Sunday, June 22, 2008

17 June 2008- Espacia Movistar- Barcelona, Spain

Sadly I haven't been able to find all that much info on this show.

Setlist
Apparently it was the same as the Brixton show.
Crowd: N/A

But lots of videos
God Put A Smile Upon Your Smile- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr6ktIKtCto - great!
Viva La Vida - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js1GALwFC9M - this song can never go wrong
Lovers In Japan - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVbFq4YtDrU - very clear audio
Yellow (acoustic)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0FyRfjwbwM
LIT and Violet Hill - http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=VEiLKphospQ
Clocks - http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qxn-Of8jto
Lost! - http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=ToZhdKoLTYQ - Chris looks into the camera
Clocks- http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=Zur-QfFzMoM - almost a pro shot this is incredible footage sadly only one minute long

18 June 2008 - BBC Television Centre, London



Setlist
Life In Technicolor Violet Hill Clocks In My Place Viva La Vida 42 Trouble Lost Yellow (acoustic) Fix You Lovers In Japan
Crowd: 500 including Ricky Gervais and Jay-Z
Professional Review
Fan Review
The band were on and a much better, tighter musical start than Monday I thought, they are learning this quick. It was lovely to see them all perform so close, and Guy seemed much more involved which I was happy about. Chris' voice was much better than Monday, he hit a lot more notes, and there were some good exchanges with all the BBC staff on the various terraces, the people outside the gates (not too many there at all and I think almost everyone, if not everyone, witth a ticket got in) and most hilariously the builders on the site well over the road who were very amused and gave a hearty wave.The sound really was loud and good, impressive. And the rain held off thank goodness. The set? LiT's a spine-tingling opener. Violet Hill absolute rocks live, but such a short song alas that blink twice and it's over. Lost sounded better again live than on the album, slightly less cluttered, but still too much. Perhaps the acoustic's ruined the full version for me forever? I guess they like to play it because the whole band's involved and doing something different (except Chris)? Guy on drums etc - for me the set-up's far more refreshing than the actual song.42 was relatively error-free this time - Chris only messed up the start! - and for me a great live track already. Trouble played again, I hope they'll at least alternate that with Don't Panic on the main tour (and Shiver too much to ask?), but the helicopters bit was fun, the Chris we know and love (and sometimes tear our hair out too lol).Yellow acoustic again seemed popular (and I absolutely loved it!) Will is a great guitar player it must be said, very steady. By this point the crowd seemed a bit more interested in the celebs around. Again, lovely that Fix You wasn't the end (though I miss the light). Lovers in Japan is a special song for me and to see it twice in three days as the closer was something else. It finally got my aching limbs and brain-starved sleep into the Perfect Motion that Sunscreem made famous all those years ago. Chris introduced it as saying 'let's see which way the wind's blowing' and it turned out it was blowing towards TV Centre, with the entire front garden area and many of the onlookers enjoying our shower of butterflies
Video
Broadcast on BBC2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L8WGt_b8OM - lame Intro, Violet Hill, Clocks, Partial In My Place
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPIEz6SBhCg - In My Place, Viva La Vida, partial 42
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta2mNO6kQVk - 42, Trouble, partial Lost!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoS2wDVD85g - crowd singing Fix You, Lover In Japan
Video of Gig
Audio
Photos


16 June 2008 - Brixton Academy, London

Setlist:

1. Life in Technicolour 2. Violet Hill 3. Clocks 4. In My Place 5. Viva La Vida 6. Chinese sleep chant 7. God put a smile upon your face 8. 42 9. Square One 10. Trouble 11. Lost 12. Strawberry Swing 13. Yellow 14. If Death will ever concuer me---ENCORE---15. Fix you 16. Lovers in Japan


Crowd: 5000


Professional Reviews

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article1299788.ece (the band is spending nearly a MILLION POUNDS on video screens for their world tour stage!!!)
Fan Review
What a gig, ranks alongside the best I've seen them (6 or so times, stretching back to the Rush tour)No Politik (really missed that!) very little X&Y. No SoS thank the stars, Sqaure One was a revelation mid-set. The other highlights for me were Yellow (Acoustic) - was a bit iffy at first but to be honest by the end I was stunned, it's incredible and Lovers in Japan (of course!) with the confetti. Cheesy on MTV, wicked in person!42 was AMAZING live till Chris messed up the end lol. Clocks was slightly understated, which was fine. VLV not my fave so I made a break for the bar and missed it really talikng about extortionate water prices with the great staff The crowd were rotten, far too many people who obviously got there tickets online for a huge sum. The exceptions were the guys I met from here who were all stellar, especially my dance partner (he knows who he is!) and some other guys dotted around who were obviously huge fans (and they were probably from here too hehe). Guys, we have one hell of a tour to look forward to .

Video
Intro and Life in Technicolour - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEHhz_LHki8 (very noisy)

Strawberry Swing - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTb8FVo9q1w (great fan shot)


Lovers In Japan - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiC0CHZ8aFk (shaky but very close and decent sound)

Yellow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MudmmiyA1E (another great vid)


Audio
Broadcast live on Radio1

Interview







Photos




Monday, June 16, 2008

Review of Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends

I'm sure all of you have read countless reviews of this album already so I won't be writing the regular style of review. Rather I'm going to have a stab at what I think VLV will sound like live on stage during this massive forthcoming world tour, which mind you still hasn't been given an official name. Note that I am treating this as a 13 song album

Life In Technicolour - Common sense would tell you that this would be the ideal way to kick off any show but I personally don't agree. The only way I could see this working is if they follow LIT with a their best firestarter "Politick". But really I feel that this song will sound awesome almost anywhere in the setlist.

Cemetries of London- one of the best Coldplay songs I have ever heard. The only problem might be re-creating the emotion that this song emits on CD. Chris has never really been an emotionally driven performer, but to nail this song in concert he might just need to do that this time around.

Lost!- this song should be played acoustically as the CD version is a joke

42- a very interesting song, but so far my least favourite of the album. If they are too play this song on tour it should be on a night where they don't play many other ballads. There's nothing worse than having a show saturated with slow ballads but this song does build up quite well. It just reminds me of What If in terms of structure, that song was sublime until the heavy guitar riff kicked in and destroyed the emotion of the song.

Lovers In Japan- a wonderful up -tempo catchy pop song. This song has featured a couple of times during the promo tour and I would not be even the slightest bit surprised if it is played at every gig this year and so far the band have played it impressively every time. A great song to stick in after a couple of ballads or maybe early in the set to get the crowd on their feet.

Reign of Love- Another awesome song of this record. As odd as this may sound I think that the band could stick this on the back of any song and it will still sound right. But it belongs in the encore.

Yes - Not quite sure how this will go down live. I think it all really depends on how well Chris delivers this vocally as his deep baritone is the stand out aspect of this song. and re-creating the string section might create some problems, unless they manage to take a string quartet of some sort around the world with them

Chinese Sleep Chant- put simply this is Coldplay's best effort to date musically speaking. By far the most complex guitar work from Jonny, the drumming is very impressive and from what I've seen from their BNN gig Chris has no problem delivering the vocals. A MUST LIVE

Viva La Vida - lets just say they would be blimin mad not to play this at every show. Can't wait to see the spectacle that will take place on the screens behind them while this song is played. The band has had a fair bit of practise with this song in front of big audiences this would have to be the first song the boys have written that will sound great in a massive stadium.

Violet Hill- just like the first single of X&Y (Speed of Sound) this opening single from the band will have to be played every night due to its popularity and the fact that it is the first single. But just like Speed of Sound this is yet to convert well live, so you won't be hearing any complaints from me if this is not played much this year

Strawberry Swing - a perfect song to play at any festival but sadly the band has not included many on their itinerary. I'm finding it hard to imagine this song live, so I will have to reserve my judgment until I see some footage but a great song nonetheless

Death and All His Friends - wouldn't be a bad song to end the night with but its no Amsterdam or Life is For Living. But if the band does want to do a bit of an improv section at the end of their shows (which would really surprise me but will be a welcome addition) this would be the ideal song to lead into it.

The Escapist- I highly doubt that this song will feature much at all this tour and if it does it will most probably be at the beginning of the encore or maybe if they support U2 one time this will be the right song to lead into their gig. ( I am refering to the U2 song Where the Streets Have No Name which sound identical to LIT)

PLEASE COMMENT!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Family & Friends - 13th June- Wembley Arena, London

