THEY ARE MAGIC, PURE MAGIC.
The beginning was perfect..the moment I heard the intro of Life In Technicolour- immediately, goosebumps and I screamed like a fkin banshee cos I was having an off week dealing with all my "serious stuff" so I just HAD to let it all out if I was gonna enjoy coldplay properly. he excitement boiled over, pretty much.
The lads are such teases! They were behind a translucent black screen and as the track started, it lit up from the back and one by one they walked up to the front of the stage, so you could only see their silhouettes- jonny, will, guy and then finally Chris..
Then the curtains fell and just HEARING Chris Martin's voice, live, made me want to cry. It's not that he's a killer singer or anything. It is just the realisation that you are in the same room as the man and the band who wrote some of the songs that you have come to love the most, and that you have grown up with, and that you have attained your musical education with ; the band that you respect and adore and love so much that only you understand how much they mean to you; the band whose lyrics end up being your personal messages on fb or messenger, who's track is your message ringtone, whose album you listen to when you end your day.
Seeing his face on the big screen was enough to make my heart stop, in my moment of epiphany, that I was watching Coldplay live.
Chris is an amazing performer- yeah if you haven't already realised by now I am love with this man. Or the idea of him. Whatever it is.
I love the way he's so self depreciating when he addresses the crowd..for instance just before performing a solo acoustic piano version of The Hardest Part, he was all, "Probably no one remembers this song..It's not that good a song anyways". And then he performs it perfectly, with such control and melancholy that it just breaks your heart to hear the lyrics and the melodies elucidated- it was like he was performing just for me. This is what I mean by magic. I don't know how he managed to do that but he did. Especially since the crowd was singing along..not all loud and boisterously, but quietly and almost thoughtfully, contemplating every line cos that's when you realise how beautifully sad coldplay's older material is.
And the hardest part
Was letting go not taking part
You really broke my heart
And I tried to sing
But I couldn't think of anything
And that was the hardest part
I could feel it go down
You left the sweetest taste in my mouth
You're a silver lining the clouds
Oh, and I
Oh, and I
I wonder what it's all about
Plus Chris does a lot of crazy ass running around on stage and piano trickery and acrobatics and complex chord patterns and he holds his notes for a long time, which of course garners *impressed* applause from the audience. He screams and squeals and does it with so much heart- he's such a performer. He ad libs/ improvs to switch things up from how it sounds on the albums brilliantly (so much so that I still remember his ad lib from his performance of In My Place during Live 8- in the climas of the song where you just here Jonny's guitar he goes " oh ilikeit x4, luh-luh-luh-like it x2"
OH WAIT! I found it on youtube :D
When they did clocks, there were lasers of course. Just like in the video and their live performancs for MTV or the Grammys or whatever- that's why live music and concerts are so trippy
OH did I mention? the stadium seated 20,000 people. That's the biggest arena I've ever been in, having only gone for concerts in locations in S'pore-which CANNOT compare to the atmosphere of the arena. It was THAT massive, but it was still intimate. There was such a good vibe- it was like hanging out with mates. Especially cos halfway through the concert, the fellas walked off the stage and into this cordoned off corridor at the side of the standing area, up the stairs and into my side of the arena! They literally got on a platform that was in the middle of the seated crowd's seats and did a couple of songs :D :D Guy even had a sip of someone's beer LOL.
That's exactly what they did at their Brixton Academy gig, whihc was broadcast live over BBC Radio 1. I've done a lil post about this here. Yeah basically their Brixton gig was one of the first few times they performed tracks off Viva La Vida live to audiences- and it was also when halfway through the concert, they played the Thin White Duke remix of Talk over the sound system while the lights dimmed and the band ran up to the concourse and did a coupla acoustic songs there including Death Will Never Conquer which was sung by Will. He did that last night too :D Chris was telling this story about how when they were uni students in London, they decided that the person who lost at scrabble would be the lead singer. He went on about how he, being the most unintelligent but most talkative ended up being the lead singer when actually Will is a better singer, or so Chris said. I'm paraphrasing, but yeah that's the gist of it :P
THAT WAS WAY COOL LAH. They even did a cover of The Monkees "I'm A Believer"..yknow, the song that goes "Then I saw her face, I'm a believer..Not a trace, of doubt in my mind..I'm in love (ooooohhhh)...I'm a believer, I couldn't leave her if I tried" YEAH everyone sang along.
But the songs that did it for me are of course Fix You and Viva La Vida.
When the intro for Fix You came on, I had to take a moment to settle myself. That song holds so much meaning for me and has gotten me through the lowest points in my life, if a song is even capable of doing that. That is a song that till this day, I skip on my itunes or mp3 player if it isn't necessary to hear it because it chokes me up everytime I hear it.
Viva La Vida..OH COME ON, that one goes without saying!!! My song of 2008, the song I did an entire post about.. To hear it live? DUUUUUDEE. Went to heaven, said a Sup Homie to St. Peter and came back. When the crowd woaah-oh-oheedd together with the band :D :D Once in an interview, Chris called that section of the song the Bon Jovi bit hahhahaha. Damn right! Chris was so exhausted by the end of the song that he just collapsed on the floor while the crowd kept woah-ooh-oh-oohhhing *supermassive grin* *thumbs up to aussie crowds* And of course! During the song, there a were CONFETTI BUTTERFLIESSS :D :D :D MAGIC, I TELL YOU!! My heart skipped a beat at this point too, cos it was honestly such a beautiful sight. Its a feast for the eyes as well as the ears, this concert. The stage and the lighting and the floating orbs were all brilliant touches and stuff that I hope they have at the Sinagpore gig vennie, cos its just not the same without those.
OK pictures, soon, promise. A post just full of pictures.
now, the setlist, which I have with every concert review:
Setlist
- Life In Technicolor (bestest instrumental on any album in the past decade, other than "Session" from Linkin Park's Meteora)
- Violet Hill
- Clocks
- In My Place ( I have always always wanted to hear this song live as well. Jean, I think we feel the same way about this song)
- Yellow (first song I ever heard by coldplay. this one's got a special place)
- Glass of Water (off Prospekt's March :D My fave track off the EP)
- Cemeteries of London (the acoustics of the arena made this hauntingly beautiful track sound incredible live)
- 42 ( this is the track that i call deceiving cos it starts off all soft and then the band breaks it down with wikkid guitar distortions and riffs)
- Fix You
- Strawberry Swing ( I realised recently how African this track sounded. And the lyrics- its as if Chris was telling a story)
- God Put A Smile Upon My Face ("when you work it i'm worse than you". genius. Oh yeah! they did some techno version of this song, as well as Talk, which was the next track)
- Talk ("I'm so scared about the future and I wanna talk to you")
- The Hardest Part
- Viva La Vida
- Lost!
- Speed of Sound (haven't heard this one in ages!)
- Death Will Never Conquer
- Politik ( I SO wasn't expecting this track at all..fkin intense man. One of the bets tracks off A Rush of Blood to the Head)
- Lovers in Japan (butterfly confetti during this song too!! in purple, green and neon pink..STUNNING visual effect. And Chris started twirling a japanese parasol/umbrella around haha)
- Death and All His Friends
- The Scientist (OH MAN, I love the lyrics on this one too.)
- Life In Technicolour II (yaaaay!! finally. knew they couldn't without this!)
The setlist..am very pleased with it! With the tempo and the song choices, and the mix of old and new. It was just right. Though Trouble is one of my favourite songs by them, I don't think it would've fit in at all..But i thought it was odd that they didn't perform Shiver :( Classic coldplay, come on.
BUT DEAR GOD, all in all, it was FKIN AWESOME and I had the time of my life. (I just wish you were there with me, ven.. what major gig have I NOT been with you for? :( ) Nvm lah, Glasto.
It STILL hasn't settled, I am still blood chuffed and I'm on such a high right now and I haven't even reviewed my pics and videos yet. Wow.
Just WOW.
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