RedGirl76

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/sep/13/coldplay-jayz-review That was a really nice review until she spoilt it with the last line: "How about that? Coldplay in "surprisingly good" shock." Why can't the press just accept that they're great at what they do? :angry:

Hey, glad you came back - but you could have just asked Ian to change your user name, you know! I was one of the Coldplayers admiring your threads (I was the short one hiding from the sun under a hat and glasses :laugh3:) Hope you'll come back and post often Mich basically nasgged the security fella to get it for her. Fair enough really as he;d pestered her with cheesy jokes all afternoon! Kinda weak? It was immense... a greatest hits package with something for everyone. Yes, he did have his band and they were great, they really seemed to enjoy themselves I'm one of the girls that Pete mentioned disagreed with him. Yes, he looked to be sweating a lot and a little pale, but honestly his voice didn't sound that bad to me. I was expecting him to be almost mute after reading some of the stories in here. He did struggle with a few high notes, but singing outdoors is different to being in an arena, and when he let the crowd sing for him, I just thought it was a way of getting the crowd involved. Maybe I'm just easily impressed, I always try to see the postive. My glass of water is always half full :D Yeah, Pete, look how worried you're getting everybody :whip: :P The weather was amazing... a little too good in the queue to be honest... even when the band tempted fate by having Singing In The Rain playing as they walked to the C stage!

The rest of my photos are here: http://s337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/RedGirl76/Coldplay%20at%20the%20LCCC/ A bit blurry, but there are a few good ones in there

Thank you :blush:

Coldplay, LCCC, 12/09/09 (Warning! This review turned in to a lecture... I just started typing and couldn’t stop – sorry!) Well my day got off to a bad start... 5.30am is never a good time to hear the alarm on a Saturday morning, but I had a date with the Coldplayers so I dragged myself out of bed, drove down a very foggy motorway and found Ian, Chris, Min, Mich, Mel & Lori outside the venue at 7.30am. They had already been there a while, I was running a bit late (bad Coldplayer :whip:) but it would be hours before Pete rocked up to join us... Pete has a more relaxed approach to life :lol: Crazy as it sounds, the first five hours whizzed by... Chris got a tattoo from Mel And then a Chris Martin style makeover too We made the podcasts, got banned from playing football and ate a lot of jaffa cakes. It was midday before many more people showed up and joined the queue. Time really only started to slow at about 2pm when those at the back of the queue started to move forward... two hours before we were going to be let in. Mich & Mel are clearly veterans at the queuing business. They got us organised with a plan to get everyone in to the front row... this involved sprinting... not a talent of mine. When we got through the ticket & bag check, the running started. By the time I got to the stage there were already two rows of people but Chris was frantically waving at me and pointing to a me-sized space in the front. Being a shy girl, I didn’t like to push past people, but Chris asked a couple to stand aside and reminded them how long I’d been there – thanks Chris, you’re a gent! We then had nearly two hours of waiting before White Lies arrived on stage. Mich was kept occupied by a couple of Scouse stewards, the rest of us just tried to forget our aching feet and backs and eventually White Lies came on and gave a very confident performance. And the singer’s quite a cutie! After a very quick turnaround, the stage was set for Jay-Z. Earlier I had confessed I was slightly more excited about his appearance than Coldplay, because I’ve already seen them, and never thought I’d get the chance to see him. Sometimes anticipation leads to disappointment, but this was not the case here. He delivered a blistering performance, cranking out as many hits as possible in his hour slot. The crowd at the front went mad... must have been quite a sight for him to see us all bouncing along and for Jigga What, Jigga Who he even started a little battle between the two sides of the crowd (Jigga What won by the way :D) It wasn’t quite the hostile crowd that he faced at Glastonbury, but Jay-Z’s music and his style was new to a lot of people, not that he seemed concerned. He came out with all the swagger of a true superstar and could barely contain the grin on his face – clearly he loves performing live. His backing band all threw themselves in to the show too, with a fair amount of flirting going on between the guitarist and a rather stunned blonde girl behind me. As Jay-Z’s set concluded, the stage was suddenly swarmed with about 30 crew members frantically transforming the set for the main attraction. It was really impressive to see them all work together and do so much in such a short space of time. After no time at all, the dancing roadie came out to huge applause and then it was time for The Blue Danube. With two members of the crew leading us in a waving/clapping routine, one or two people behind me seemed a little bit confused as to what they were looking at ("Who does she think she is?” One perplexed newbie asked) But as the classical piece ended and Life in Technicolor began, we saw the sparklers emerge from the wings and the band we had stood THIRTEEN HOURS for, finally took to the stage. What can I tell you that you don’t already know? Yes the set list is familiar, but for those who hadn’t seen a stadium show already, the change in set and the swelling crowd numbers made it a very different show. The huge video backdrop, the lights and effects were stunning, this was a Coldplay Supersize show. And bigger venues mean more space for Chris to throw his crazy shapes. In My Place is my favourite song, partly because of how powerful it is in the live shows. In Manchester there mustn’t have been an inch of space that he didn’t jump on – he threw himself around on that song so much that I’m amazed he had the energy for the rest of the show :lol: Next up was Yellow, with the X Factor finish that you’ll all have read about by now. Chris led the crowd in song to be judged by Mr. Mean, Simon Cowell. As the insults were hurled, Chris kept a straight face and played his part well, but Jonny, Will and Guy couldn’t help but laugh. In fact, I’ve never seen Mr. Berryman smile as much as he did last night (and believe me, I look at him... A LOT :wink3:). Whether he’s happy to be back in the UK or glad that that the tour is almost over, he seemed very relaxed, which was good to see (and the Berrygirls will also be pleased to note the hair is a bit longer now;)) Fix You has never been a particular favourite of mine, but this performance really moved me – maybe it was because I was so close to the action, or maybe it was the nagging thought that it will be a long time before I see the band live again, but it was a highlight of the show for me. Jonny was as reliable as ever (does that guy ever make a mistake), and the crowd enjoyed singing along at the end. After the B stage action, it was back to the main stage for Viva La Vida, and again the song was enhanced by superb visuals. The stage was awash with colour I will never tire of seeing Will and that bell! Another highlight for me was Billie Jean on the C Stage – wherever that was! I couldn’t see a thing, but it sounded fantastic, stripped down to acoustics with Chris & Will somehow managing those Jacko “heehee’s” between them. It was then back to the main stage for perennial crowd pleaser Politik and the glorious Lovers In Japan. Unbelievably, there are still some people who don’t know about the butterflies and to see the smiles and hear the laughter just added to what has always been my favourite part of the show. After DAAHF the boys took their bows and headed off stage to change in to the bright Sgt Pepper-esque outfits and there was time for just two more numbers: The Scientist and Life in Technicolor ii. Again, the screen blazed in to life as images from the album artwork collided with explosions of colour. It was another highlight and a fitting end to such a magical, celebratory evening. And then they were gone... for how long, who knows? I won’t be at Wembley so this will be my last Coldplay experience for a very long time. It was an amazing experience, not only because I was in the front row for my favourite band performing at the peak of their powers, but because I got to share the experience with such a fantastic bunch of people. Thank you to Ian, Jen, Chris, Pete, Min, Lori, Mich, Mel (and Ria who joined us on the Saturday all the way from Japan) for being such great company throughout the weekend. My butterflies are crumpled and my photos are blurred, but you guys gave me memories that I will always treasure. (Phew! Lecture over)

Message from Jizo Chris can't get online right now, but he seems to think I'm his Personal Assistant, so he asked me to post this on his behalf :P "Hey everyone, Chris here. Great to see you all this weekend, was a great concert! I can't access the thread at the moment as I'm out in the sticks, but will be online within 48 hours to upload pics and reviews. Just wanted to drop this message in now as we are still on a high from it all. Being with Coldplayers made the concert. Shout out to Pete, who was a good bar buddy after the gig haha! Catch you all soon -Chris x PS: Jay-Z rules :p"

