Thanks to Michael for this review. More below. Pictures are here and reviews/videos below.

I was at the show last night in Chicago and they played a new song. I think they called it “The Dubliners”. I took a video, but it was my first time taking one on my new camera, so I apologize. You can’t really see anything but the audio is there.

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Live Review: Coldplay @ United Center 7/23/08

The Brit Boys are Big But Are They Getting Bored?

The reviews from Coldplay’s current North American tour have been mixed — by both critics and fans. People who attended the band’s Viva La Vida July 22 tour stop in Chicago said the sound was amazing and that it was one of the best live shows they’d ever seen. Expectations were high for last night’s show, and the sold-out crowd screamed every time Chris Martin said anything into the mic — even when being goofy and cheeky while saying some canned lines he likely says at every show.

The band came out strong, walking out to the instrumental “Life in Technicolor” and then launching into a rousing version of “Violet Hill,” which led to “Clocks,” where the band and audience were swathed in red light and penetrated with multi-colored lasers. They played possibly every track off the new album — “Strawberry Swing” was a personal highlight — but where were the songs from the first three releases? For a show that ran nearly two hours, the band played more of a blend of greatest hits: “Yellow,” “In My Place,” “Fix You” (which, in true Coldplay grandiose style, was layered and beautiful), “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” (a cool remix version that was played on a small stage that jutted out into the crowd), “The Scientist” and “Politik,” which again proved the band can fill a stadium with their now larger-than-life presence. A high point came when Martin announced they were filming a video for “Lost,” which the band ran through twice — apparently something they did last night as well. The second run through was definitely tighter and more on point.

However, it would’ve been nice to hear more of a blend from all four albums (where the hell was “Talk” and “Everything’s Not Lost”?) and at some points, it felt like Coldplay was phoning in the performance. “Speed of Sound” didn’t have the energy of shows past. At times, Guy Berrymore — who couldn’t be bothered for some reason to return to the stage for the surprise encore of “Green Eyes,” despite Martin calling out for his longtime mate and carrying on anyway — looked like he’d rather be elsewhere. Same with Jonny Buckland. If Will Champion hadn’t been such a rhythmic bruiser on the drum kit, he too, may have wanted to meet up with friends at a bar instead of being on stage. To that end, the nice thing about Coldplay is that, for the most part, they seem like they enjoy each others’ company and like playing with each other — not an easy task for a major act on a worldwide tour. And this isn’t to say the show wasn’t fun, because it was. And they sounded great. But it would’ve been nice to hear them sound great on a wider variety of tunes. Hopefully they’ll mix it up for the rest of the tour.

http://somethingglorious.typepad.com

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As a concert-minded songwriter, one of Chris Martin’s best moves was to name his biggest hits after colors — or colours, as he might say. Just ask the 11,000 strong at last night’s Coldplay show, who over the course of the night heard hits of a vivid trajectory: the early highlight was “Violet Hill,” sans the thirty seconds of white noise that precedes it on new disc Viva La Vida; the ultimate peak was a singalong version of “Yellow,” the sole concert cut from debut disc Parachutes; and the show ended with an acoustic take on “Green Eyes” from the excellent Rush of Blood to the Head LP. Even if you don’t particularly care for these tunes, they sure make sense in the midst of a lights show — which sure makes sense to do in an arena. Coldplay’s entire set, in fact, could be summed up as songs that made sense.

The four-piece Londoner ensemble, of course, is making more than a few cents off their latest album: Viva has sold 5 million copies in a month, and the accompanying tour is selling so well that bigger cities — Chicago included — are being treated to two nights of performance. I caught Coldplay’s second Windy City set, which Chris Martin promised was better than the first. And after two encores, two album-length takes on new single “Lost!” and two full hours of music, I can’t call him a liar.

