Long Live Life

Pete, thanks. Where are these infamous mugshots? :)

i didn't mind the rain per se, but the damage it was causing to my camera! :angry:

I thought the Republicans were in the minority post Obama win? ;) They're just upset Chris backed the winning team? I don't think that criticism is unique to Coldplay, many Americans I've spoken to think British men are very effeminate by their standards.

Finish tomorrow! Chris wishes he'd remembered to have his prunes this morning!

Chris also notices.... Chris also notices Will's faux-pas, and gestures to the crowd what he's thinking: " I knew I should have sacked the f***er and I'd not have to had drunk all that vodka and cranberry juice" :)

Guy notices Will's out of synch... Guy notices that Will is slightly out of synch, and in one glance towards Will, Guy reminds him of what happened to Will at the Bakery the last time he played slightly out of time...

Guy Berryman...! No eye contact with any of the band, except for Guy, who did a double-take as though he's seen me somewhere before! Interesting... Later on, with camera still refusing to co-operate, it still manages to capture the fact he's ridiculously handsome...

The Blue Danube and the pissing rain Just as the Blue Danube starts (which heralds the band's appearance) I feel a few light drops of rain. "It'll just be a light shower", I think, it'll soon pass. By the end of the Blue Danube, the "light shower" has turned into tropical deluge! I don't care a bit, I'm not going to let a bit of water dampen my spirits! But as the band took to the stage, disaster struck! My trustworthy Canon - "Canon- sponsors of Coldplaying.com" (or at least it should be given we all seem to have them!) decides to have a hissy fit (it's a technical term). The rain has got into the camera and the zoom is jammed (or won't respond) - nor the settings to allow exposure to be changed now the lights have gone down for the main show. Could this be, my trusty armoured Canon that has survived numerous snowboarding trips (including the falls) has given up the Ghost in the London rain? Grr! :angry: "Damn, I thought, rubbish pictures again, they'll all be fuzzy matchsticks despite being right at the front!." As I attempt to take a few shots I recall a Basil Fawlty Moment: [basil Fawlty] "Thankyou God, thank you so bloody much!" [/basil Fawlty] My first few pics in the rain are quite poor as a result....

An then the stage is set for the final VLV gig... The stage is set with the familar set-up we've all come to know and love with the VLV tour.....church bell, timpani and clunky 1970's TV....I wasn't sure the motivation or reason for the TV other than a piece of nostalgia given many of their fans are 30-somethings and had such a set in the late 1970's at home... My excitement levels were extreme by this stage, I couldn't believe I had the best (standing!) seat in the house!

How long is left? Jay-Z: "How long have we got left with this crowd?" :)

Jay-Z! Amazing:

Jay-Z! I've never really been a hip-hop fan, but what a fantastic performer Jay-Z is: incredible energy, fantastic interaction with the crowd, he really got everyone going...!

Jay-Z! Jay-Z's band get ready....

Girls Aloud! Next up was Girls Aloud, not really my bag but for those that did enjoy seeing them, here they are:

I had those specks too! After they started clearning up their was an almighty bang, and then ash fell from the sky, followed by an awful stench like loads of matches had been struck I thought some fireworks or something had gone off or mis-fired.

So what do you think motivates the negativity surrounding Coldplay that (seems) unique to the UK? Read the post of their Manchester gig which bore no relation to the VLV tour at all, (or their snub @ the Brits). etc etc

LOL, Coldplay fans excepted :)

Yes, but are we bothered? It's the same old jealousy stuff, which leads me to....http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3499166#post3499166

