My Coldplay.com - A Coldplay Blog

Photos from last nights Hartford gig can be found here [hey Coldplay did you say hello to my auntie? LOL]. Reviews, comments and videos are below…

A bit of trivia - Jim Koplik continues to book concerts at the XL Center — including the band Coldplay in August — and has booked 21 concerts in Live Nation’s New England Dodge Music Center amphitheater in Hartford’s North Meadows. But he said the only reason Coldplay landed at the civic center was because Mohegan was already booked.

Coldplay’s Arena Rock Energetic, Inspirational

COLDPLAY’S Johnny Buckland, left, and Chris Martin perform “In My Place” on Saturday night during their concert at Hartford’s XL Center. The British band is touring the U.S. in support of its latest album, “Viva La Vida.” (MARK MIRKO / HARTFORD COURANT / August 2, 2008)

Chris Martin grew up hearing a lot of hymns, and it’s a musical influence that shows through particularly clearly when his band, Coldplay, performs in concert.

Like the church songs of Martin’s devout upbringing, Coldplay’s music is often stately and solemn, with an uplifting undercurrent meant to inspire. It’s grown more pronounced with each of the band’s four albums, and it was evident in the soaring sing-alongs throughout the English quartet’s performance Saturday at the XL Center in Hartford.That’s not all that was evident: Coldplay has evolved into a fully capable arena-rock band, in the very best sense. Songs that sound insipid or even pretentious on the band’s albums became epic on stage; the stinging guitar riff that elevated “Fix You” into an anthem, for example, or the grinding organ underpinning “Lost!”

The four musicians have grown as performers, too, exchanging the slightly mopey, if intense, air that accompanied the band’s early shows for an energetic, commanding stage presence.

Martin was constantly in motion, bouncing along to the beat and swinging his arms over his head when he wasn’t strumming away on a battered acoustic guitar on “Violet Hill” or gliding through melodies on a small upright piano on “Clocks,” both of which came early in the 90-minute set.

Later, Martin and his band mates clustered around a few microphones on a runway into the crowd, creating a pulsing wall of guitar on “Chinese Sleep Chant” as lasers wove patterns on the ceiling.

All it took was the opening notes of “In My Place” for cheers to nearly drown out the music, and Martin knew better than to vie with the crowd on “Yellow” — he simply turned his microphone to the audience so the crowd could sing.

The band ended its main set by running to the back corner of the arena to perform a pair of acoustic songs among the crowd, which helped sing the first, “The Scientist.” Drummer Will Champion sang the other, the hopeful, folky song “Death Will Never Conquer.” The encore included “Politik” and “Lovers in Japan.”

New York singer, musician and producer Santogold played before Coldplay, and though the Wesleyan alumna’s set was marred by dreadful problems with the sound, glimmers of her brilliance showed through on the bombastic electro-clash kiss-off “Shove It” and the sultry “I’m a Lady”

Bethany singer Amanda Kaletsky opened the show.

http://www.courant.com

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Coldplay has hot night

HARTFORD - Whether playing center stage, playing on the two side ramps that stretched into the crowd or playing a mini-acoustic set way in the back of the arena, Coldplay lived up to all the hype it’s been getting these days and totally conquered the capacity crowd Saturday night at the XL Center.

The band offered plenty of dazzling eye candy throughout its 90-minute performance, from laser lights and floating video globes to showers of confetti butterflies, which all added to the aura.

Ultimately, though, it was the music that proved most captivating and which could have held up on its own even without all the glitz and effects.

Charismatic lead singer Chris Martin, guitarist Johnny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion are on the road, riding the wave of their chart-topping album “Viva La Vida,” which sold in excess of 720,000 copies in the first week after its release in June. It debuted at No. 1 in 36 countries.

Those numbers alone provide ample evidence as to why The British quartet is arguably the biggest band in the world at the moment.

But popularity is typically accompanied by intense scrutiny, haters and cynics, and Coldplay has endured its share of detractors during the past several years. But it’s safe to say that few were in attendance Saturday as the band went overboard in reaching out to its devoted fans.

Dressed in militaristic garb, the group opened with the march-like instrumental “Life in Technicolor,” before a dynamic “Violet Hill,” and then the propulsive “Clocks,” which rode on Martin’s irresistible piano riff.

The singer split his time between guitar and piano throughout the night, turning in a passionate vocal on “In My Place,” while the crowd sang along. The intensity built with a roaring rendition of “Viva La Vida,” which featured Champion on timpani, but the pacing proved briefly problematic as one of the night’s few disappointments followed in Martin’s lower octave Eastern-tinged “Yes.”

Intricate and lyrically intriguing, “42,” featured the sweat-drenched Martin at his best, singing with passion, before the beautifully melodic “Fix You,” which also showcased some outstanding work from guitarist Buckland.

After “Strawberry Swing,” the four hurried to the end of the ramp on the right side of the stage for two songs, drawing shrieks from the crowd, especially during “God Put a Smile Upon our Face.”

Back on the main stage, Martin showed his unpredictable side when he stopped the relatively obscure “The Hardest Part,” rather suddenly.