Setlist
Life In Technicolor Violet Hill Clocks Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love Trouble 42 In My Place Yes God Put A Smile On Your Face Strawberry Swing Yellow If Death Will Ever Conquer Me Politik Lost Fix You Viva La Vida
Crowd- under 500
Review
Chris Martin compared the Coldplay live comeback to a pre-season friendly last night. The singer told the crowd of friends and family at London’s Wembley Arena that getting back on stage was like a trip to the football with his dad when he was a nipper. He said: “Excuse us for this embarrassing shambles of a rehearsal. This reminds me of when my dad, who is 107, took me to Torquay for a pre-season game against Liverpool — and they were absolutely shit. We see this as a pre-season and we’ll be on it when the season starts. Luckily none of you have spent a blind penny.” In typically modest fashion, Chris was only telling half the story. Coldplay were brilliant as they made their return to the stage in front of an almost empty venue. When it comes to seeing live shows, this job lands some great tickets. But one of the best I’ve ever had was last night’s. Within 30 seconds the audience were smiling as single Violet Hill kicked in with a video montage playing in the background. World leaders including George Bush and Tony Blair had been edited to dance along to the song. Next song Clocks kicked in and the crowd were on their feet. The band showed off their wealth with six fancy video orbs, hanging from the ceiling which cost the band a jaw-dropping £900,000. Chris performed his trademark lyric-changing to suit the gig, poking fun at relatives and pals who had turned up to see them on free tickets. And his wife, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, sang along while standing in front of the lighting desk. Normally you would say the crowd got their money’s worth but even if tickets were £100 each it would have been a snip. The band moved from the main stage to a tiny platform in the middle of the arena and were almost elbowing each other off stage as they played. They made plenty of mistakes but that was the whole point of the exercise. By the time they have perfected it the show will be unmissable. It’s brilliant to have one of Britain’s best live bands back.


Photos

Saturday, June 14, 2008

More Promo

Here are some youtube clips from the last few days of promo shows

Jonathan Ross Show - Interview - Violet Hill - Viva La Vida
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qte8BBs0i_Q

This starts off really well with Chris having a bit of a joke with Ross, the interview does not last all that long and it cuts to Violet Hill straight up. The song sounds a bit disjointed and doesn't really flow live on stage, Chris at times struggles to re-create the energy that you hear on the track. Watch Will carefully, he does a great job through this little showcase. They follows this up with Viva La Vida and here we see a massive improvement from the MTV Awards and the BNN performances, the vocals are near perfect and the band plays brilliantly especially the harmonies by Jonny and Guy and Will in particular. This will most certainly become the highlight of every live show. My only concern is the amount of backing tracks being used might detract from the actual performance.

BNN Popsecret - Chinese Sleep Chant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I54_OY3xMY

Chris describes this as a "louder" song and I must admit I disagree with him here. The song possesses a much more atmospheric feel to it, similar to that of Radiohead during their Kid A days. All four of them are thrashing away at their instruments throughout the song but i don't believe that it quite makes to the level of Politick or even Yellow for that matter. Just like Viva La Vida this song is a must during their upcoming shows. Lets hope that the boys pick and choose their setlist more carefully this time meaning that they should select songs that convert well live as opposed to songs that are popular or sound great on CD. A great example would be Rush of Blood To The Head which may not be the best track off that album but it does sound awesome live as does Everything's Not Lost. I really hope that they keep X&Y songs to a minimum during this tour anything more than 4 songs from that album would be too much; Talk and Fix You will be regular choices and personally I would love to see White Shadows.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEPK8jK8AFY - this is Fix You from the same gig. Notice that Jonny still hasn't written a variation to the original guitar solo, it is becoming pretty tiresome now.

Here is something extra that you may enjoy

Radiohead - How To Dissapear Completely - Kid A - at Pinkpop 2001
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLUKkw7Giys

Friday, June 13, 2008

Cancelled Shows And Jonathon Ross

Due to production issues the band has had to delay the official start of their world tour. Instead of starting in Philapelpha the band will instead start at the LA Forum on the 14th of July. That leg of the tour will finish in Boston. Three dates in Canada have been cancelled altogether. Just to add salt to the wound Chris has badly injured his knee during band rehearsels this past week so the free gigs(which still stand) may not show Chris at his best. The new schedule is up on the official website right now.

For you lucky people in the UK here is the link to the boys performance on the Jonathon Ross Show last night. They played both Viva la Vida and Violet Hill. It should be up on youtube once those brits wake up and I'll put a link to it here once that happens.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b00c18h5.shtml?q=ross&start=1&scope=iplayersearch&version_pid=b00c18d5

Release Week!

Here's a recap of what has happened in the past week. I won't be saying too much about the album itself which came out in the UK on the 12th. Here's a whole lots interview and promo performances from all over UK and the world.