1. We hate success. In fact, we utterly loathe it. In America, you adore it, you aspire to be it, but in the UK we utterly loathe it... we like down to earth people, who haven't two farthing to rub together, etc. I personally think Coldplay haven't forgotten their roots and are fairly level-headed as rock stars go, but most people's prejudice can't see that.... 2. The are middle class. They are the "wrong" class for a rock band. In the UK, not only are we anti- success, we are also anti-middle class. In the US, there is no such presumption about anyone based upon the way they talk or which part of the US they are from. You may get teased you are "Blond and barefoot" if you come from Minnesnowta, or a "surfer dude" if you are from California, but it's an ice-breaker at parties rather than a barrier to friendship or any form of prejudice .... (I'm beginning to see why Coldplay spend so much of their time in the US and all have houses there now :rolleyes:) There's an unwritten rule in Britian, that those who claim to "shape" opinion, ie. rock journalists seem to think all our rock stars should only be taken seriously if they are working class. 3. They were public-school educated. Shock horror, not only have they committed cardinal sins 1) and 2) they dared to have had good educations. As Chris said so wittily on the South Bank show: "My father was at a dinner and this guy asked him: ' what do your sons do for a living?' 'Well, one's a banker; the other an international rock star'. 'Really?' he replied, 'which bank'. That illustrates the sort of background I'm from - that I would waste my education on being a rock star." It also illustrates how we think in the UK: that your background and education should solely determine your future, pidgeon-hole fashion., rather than merit. The US on the otherhand is mostly a meritocracy. Obstacles to being poor preventing an intelligent person succeeding in life aside, by and large you can be whatever you want to be irrespective of your background... ..I really am seeing why they love the US? 4. Jealousy. Based on 1) and prejudiced by 2) and 3) people hate Coldplay because: a. they're a rock journalist (a cesspool for the never-made it) bands or (I was f**ing great just never had the luck Coldplay had in being discovered). Their dillusion transposes to jealousy for Coldplay in abundance. b. even those not in the rock industry hate the band, because they hate the drudgery of their own lives and of being told what to do daily by someone they don't respect (i.e. their boss), an aspect Coldplay don't have. When I see Coldplay perform I see four friends having a fantastic time, how many people can see that their own lives are like that? 5. They got success very, very quickly. They came from zero to hero overnight. They only played small venues whilst at Uni. Before they even graduated, they had their record deal signed and their first album was huge success. They didn't spend years of playing in toilets to be discovered.... Discuss...

White Lies So White Lies take to the stage as scheduled at 17:20 ..... my favourite of the supporting acts in this show.... I'd definitely like to have heard more of them and will be keeping my eye out for them in the future...

So here is a shot of the crowd.... good-looking bunch, eh? Chris wasn't kidding when he said "“Coldplay fans are the best in the world. If you like Coldplay then you're obviously very intelligent and good looking and all-around brilliant.” was he?

Cheers Pete, we must get round to organising the post VLV tour meet-up? I'm not sure I'm in any of my own pics - I think there is one I'll dig out for you!

LOL, nor did I, but wasn't it great when we all did? I am assuming we were lucky in that our gate was opened fractionally before the others?

The long wait finally ends... By 3pm the only butterflies in the stadium were those in my stomach.... along with Gizza (sp?) who says he always gets nervous in the final wait. We had our strategy for each other and we were all equally determined to get to the front... After 7 hours the wait was over, the security guard lets down the tape and we're ushered into a pre-gate queue... in the scramble we become separated. Once at the "finishing line".... Gizza and I end up at a gate that appears closed... but after his persuasion they open it and we're in.... nearly there.... .... Once there we walk as quickly as we can and the stage is in sight. Luckily, we appear to have been the first set of gates to be opened......there is still space on the front row... Kisses Birds arrives a split second before me and keeps me my place....... we'd done it! Is this Chris' younger cousin?

Thanks to the great company, the time just flew by for me. Americans are great at this: networking with hitherto strangers and I've personally never understood the animosity towards them some in the UK seem to have. Whenever I've been in the US I've always been overwhelmed by their kindness, generosity and willingness to share experiences with each other ... I enjoyed listening to Angie's comments about how the US stadia compare to Wembley; KissesBird's and Mimmx's experiences of other Coldplay gig's (I'm a relative virgin, this being only my 3rd gig and 2nd VLV one) and general Coldplay-on-the-road gossip (...especially the "old news" ;) ) At the last Viva La Viva gig (02 in December last year), I was right at the very back and whilst it was a great vantage point to see the visual spectacle in its entirety, you are definitley missing out on being so far away! This gig was to be the complete opposite...