“I don’t think that’s a big enough hit to play on a Saturday night in Hartford,” he said to laughter from the crowd, before leading the band into its breakthrough single “Yellow,” which once again found the audience singing loudly against the surging rhythm.

After “Lost!” they retreated to play briefly in the far corner in the back of the XL Center, spinning through a strong take of “The Scientist,” off of 2002’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” and the rarity “Death Will Never Conquer,” which featured Champion on lead vocals.

A brief interlude followed and with Coldplay back center stage they turned up the energy and brought the concert to a powerful climax with highlights that included a drum-pounding “Politik,” “Lovers in Japan,” which featured the shower of confetti, and a rockin’ finale “Death and All His Friends.”

The night featured two opening acts, hip-hop, electronica soul collective Santogold and radio station contest winner Amanda Kaletsky. The latter was especially well received by the crowd during a five-song outing sparked by her finale “Please Forgive Me.”

http://www.masslive.com/

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Setlist: [thanks tcaporale]

-Life in Technicolor
-Violet Hill
-Clocks
-In My Place
-Viva la Vida
-Yes
-42
-Fix You
-Strawberry Swing
-Chinese Sleep Chant
-God Put a Smile Upon Your Face (Techno version)
-Square One
-The Hardest Part (Partial)
-Yellow
-Lost!
-The Scientist (Acoustic)
-Death Will Never Conquer (Will Champion on vocals)
encore
-Politik
-Lovers in Japan
-Death and All His Friends
-The Escapist (Exit music)

They played a techno version of God Put a Smile Upon Your Face…and about the first half of The Hardest Part before stopping it because, as Martin put it, “it’s not a big enough hit”. Awesome show, the energy from the band and the crowd was great. I wish they came out for an acoustic encore like they did a couple times so far…but Death and All His Friends is a more than capable closer.

Best song by far was Politik…they blasted right into it after a video montage of Bill O’Reilly calling Martin a “coward” and of various politicians dancing…great night, it was

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Review: Coldplay in Hartford

Chris Martin grew up hearing a lot of hymns, and it’s a musical influence that shows through particularly clearly when his band Coldplay performs in concert.

Like the church songs of Martin’s devout upbringing, Coldplay’s music is often stately and solemn, with an uplifting undercurrent meant to inspire. It’s grown more pronounced with each of the band’s four albums, and it was evident in the soaring sing-alongs throughout the English quartet’s performance Saturday at XL Center in Hartford.
That’s not all that was evident: Coldplay has evolved into a fully capable arena-rock band, in the very best sense. Songs that sound insipid or even pretentious on the band’s albums became epic on stage: the stinging guitar riff that elevated “Fix You” into an anthem, for example, or the grinding organ underpinning “Lost!”

The four musicians have grown as performers, too, exchanging the slightly mopey, if intense, air that accompanied the band’s early shows for an energetic, commanding stage presence.

Martin was constantly in motion, bouncing along to the beat and swinging his arms over his head when he wasn’t strumming away on a battered acoustic guitar on “Violet Hill” or gliding through melodies on a small upright piano on “Clocks,” both of which came early in the 90-minute set.

Later, Martin and his band mates clustered around a few microphones on a runway into the crowd at stage left, creating a pulsing wall of guitar on “Chinese Sleep Chant” as lasers wove patterns on the ceiling.

All it took was the opening notes of “In My Place” for cheers to nearly drown out the music, and Martin knew better than to vie with the crowd on “Yellow” — he simply turned his microphone to the audience so the crowd could sing.

The band ended its main set by running to the back corner of the arena to perform a pair of acoustic songs among the crowd, which helped sing the first, “The Scientist.” Drummer Will Champion sang the other, the hopeful, folky song “Death Will Never Conquer,” while Martin played harmonica.

After a clip of Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly referring to Martin as a “pinhead” — a badge of honor, to be sure — the band returned for an encore that started, appropriately enough, with pounding drums and glaring lights on “Politik.” On the next song, the lilting “Lovers in Japan,” butterfly-shaped confetti came fluttering down from blowers up in the rafters.

New York singer, musician and producer Santogold played before Coldplay, and dreadful sound problems marred her 30-minute set: The guitarist and backing singers were inaudible for the first half, and the bass was occasionally overpowering.

Still, glimmers of the Wesleyan alumna’s brilliance showed through on the bombastic electro-clash kiss-off “Shove It” and the laid-back new-wave inflection of “I’m a Lady.” (She also brought the same backing singers/dancers she had with her at SXSW in Austin. Read about them here.)

Bethany singer Amanda Kaletsky opened the show.

Coldplay’s set list
1. (Life in Technicolor)
2. Violet Hill
3. Clocks
4. In My Place
5. Viva La Vida
6. Yes
7. 42
8. Fix You
9. Strawberry Swing
10. Chinese Sleep Chant
11. God Put a Smile Upon Your Face
12. Square One
13. Hardest Part
14. Yellow
15. Lost!
16. The Scientist
17. Death Will Never Conquer
Encore
18. Politik
19. Lovers in Japan
20. Death and All His Friends
21. The Escapist

http://blogs.courant.com/

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Hartford, XL Center.