Hmm... jury's out on that one. I thought he sounded good, Pete thought he was struggling. He did look a bit pasty, and interestingly, when he changed his shirt at the side of the stage while Guy, Jonny & Will made their way to the B stage, he put another scarf around his neck, so I guess he must be struggling with his throat a bit. But I think he was so happy to be on English soil again that it wasn't a problem. All of them seemed so up for it last night

I was on the Jigga What side... Jay-Z said we were the lodest :P I thought you might have come along to the meet-up, didn't you see Jizo's post a few weeks back? Aw, really, down the front everyone everyone went mental for him. There were a lot of people around me who seemed to be bigger fans of his than of Coldplay's. And a couple of people who weren't fans were converted. He was awesome... even better than I'd expected He did!

Jigga What, Jigga Who was especially fun with Jay-Z splitting the crowd in two to see who could sing loudest- which side were you on, Chris? Dirt Off Your Shoulder & Encore were the highlights for me... Chris Martin threw in the chorus to 99 problems later on (though interestingly, he left it to the crowd to sing "but a bitch ain't one :sneaky:)

No, we were at the small entrance round the back of the stage He was a scouser and when he found out Mich was from Liverpool, he wouldn't leave her alone :D Still, she got a drumstick out of it :P No, not really, just a good piece of editing. But I think Simon Cowell would have loved it... seeing his face projected that big :laugh3: On the front it said "Chris: how are you?" in reference to Chris' habit of constantly asking the audience if they're ok. On the back it said "You will feel better if you take your shirt off" Couldn't give you an exact setlist, but it was basically an hours blitz through the greatest hits. Be there! He was awesome, even people who aren't fans of his were blown away by him One of the nicest nights out I've had in ages - everyone was so lovely and real fun. I would never have dared meet a group of complete strangers for a meal before I joined this forum... this place does funny things to me ;) To all the tweeters: apologies for not tweeting myself during the gig. Once I got inside the ground, something weird happened to my BlackBerry - I couldn't access internet or email and at one point I couldn't even text :( The gig was awesome - the best Coldplay gig I've been to (this was no. 6 for me), but that's probably thanks to the great company and the front row spot (thanks to Jizo!). Will post a review & pics later today!

I was hoping that no one would see it. Urgh... I hate getting my photo took, but had a fab time anyway. See you all very, very soon :lol:

If the weather stays like this, I'm going to have to think about suncream :thinking:

Hope the combination of the maze pic and the video that you are too young to remember (:rolleyes:) is enough for me to show my face tonight...

Time to get the party started... if my dinner companions get a bit peckish before the meal, here's some cheese to keep you going :lol: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXtOLHHhMFM]YouTube - Fame "Friday Night"[/ame] See you there!

Ok, folks, it's past midnight so we've now got just one day to go. Incase the wait is too much, I thought I'd post a distraction... 1 day to go!!!

Still no "token jazz" winner though :P

Aaaaaaaarrrrggghh!!!

Oh my God, the pressure!!! I can't take it!!! (have a lame pic, but a cool vid for the dinner people!)

Congrats on getting that far :)

That puts it in perspective, doesn't it, no wonder some people have never had a response, I'm amazed she gets time even to read them all Aw, I get such a buzz when I see the board get a mention. Awesome!

God, I'm a geek, aren't I? :embarassed: Hey, Min, safe trip up! Just a thought for those who are coming to the meal tomorrow night... if you're paying by cash, try to bring change - you know what it's like splitting a bill between lots of people... it's always ends up being a weird amount :rolleyes: Bizarrely, 'Grazia' magazine claimed a few weeks ago that she's dating Prince Harry, so maybe she'll bring him :lol:

Ah, thanks!

Is the Polaris prize the American version? I know they have one but I don't know what it's called

Indeed. They're coming home, they're coming home... 2 days to go!

Oh yeah, it's in the British psyche: build 'em up then knock 'em down :angry: