben die eigentlich denn dein BaföG gekürzt? Das ist doch ne Schweinerei! Kann man nicht dagegen vorgehen? Naja "Strawberry Swing" war am Anfang das schlechteste Lied auf der Platte für mich, aber nach einiger Zeit mochte ich den Song ganz gerne. Mittilerweile ist das einer meiner Lieblingssongs von Viva La Vida haha. Also abwarten! :D

:( Kann dann echt verstehen, warum du deine Eltern nicht andauernd fragen willst. Vielleicht kriegst du ja den Job. :) Ansonsten würde ich einfach mal zum Arbeitsamt gehen. Ich hatte dort diese Woche ein Beratungsgespräch (obwohl ich kein Job suche, da ich ja nen Studienplatz mittlerweile sicher habe und nur Arbeitslosengeld beantragt habe) und ich wurde da echt gut beraten. Gut, ich kann jederzeit zum alten Arbeitgeber zurückkehren, aber ich war echt überrascht wie gut die sich um einen kümmern. Hätte ich nicht diese Möglichkeiten gehabt, hätten die sich sofort auf Jobsuche für mich gemacht. Du kannst da auch hingehen, wenn du nur Jobs auf 400€ Basis suchst. Ich kann das echt nur weiterempfehlen, auch wenn es natürlich in anderen, größeren Städten anders sein könnte.

Hm das tut mir echt so Leid für dich! :( Hast du denn mal mit deinen Eltern darüber gesprochen? Können sie dir nicht vielleicht erstmal ein bisschen Geld leihen?

Thanks very much! :blush: I'm not content with myself though haha. It could be a bit better...

Does that mean you need a translation? Here it is! :D Sorry for some mistakes, but I haven't got any English lessons since 3 years now. Bad excuse I know... :wacky: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now it finally arrived! September the 2nd has come and Coldplay are guests in the SAP Arena in Mannheim with their "Viva La Vida" tour. The sold-out SAP Arena, which took more than 11,000 visitors, offered a unique image. The show which Coldplay performed here was terrific! This band, or their image and sound engineers, really understands how to combine music, lighting and stage design, as I’ve never seen before. The concert itself was a journey through all the Coldplay albums, while the band played their hits from "Clocks" to "Viva La Vida". During the intro, after the hall was dimmed out and a kind of semi permeable curtain was hanging in front of the stage, the band came on stage, has been irradiated by headlamps from behind and you could only see their silhouette. The perfect staging was assisted by "balls", on which various videos were projected inside (e.g. the audience, or even entire movies). The highlight, however, was during the song "Lovers in Japan" in which a rain of thousands of paper butterflies went down to the audience. Coldplay has shown that this band plays with effects and performed a show which I wouldn’t imagine any better. The high ticket price has clearly paid off, and I would always do it again!

But that's not your problem then... :P Awww I so hope for you to get any cheap tickets for Cologne! I'll keep my fingers crossed. :)

I translated the article now (or I tried it :wacky:)! ;) http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2522823&postcount=152

Hey Julia, - as Sarah said - If I were you I would try to go to the Köln Arena on September 12th to see if you might get any tickets on the black market. Recently MTV was outside the Olympic stadium in Berlin where Madonna performed. The original ticket price was 130€ and the channel showed people who still got tickets on the black market for 30€. So perhaps you'll be successful as well. :) Don't give up!

Thanks very much for the pictures, videos and reviews! :D I'm worried that they didn't play "Don't Panic" this time. :( Anyway, I found a short article. Unfortunately I'm still too tired to translate it, but you don't miss anything important I guess. ;) Edit: Ok, I just translated it! :wacky: I'm bored as hell, but I'm not quite sure if everything's correct, sorry. :( ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ GERMAN: Coldplay in Mannheim: „Unglaubli(s)ch!“ Die Arena in Mannheim war voll bis unters Dach – etwa 13.000 Fans sind gekommen, um Coldplay bei ihrem Auftakt zur Deutschlandtour mit dem neuen Album „Viva la Vida“ anzuschauen. „Hello Mannheim, wie geht’s“ – Coldplay-Frontmann Chris Martin hat während der ganzen Show immer wieder mit den Fans gesprochen, und zwar auf deutsch. Und wenn alle mitgesungen haben, fand das Chris Martin einfach „unglaublisch“. Bestimmt hat er während der Show drei Kilo abgenommen, so wie er über die Bühne geturnt ist, wild getanzt hat und dabei auch noch jeden Meter ausgenutzt hat. „Life In Technicolor“ – damit fing es relativ ruhig an, da hat die Band noch hinter einem transparenten Vorhang gestanden, hinter ihnen riesengroß das Cover des „Viva la Vida“-Albums. Und dann ging’s richtig los: „Violet Hill“, „In My Place“, „Speed of Sound“ – Coldplay haben keine Sekunde Pause gemacht! Das Konzert war auch was fürs Auge: Licht-Effekte, Lasershow, leuchtende Riesenkugeln über der Bühne, auf denen die Show übertragen wurde. Die Jungs haben sich da richtig was einfallen lassen. Die Bühne hatte links und rechts zwei Rampen runter ins Publikum, und auf denen liefen Chris Martin und Lead-Gitarrist Jonny Buckland auch mitten rein in die Menge. Da konnten die Fans sie fast anfassen. Bei „Viva la Vida“ tobt die Halle Ein absolutes Highlight der Show: „Viva la Vida“ – da sind wirklich restlos alle von ihren Sitzen aufgesprungen, und man hat eigentlich nur noch Tausende klatschende, hochgestreckte Hände gesehen. Sehr abwechslungsreich war die Musikmischung: mit jeder Menge Extras von Lichteffekten und wechselndem Bühnenbild, über einen Konfettiregen aus Papierschmetterlingen bis zum Akustik-Part der Band mitten im Publikum. Coldplay haben da wirklich einen Knaller-Tourauftakt hingelegt. Quelle: http://www.swr3.de/musik/Coldplay_20in_20Mannheim_3A_20_E2_80_9EUnglaublisch_21_E2_80_9C/-/id=47316/did=439778/1qpenwt/index.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ENGLISH: Coldplay in Mannheim: "Unbelievable!“ The Arena in Mannheim was full up under the roof - about 13,000 fans have came to see Coldplay in their prelude to the German tour with the new album "Viva la Vida". "Hello Mannheim, wie geht's" - throughout the show Coldplay front man Chris Martin repeatedly talked with the fans, in German. And if all people sang along, Chris Martin said it's "unglaubli(s)ch". During the show he has lost three kilos certainly, as he exercised across the stage, dancing wildly and has even exploited every metre. "Life in Technicolor" - It began relatively quietly, as the band was still behind a transparent curtain with an enormous cover of the "Viva la Vida" album behind them. And then it went off: "Violet Hill", "In My Place", "Speed of Sound" - Coldplay didn't stop a second! The concert was also pleasing to the eye: light effects, laser show, giant glowing balls above the stage on which the show has been transferred. The boys really came up with an idea. On the left and right the stage had two ramps down into the audience, on which Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland directly ran into the crowd. The fans were nearly able to touch them. During "Viva la Vida" the hall became wildly enthusiastic An absolute highlight of the show: "Viva la Vida" - completely everyone jumped up from their seats and the only thing you have seen were thousands of clapping and stretched out hands. The music mixture was very varied: with lots of extras, changing lighting effects, a changing stage design, a confetti of paper butterflies and an acoustic part of the band in the middle of the audience. Coldplay really kicked off an incredible prelude of their tour. Source: http://www.swr3.de/musik/Coldplay_20in_20Mannheim_3A_20_E2_80_9EUnglaublisch_21_E2_80_9C/-/id=47316/did=439778/1qpenwt/index.html

On which channel? Perhaps on TF1? :D :P Here's the clip of today's evening news! Go to 33:00 min. :D I'm sure I just saw you running to get inside there haha. http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/jt/0,,4055588,00-le-journal-televise-du-2-septembre-2008-20h-.html

By the way, if you need a good translator, I'd recommend www.leo.org . I think it's the best one in the web. :)

Hehe yeah Chris always tries to speak a bit in the language where they're playing at. So sad you didn't understand it. Hopefully there are some pictures to come. :D Can't wait to see some of them. How long did you stay at the train station???

Good to know! So you met the others ones from coldplaying? What else have you done, especially after the concert? And how many of the people in the hall were German and French? :P

Und ich dachte schon die gestrige Currywurst wäre Schuld daran gewesen. ;) Hm kenn ich gar nicht. Entweder ist das vom 1. Album oder ziemlich neu. :D

Sag mal... hast du was getrunken? :D :P Welches Lied ist das denn? :shocked2:

Hey, thanks for this short review. I nearly lost all my pictures and videos on my SD card last month, because there must have been something wrong with the metal detectors at Dublin airport. But back home my father had a special program so I got back all my pictures and clips finally. As long as Chavi didn't format her card there must be a chance. :) What a pity they didn't give any autographs. Was it easy for you to stalk though? :wink3:

Naja das konnte ich ja nicht vorher wissen. ;) Du bist ja heute ganz schön "wicked" was?! War ich vorhin auch bei meiner lokalen Postfiliale. :D

Naja abwarten... Ich glaub das sowieso alles erst, wenn ich wirklich da bin und die Coldplays direkt vor mir stehen. Ich erinnere mich noch an einen gewissen Affen namens Mr. Ashcroft, der wenige Stunden vor dem Konzert plötzlich abgesagt hatte. :angry:

Naja ich seh da auch schon einen Unterschied zwischen der letzten und den ersten beiden Versionen. Aber man muss auch bedenken, dass das einer der ersten Konzerte (in Amsterdam) war. Ich bin auf jeden Fall nur glücklich, wenn die überhaupt "Clocks" spielen würden, egal wie das rüberkommt. :D

For me, definitely Alcazar- Crying At The Discotheque :dance::wacky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vop6PeIhHd4