First up here's a amateur recording of a soundcheck before the Jimmy Kimmel Show. http://youtube.com/watch?v=r3Sxpbpcoow - it's the track Yes of the album.

Exciting news that the band will be performing on the very popular Jonathon Ross Show on Friday night UK time starting at 10-30 on BBC1. I will have the youtube link tomorow. Also on the BBC on Wednesday 18th June there will be a 45 minutes performance by the band to which free tickets were given out to fan earlier today. This show will also be broadcast.

Speaking to Billboard, Coldplay's manager Dave Holmes has hinted at the tour itinery for the band into 2009.Following the conclusion of the first North American leg, the group has international touring on tap through early October, after which it begins another round of North American dates. In 2009, Coldplay will play European stadiums and might even play such venues in North America next year "if we can do the business," manager Dave Holmes tells Billboard.
I really hope the band changes someting because their sound just isn't suitable for large stadiums.

The band yesterday did a massive series of interviews across multiplie radio stations. First up was the Jo Wiley Show Here it is: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ex98ga rapidshare: http://rapidshare.com/files/12191781...2.08_.mp3.html. After that was the an interview on Radio 2 which I haven't managed to get my hands on. That was follow by a rather interesting interivew on the show Front Row during which Chris walked off mid interview then returned to answer one more question rather reluctantly. Have a listen yourself here http://www.sendspace.com/file/w2unr0. Finally this afternoon (or night depending on where you are) the band will do an interview with Steve Lamacq's BBC 6 Music show from 4pm.

If none of these links work then just go to this thread on Coldplaying.com http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45856 - you may need to be a member to access this section of the site.
Here's a little treat for everyone. this is footage of the band on their first Australia tour performing as part of the travelling Big Day Out festival in 2001. this is a song called "Animals" http://youtube.com/watch?v=ASXvUpNcl-w

Secret BNN Gig-audio
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=058MJZOO
01 – Intro02 – Violet Hill03 – Clocks04 – Stage Banter05 – Lovers In Japan06 – Stage Banter07 – Chinese Sleep Chant08 – Stage Banter09 – Viva La Vida10 – Stage Banter11 – Fix You
Haven't seen the show yet myself so won't say much on it today. Tomorow I will have stuff about the new album and reviews on the promo shows the band has done so far.

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-d....php?id=200171 - video (1.11GB)

http://www.stuff4all-hosting.com/VIDEO_TS.zip - video (1.02GB)

http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=5358626792400416340 - Google Video Stream

Sunday, June 8, 2008

BBN -Pardiso, Amsterdam- 5 June 2008

Setlist
Violet Hill
Clocks
Lovers In Japan
Chinese Sleep Chant
Viva la Vida
Fix You

Crowd -150-180

Review (fan)
Life In Technicolor inititally was on the setlist as well as the opening song, but they decided to scrap it at the last minute and add Fix You instead.Each song played featured short films shown on a television set, for instance: the dancing politicians video was shown during Violet Hill.After they played Lovers In Japan, somehow the television set fell down, just missing the keyboards played by Jonny and Chris. Chris was quite stunned: "I can't believe it. I finally smashed a TV, and the tour hasn't even started yet."Luckily it was still working though... "Ah, it's not even broken, that shows how 'Rock 'n Roll' we are"Chinese Sleep Chant was quite loud, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it.Highlight was Viva La Vida though. When the "oooooo-oooooooohhh" bit (sung by Will, Guy and Jonny) came, the whole venue started chanting along leaving Chris with a stunned smile. "Thank you", he gratefully answered. "You are a great crowd"After Fix You (Chris asked us if we wanted to hear either that or Trouble, but the majority chose Fix You), the gig sadfully ended and the band said goodbye ("Jonny has an appointment with the dentist", Chris joked)Outside the venue I had the wonderful experience meeting the whole band, and shaking hands with Will, Jonny and Chris. Unfortunately we were warned in advance that cameras and recording equipment were strictly forbidden and banned from the venue, so I didn't bring one. So I don't have any pictures to show you, unfortunately.

Recordings
Audio -
http://rapidshare.com/files/12082941...adiso.wma.html (first three songs)
http://rapidshare.de/files/39649075/...lland.mp3.html (last three)
or
-> http://www.mediafire.com/?zs1nkzznhxy (full show)

Video
Violet Hill - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrD2yhtmS9A
Clocks - removed
Lovers In Japan- removed
Chinese Sleep Chant - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVU44j3g6sA
Viva la Vida - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5I3RPbS8aI
Fix You - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEPK8jK8AFY

you can stream the show here http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=72237...adb5fd3d908920

I will have more details and links and pics after my exams as well as footage from Jimmy Kimmel Live and Myf Warhursts interview with the band

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Alternative Links

Here are some alternative links

http://rapidshare.com/files/120109326/archive0283.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/120107213/PnL_ColdPlay-VivaLaVida.rar

if it asks for a password enter the following : http://streetmp3.blogspot.com/

download these ASAP before they are removed. 90% of the links I have come across have been removed.

I am taking a break from this blog for the next 8 days or so. My next post will be next saturday after I have listened to the album a couple of times. I have my end of semester exams this week.

LEAKED

here is the album in full. enjoy. i strongly recommend everyone to buy the album anyways

COLDPLAY- VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS (2008)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HLH9KEVV

Monday, June 2, 2008

Lovers In Japan (Acoustic)

Here is the REAL Lovers In Japan in acoustic. I am guessing that the song that appeared on Greys Anatomy is something different. This makes it 6 out of 10 songs have already been released. Violet Hill, Viva la Vida, Life In Technicolour, Lovers In Japan, Lost and which ever song appeared on Greys Anatomy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkf9CZePQUc - watch it while you can before EMI destroys it

Sunday, June 1, 2008

SUPER COLDPLAY WEEK

This is a massive week in the world of Coldplay as we edge closer to the album release. Here is a rundown of what is scheduled to go on this week:
  • will be interview on KROQ's breakfast showKevin & Bean Monday morning between 7 and 10 AM PST, on June 2
  • Special Coldplay Announcement on Zane Lowe, 2nd June 2008
  • Coldplay are to launch the all-new Q Radio as studio on June 2. Coldplay will be appearing on the new QPM show hosted by former XFM presenter Samanthi at around 7pm. They will also apparently premiere Lovers in Japan which was previously heard during Greys Anatomy
  • on Virgin Radio UK June9th interviewed by Ben Jones
  • will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday, June 4th
  • will perform 'violet hill' in german tv at tv total (pro7) on 4th june 08.
  • Steve Mead will be playing listeners' top 20 Coldplay songs on Saturday 2nd August, 10pm UK time, on Phoenix FM
  • gives exlusive concert in The Netherlands, June 5th
  • Myf Warhurst interview to be aired on Triple M at midday on June 6 along with video footage on the website

I am sure there is much much more going on this week but this is about all I could find for now.

First Live Performance and War!!

Well in the last couple days tickets went on sale for the entire UK tour and parts of the European tour and just a matter of hours ago the band went on stage for the first time in over 15 months both events have caused all hell to break loose on Coldplay fan forums.

Like I said on my last post most of the tickets for the UK tour sold out in a matter of minutes but that was not the issue. The problem most people had with the ticket sales was the fact that there were NO GENERAL ADMISSION tickets available, for those of you not familiar with concert terminology GA simply means the moshpit. Instead all the shows will have seats setup on the ground level of the arena in six seperate zones. This is created a mini cyber war on Coldplaying.com, about 90% of fans are extremely angry at the situation. here is a sample of reactions.
xXGarfieldXx said "I am GUTTED. It won't be a proper gig, I hate sitting at gigs."
fudge : "I can't see a reason for it. It's not like there's a likelihood of mosh-pit-death at a coldplay gig for goodness sake! I like the fact that I can show I'm a true fan by showing up and queuing to earn my space at the front"
Beximus "I'm not happy with this no standing. I've never sat at a Coldplay gig. No one's going to sit anyway - its just ridiculous."
Voodoo_geisha : " I've paid them over 40 quid of my money (and i'm a skint student!) and i shall do whatever i like in the place i've been forced to 'sit' in"
On the opposite side
Ebs757 :"there were seats on the floor in Chicago... it didn't really make a difference its more of an organization thing idk why people are bitching about that "
Hayley : "Coldplay started out in small venues with seating.It should still be all about the music
But this is not the first time Coldplay has done all seater events, many shows during their previous tour in America were all seater and most of the feedback was positive.
Now the other thing that has divided the Coldplaying community was the bands perforance of Viva la Vida at today MTV Movie Awards in the US. Here is the link to the performance I will let you decide for yourselves what you think of it.



This is what some fans said:
Elena20 : "it was good but i did expect more"
Jess831 " I was expecting much worse, it wasn't THAT bad. Besides from Chris's pitchy vocals, it was quite good, I thought.:"
MigEl: "really disappointed, Chris sang bad, that's not usual on him"