Essentially, Coldplay excels at being recognizable. Their concert was the first where I knew every single song, even the deep cuts from the new disc — “Death And All His Friends”; a rollicking, pitch-perfect “42″ — and the old ones cloaked in electronica and drum machine reverb — “God Put A Smile Upon Your Face,” from Rush of Blood. Outside of that, two songs tested unfamiliar waters: a traditional folk tune sung by drummer Will Champion and a two-minute take on “The Dubliners,” a new ditty that approximates an Irish drinking tune. The set was otherwise infectious, from a rousing rendition of “In My Place” (with crowd-sung “yeah”s) to a laser-assisted romp through the concert stock of “Clocks” (improvised harmonies included). And the decision to only play singles from X & Y — that’s the wide-eyed balladry of “Fix You” and the contemplative piano pop of “Speed of Sound” — was a wise one, as too much mediocrity would have chipped away the artistic armor of Coldplay’s new material.

That said, two brand new songs provided the night’s lowlights. The first was “Yes,” which was overly-reliant on synchronized stereo strings and plagued by Chris Martin’s ultimately-too-weak lower register. Then came the aforementioned double-take on “Lost!,” whose central organ riff was overwhelmed by an attempt to accurately approximate the song’s jungle-thump beat. (The band played two takes because they’re filming concert footage for the song’s upcoming promo video, but one good rendition in lieu of two formulaic attempts — both dependent on Martin’s anti-rock-god flagellantism — would have been better.)

Blunders aside, however, the show was an exercise in slightly exceeding expectations — which is more than enough from a band who tires of playing their material well after you tire of hearing it. Throughout the set, six giant orbs projected images of the band members high above the stage, and an arching video screen flashed images congruent to their simultaneous song: Bush clips during a soulful and more-relevant-by-the-day “Politik”; Eastern imagery throughout “Lovers in Japan”; even psychadelic fruit displays on “Strawberry Swing.” Then there was Chris, as self-deprecating as ever, who despite fame and fortune seems convinced he could lose it all as quickly as it came. But that’s the science of Coldplay, the science outlined in the lyrics of “Lost!”: “You might be a big fish…[but] along may come a bigger one.” The band’s just big fish for now, but that’ll do for a sea of people on a given night in Chicago.

http://wethot.wordpress.com/

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Thanks neverdoubtedyou/Coldplay LJ

Throughout my years of going to concerts I’ve sat through some less than stellar opening acts (Vanilla Ice; Mandy Moore; Julio Iglesias, Jr.; a life-size Pop Tart that DJ’d). Last night at the Coldplay show in Chicago I endured two of the worst acts I’ve seen in a long time. The first was a guy named Jon Hopkins who I guess is some sort of musical prodigy from London. It basically consisted of him standing up there pushing a few buttons on his MacBook and making this crappy techno music. As an added bonus there was also a screen that showcased some anime that went along with the music. I mean at one point in the cartoon (c’mon, that’s all it is) a girl was crying and then her tears were sweeping people away into a forest of bunnies. In full disclosure, I’ll admit that techno and anime are on my list of things that I just don’t get, along with Raisin Bran, Dancing with the Stars, and nipple rings.

The second act was a woman named Santogold, which I think translates into “hooker with a cheap gold cape.” She brought with her what initially looked to be two female background vocalists. They stood behind microphones but never actually sang. They were more like spastic dancers that at times I thought were having seizures simultaneously. For some songs they would box with what must have been an imaginary friend. On other tracks they were adept at rapidly pushing their boobs in and out towards the crowd. Yes Hasselhoff, America’s definitely got talent.

Finally Coldplay took the stage and even exceeded my expectations. It was an amazing show from beginning to end. Normally when a band plays their new stuff that’s my excuse for a break to buy my t-shirt without a line. But I’ve gotta say that I’ve grown to love the songs from the new CD and in fact I think it’s actually their best overall album. I mean this comes from the guy who’s now on his third copy of A Rush of Blood after wearing out the first two from overplaying. My only slight gripe was the length of the show being only 90 minutes. When I pay almost $100 to be there I expect a concert that lasts longer than the season finale of “The Bachelorette.” That being said Chris Martin and company are the biggest band in the world right now and last night they proved why they deserve the title.

Set List

Life In Technicolor
Violet Hill
Clocks
In My Place
Viva La Vida
Yes
42
Fix You
Strawberry Swing
Chinese Sleep Chant (side stage)
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (side stage/techno version)
Speed Of Sound
Yellow
Lost!
Lost! (x2 for video)
The Scientist (Acoustic)
Death Will Never Conquer (Will - Acoustic)

Encore

Politik
Lovers In Japan
Death And All His Friends
The Escapist

UNPLANNED ENCORE
The Dubliners (new song)
Green Eyes (Chris & Will & Jonny. Guy walked off the stage)

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Thanks to angie for this report

Show was amazing! They were taping and shot a live video for Lost!. We got acoustic Scientist and an extra encore of Chris and Will doing Green Eyes. I had shit seats and couldn’t see worth a damn. Better seats tonight.

Cough we got the goldrush cough and sooooooo much more…..

Mr Christopher Martin said they weren’t just shooting a Lost video but a whole movie…as in a DVD….and that’s why they had to play the same set list both nights.

OK you all know about the sign that Mel and Lori made and held up on the first night. Well we took said sign out stalking today and when the band’s SUV pulled up Mr Buckland and Mr Berryman saw said sign. They said they could see Jonny smiling through the black tinted glass. When they got to the loading area, they didn’t drive into the building like yesterday. They got out and walked all the way up the ramp just to talk to us!!!!!

First we talked with them. Mel asked Guy if that was him she saw walking that morning and it frickin was! Then we asked them to sign some stuff. They signed the sign. And jonny wrote them a note on it. Then Guy asked “where’s the Reign of Guy sign?” I told them how I went to Phoenix and had to suffer in the heat and they weren’t there, and Jonny kept saying the tour wasn’t ready yet. Jonny wrote on my AROBTTH CD booklet “Sorry you had to go to Arizona” I asked if I could request a song and Jonny laughed and said you can ask but it probably won’t happen. Lori asked for COL and I told them that that is a kinda Halloween song so they should start rehearsing it and play it when they get to Houston and Jonny said they would work on that. Then Guy suggest that Jonny pose with Mel and Lori for pics and he gets out his camera and takes a pic then another one and then says he needs some more. Then he takes Lori’s camera and takes pics with her camera. So that’s the Lori-Jonny-Mel sandwich then I took pics with Jonny and Guy so that’s the Guy-Angie-Jonny sandwich…… We talked some more then they left. Lori was shaking….Mel thought of a million things she should have said, but didn’t……
We hung around for a while longer to see if Will and Chris would show but I think they were already inside.

Then they got paranoid that the pics would disappear off their cameras so we had to go back to Mel’s so they could download them. Good thing because Mel forgets her camera at the Cheesecake Factory and has to go running back inside to get it on our way to the show.

OMG he was so lovely. Wearing some very nice jeans that showed all his talents.

Mel and Lori are on Guy’s camera. He told Mel he had been swimming in the lake. Good lord if we saw him in a swim suit.

He was smiling and joking. He was so embarrassed about the sign. Just no ego at all. He asked Lori where she wanted him to write on it. awwwwwwwwwwww

They signed the Jonny sign for Lori. Mel’s setlist. I had my Parachutes, AROBTTH and Viva CD booklets and they signed all 3. Guy took their pics and who knows where those might end up…Coldplay.com would be killer.

I have meet them before so I know how normal they are, but Mel and Lori just couldn’t get over how nice and just everyday guys they are. The did however bring a rather large body guard with them….cuz I guess we look kinda dangerous.

So after we left they were talking about holding up the Jonny sign and the second sign they had which said “Phil is Hot” And I said they should a make a Reign of Guy sign and since they were sitting on his side he would see it.

So in the parking lot before the show with our sharpies, we made the guy sign on the back of the Phil sign. And when they came down the cat walk for the CSC and GPASUYF set, Guy saw it and smiled.

When they were taking their bow at the end of the show, they held up the Phil sign and Chris saw it and made a OMG face then turned around to tell the other guys. I managed to get it on video.

No they played The Dubliners song then he left. I thought it was going to be just Will and Chris again for Green Eyes, but Jonny stayed. Then Chris said Guy come back…but he was either in the loo or starting the post concert party.

Chris said we sat down before the tour and talked about where we wanted to shoot “OUR MOVIE” and decided on Chicago. Not video ….MOVIE. OMG the Jonny banner may be in the movie. And if there is a tour extras, that could be what all Guy’s photos are for….and Mel and Lori could be in the movie.

I was talking to Guy while Jonny was signing stuff. I was asking him about his camera and told him I traveled from Houston for the shows. And then I asked if we could take some pics of them and that’s when he said he wanted pics of Jonny with the sign.

I loved the way the crowd just started clapping along [to new song The Dubliners] like we had all heard the song a million times before.

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Jonny is the sweetest, nicest, most chilled dude. Like you have heard.

We couldn’t see hardly anything through those tinted windows yesterday, but somehow today, I whipped the Jonny sign out just as they pulled up (which was literally a minute after we ran to the spot) and even through the tinted glass, we could see Jonny smiling at us and nodding. Because of the sign. I could see his teeth, his sunglasses, and hat. His killer smile managed to glow through black-tinted glass.

When they walked up to us, I could barely talk, so I just asked Jonny to sign his sign. He said “Sure, I’d love to.” In his beautiful accent. He spoke very softly.

So I said “OK here, sign anywhere you want.” And he said “wherever you want.”

So I said “OK, sign uh, here” and gave him a corner near his name on the front.

Then he signed it and even wrote a little love note:

I was shaking everywhere. Thankfully, Mel was talking to Guy about seeing him on Michigan Ave walking. At one point, Guy trots over around Jonny to me and asks “Did you make the sign?” And I told him “No we had it professionally made online and shipped out to us.” I had to ask Mel for the name of the website again b/c Guy was talking to me and I was brain-tied.

Then I said, “Oh yeah, Guy please sign” So he signed his name on Jonny’s sign too. I’m not sure if that came before or after he asked whether we made the sign.

At some point Guy said “Jonny we gotta get a picture of you holding your sign. Here, stand over here with your sign, and you two (Mel and I ) stand next to him.”

…

Because Guy wants our picture with his camera he just happens to have with him. Where he pulled it out from I have no idea. He takes a few. “Wait, one more” Guy says.

Then Guy asks me if I want him to take a picture of Jonny and I with MY camera for me. Of course I agree. And he takes that picture I posted above.

Yeah, Guy took a pic of Jonny and me with my camera.

While he was shooting just Jonny and I, Jonny asked me to hold the sign, because he couldn’t keep it straight or something like that.

So I held the sign and he leaned against me. I didn’t even have to try to molest him. He touched me. I will be smiling for the rest of my life.

I told my friend the other day that I was gonna kiss Jonny. I thought about giving him a quick peck on the shoulder, but I just couldn’t do it. He was already so embarassed from the sign.

Besides, his arm was leaning on me.

We had the best Coldplay karma we could possibly want. God smiled on us.

I just wanted to see Jonny, but I am very glad Guy was there and did what he did. Because I was so nervous, I could barely ask for what I wanted. Guy did it all for me. He was so generous and helpful (to my Jonny obsession.) He was so nice.

Thank you Guy and thank you JONNY!!!!!!!!!!!

[thanks kissesbirds]

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You might be a big fish, in a little pond.

Those are the lyrics I just heard Chris Martin sing from the United Center stage on the second night of their stop in Chicago. They are on stage right now.

Just before I came in to write, they played ‘Yellow’ to a rapturous reception, literally lighting up the arena with that song, both in colour and voice.

Oxfam had a massive 1143 great Chicagoans signed up last night, and it looks like a similar amount again tonight. The audiences seem really keen to find out more. The energy of the volunteers has been great! They are all in there enjoying the show right now. Gives me a chance to scribble a bit on these keys.

As soon as the show is done, it’s off to Philadelphia. 12 hours on the tour bus…! It will be a good chance for a nice long snooze. Oh, there go the band, running down the corridor for the encore. Right, i’m off to check on the tables and try to catch the last song..

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/?p=30

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Hi Everybody!!!! Just got back from the concert.

Once again the show was just amazing! Coldplay sounded great

Chris’ voice was just perfect and he seemed happy!

Ok as to the setlist, it was exactly the same as yesterday with one exception. In between the Escapist and Green Eyes. They played a NEW SONG! It was short (about one minute and a half) and I think that Chris said that the song was not finished yet. I couldn’t really hear what Chris was saying about this song because the crowd in my section was going absolutely wild. Perhaps someone who was there and could hear better could explain. This new song sounded amazing, it reminded me of Death Will Never Conquer. I hope someone got it on video.

Then something very strange happened. After this new song the boys started playing Green Eyes. All of a sudden Guy left the stage!!!! I don’t know what happened. About a minute into the song, Chris kept saying “Guy please come back and finish the song with us”— but Guy never came back. Chris, Johnny and Will finished the song without Guy. At the end of the song Chris said “we dedicate this song to our bassist Guy– wherever he is” Then the show ended. So again not sure what happened there.

Finally the crowd was definitely better than yesterday. They were dancing and singing even to new songs like Yes, 42, and Strawberry Swing. Also they performed Lost! twice and Chris explained that it was for there next video.

[thanks Ultravioletlight25]

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just wanted to say that tonights show was pretty awesome.

Also, everyone cool it about Guy leaving the stage!

I was sitting side stage lower level (sec. 120), about 20 feet from where Guy was standing most of the night. Before Green Eyes, he walked around to the side of the stage (right in front of me) where a roadie greeted him with a flashlight directing him down and around the back of the stage. It looked like it was very planned and expected…. while i was a bit confused that Chris was asking for him, he only waited maybe 15-20 seconds before continuing on with the song. I was looking for Guy to come back (I could see the band come and go from stage all night), there was no movement behind the stage. The dedication seemed like more of a joke, though I did think it strange that only 3 of the 4 guys were on stage at the end of the show

Anyways, I’m sure everything is all good…. the show was great though! Kinda glad I only went one night, since it was basically the same show! Oh and the new song, while short, was pretty sweet!!!

They all took a bow after the first encore and left…. then they all came out only a minute or two later… Then Guy left the stage pretty much immediately after (I cant remember if they had started green eyes yet). I was thinking to myself, where the hell is he going?! It seemed weird, but like I said, the roadie was there waiting for him to show Guy where to walk to….

[thanks coldplayer8116]

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The song they introduced had Dublin in the title. Chris said it was a new song they were still working on and they would make up the lyrics as they went along. My camera died so I wasn’t able to get any video of it.

Guy left the stage after this song and the other 3 remained for “Green Eyes”. It was funny when they kept calling him back and he was a no-show.

I will rate this as the best show I’ve ever been to! They were spot on all night and really gave us a great show!! They could feel our energy and really played off it it!

When they did their “supposed-to-be” smooth transition from Yellow to Lost! Guy wasn’t quite ready on the drum. It was a riot, Chris kept looking at Will for the cue while holding “doooooooooo” and Will kept pointing at Guy. This happened about 3 times until Chris just stopped and said something about having to get it right for the cameras or TV or something like that.

So then Chris restarted the Yellow outro and with Guy in position they rocked out with Lost!

Maybe this had something to do with Guy’s early departure after the new song??

[thanks minnows44]

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I apologize for my recent absence. We have been eating, but I just haven’t been cooking much that’s new, exciting, or blog worthy. Part of my absence was due to the fact that Rob and I headed up to Chicago for a few days to catch Coldplay. The show was phenomenal, Rob won an on-line auction and we had seats in the 13th row!! Coldplay never fails to put on a tremendous stadium show, and this one didn’t disappoint, complete with giant orbs dropping down from the ceiling to show live footage of the band, a seemingly endless shower of butterfly confetti, and a few songs on a makeshift stage just feet from where we were sitting. And then of course there’s Chris Martin (swoon!). Ok, back to being an adult now……..

http://adventuresinvegetarianism.blogspot.com/

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Coldplay chose Chicago over the Playboy Mansion last night to shoot their music video!

The Boots Girls were lucky enough to catch the amazing show at the United Center where Chris Martin announced that they decided to film their video here in the Windy City.

“We were talking to each other and we were like, ‘where do we want to film our video?’ It was either the Playboy Mansion with Hugh or here in Chicago,” Martin said. “We decided here.”

The group rocked out to some old favorites as well as stuff from their new album, Viva La Vida. They boys had cameras rolling the whole time to record their concert for a video they are making and they even played Lost twice to make sure it was perfect.

Near the end of the concert the guys thanked everyone for coming out and being a part of making their video.

“By the way, thank you for making our video with us,” Martin said. “Traditionally Coldplay makes very sh*tty videos, but I think this one is a change for the better.”

Thank YOU boys for choosing Chicago to be a part of your next music video!

http://thesebootsaremadeforstalking.com

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The reviews from Coldplay’s current North American tour have been mixed — by both critics and fans. People who attended the band’s Viva La Vida July 22 tour stop in Chicago said the sound was amazing and that it was one of the best live shows they’d ever seen. Expectations were high for last night’s show, and the sold-out crowd screamed every time Chris Martin said anything into the mic — even when being goofy and cheeky while saying some canned lines he likely says at every show.

The band came out strong, walking out to the instrumental “Life in Technicolor” and then launching into a rousing version of “Violet Hill,” which led to “Clocks,” where the band and audience were swathed in red light and penetrated with multi-colored lasers. They played possibly every track off the new album — “Strawberry Swing” was a personal highlight — but where were the songs from the first three releases? For a show that ran nearly two hours, the band played more of a blend of greatest hits: “Yellow,” “In My Place,” “Fix You” (which, in true Coldplay grandiose style, was layered and beautiful), “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” (a cool remix version that was played on a small stage that jutted out into the crowd), “The Scientist” and “Politik,” which again proved the band can fill a stadium with their now larger-than-life presence. A high point came when Martin announced they were filming a video for “Lost,” which the band ran through twice — apparently something they did last night as well. The second run through was definitely tighter and more on point.

However, it would’ve been nice to hear more of a blend from all four albums (where the hell was “Talk” and “Everything’s Not Lost”?) and at some points, it felt like Coldplay was phoning in the performance. “Speed of Sound” didn’t have the energy of shows past. At times, Guy Berrymore — who couldn’t be bothered for some reason to return to the stage for the surprise encore of “Green Eyes,” despite Martin calling out for his longtime mate and carrying on anyway — looked like he’d rather be elsewhere. Same with Jonny Buckland. If Will Champion hadn’t been such a rhythmic bruiser on the drum kit, he too, may have wanted to meet up with friends at a bar instead of being on stage. To that end, the nice thing about Coldplay is that, for the most part, they seem like they enjoy each others’ company and like playing with each other — not an easy task for a major act on a worldwide tour. And this isn’t to say the show wasn’t fun, because it was. And they sounded great. But it would’ve been nice to hear them sound great on a wider variety of tunes. Hopefully they’ll mix it up for the rest of the tour.

Thanks UR Chicago

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VIDEOS

Life In Technicolor/Violet Hill [thanks vivacoldplay]

Clocks

In My Place [thanks mel4cp]

Another clip [thanks angie]

Chris messing something up [thanks mel4cp]

Viva La Viva [thanks ultravioletlight]

Yes [thanks vivacoldplay]

42 [thanks mel4cp]

Fix You [thanks ultraviolet]

Strawberry Swing

Viva La Vida [thanks mel4cp]

Chinese Sleep Chant [thanks mel4cp]

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face

Speed Of Sound

Yellow [thanks vivacoldplay]

Lost!! [thanks mel4cp]

Lost! [Music Video filming - thanks ]

NOFXNINJA is practically sitting on top of Coldplay in this vid!

She says…

just thought you guys might enjoy this a bit. i went to the show last night and was fairly happy with my seats…..but ECSTATIC when coldplay came RIGHT IN FRONT of us to play! none of my friends believe how close i was…..but chris fist pounded my boyfriend like 3 times (the first time the camera is on his arm, he was shaking his hand)!!! i was so jealous! and so happy! and i felt super awkward with thousands of people facing towards me! what a surprise…

The Scientist (Acoustic) [thanks marinex24]

Death Will Never Conquer

Politik

Lovers in Japan [thanks ASUNG80]

Death And All His Friends [thanks vivacoldplay]

The Escapist

The Dubliners [thanks vivacoldplay]

Green Eyes [thanks angie]