The walls are shaking. The crew are checking the huge sound system. Both band and crew, are back in the USA. Canada behind us, until we roll into Ottawa, next time we cross the pond. A very sleepy crew left Toronto after 3 consecurive show days. We made the (slightly) bonkers border crossing back South.. (all off the buses at 4.30am, only to be sent back to our buses without checking out passports).

Oxfam America volunteers will be here in an hour. All geared up and ready to ask this Connecticut crowd to join Coldplay’s support of Oxfam. It’s a crazy world that gives millions of people less than $1 each for a hard day’s work. The same world that sells bottled water for $5 at a festival.. when billions don’t have access to clean water. Something is not right. Oxfam knows that. Coldplay have shown their support for Oxfam for years. What better time to realise the power we have collectively to make a difference, than whilst having the time of your life, singing with thousands of other people, to a Coldplay song. Small actions change lives. Sign a petition. Join a movement asking for education for all. Buy Fairtrade coffee to give your coffee farmer a fair wage. Click on the ’Take Action’ page to do exactly that, right now.

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/

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Bethany musician opens for Coldplay

Hartford (WTNH) — A Bethany musician, hoping to make it big in the music world, is getting a huge break from Coldplay.

Amanda Kalesky, 24, won a contest on YouTube and will open for Coldplay tonight at the XL Center in Hartford. She was handpicked by the British quartet themselves.

Kalesky says she’s been singing and writing songs all her life and that opening for Coldplay is a fanatastic opportunity. She says doing it here in Connecticut, makes it even more amazing.

“There’s something extra special about doing it in my home, state knowing that a lot of friends and family are going to be in the audience and ahve been around me it definitely makes it a little bit more meaningful than just going out to the west coast where nobody knows me,” said Kalesky.

You can get to know Kalesky and her music. The shows starts tonight at 7:30 at the XL center in Hartford.

http://www.wtnh.com/

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They played a techno version of God Put a Smile Upon Your Face…and about the first half of The Hardest Part before stopping it because, as Martin put it, “it’s not a big enough hit”. Awesome show, the energy from the band and the crowd was great. I wish they came out for an acoustic encore like they did a couple times so far…but Death and All His Friends is a more than capable closer.

Best song by far was Politik…they blasted right into it after a video montage of Bill O’Reilly calling Martin a “coward” and of various politicians dancing…great night, it was.

[thanks tcaporale]

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They started out with an opening act of some girl. She was sweet and did some good music that got me pumped and ready for Coldplay. Then a long delay, then some annoying rap-girl comes out and sings the most annoying hip-hip songs. She must have done 7 songs, and by the time she was finished I had a headache and was in a bad mood.

Another 10 or 20 minutes.

FINALLY Coldplay comes on stage. They play an awesome Violet Hill, Clocks, Fix You was unbelievable, and most of the normal setlist. The whole show was amazing, but I was behind a lot of tall people so couldnt really see anything.

So they come to a point where they run through the crowd up to a side area. They play acoustic The Scientist and Will sings Death Will Never Conquer. They then leave the area while video clips play of a guy saying “Too bad Chris isn’t man enough…” etc which everybody boos at. They then silence this guy with a smashingly good Politik. They go on and have Chris do a piano version of Hardest Part.

He stops near the end and says “You know what, that song isn’t a big enough hit. You’re going to need big hits in Hartford on a Saturday night.”

One girl jumped out and kissed Chris. The guys were running thru the crowd and as they got up a couple of steps some girl jumped at Chris from his side. She reached out and grabbed his face and just gave him a peck. He didnt even miss a step. The crowd didnt care, they were all too shocked that they could reach out and touch the band. But it happened quickly, but yeah, someone got a kiss

So they do Yellow which was also amazing. Then onto Strawberry Swing, then Lovers in Japan (I caught about 80 pieces of butterfly confetti). So you expect them to leave and come back for an encore. Instead they go right into Death and All His Friends. Also amazing. They then leave to a huge applause while Escapist plays. They exit the stage.

So we stand and cheer, and stand and cheer….still standing…still cheering. They never come back out. No encore, nada, nothing, see you later.

So I personally feel insulted as they’ve done encores at every other show this tour. Plus they barely even said goodbye and thanks:

“Thanks everybody and have a great weekend.”

So overall it was a great show. Yet the facts that it cost me $110 per ticket, plus the horrid opening act, all added with NO ENCORE, leaves me feeling like they dont actually respect us fans or how much we spent to go see them. I am very mad at Coldplay right now and it’s hard to enjoy a show you’ve waited for for 3 months when they dont have the kindness to throw us 1 lousy encore.

[thanks 2732]

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I KNOW! Everyone was yelling Encore, but no do.

Oh well. It was still the most amazing night of my life by far. The energy of the crowd, the band, everything was in sync, like it all fit perfectly. I felt like I was in a dream. Cheesy I know. It was the first time I have seen them live, so it all just felt surreal. It was so weird to be looking at the gorgeousness of Coldplay in person. I was alone, BUT I am actually glad I experienced it alone. I danced, jammed, sang, just had a good time with the whole stadium. I did not feel alone at all. I wish it could have gone on and on and on. Perfect night, no doubt. Thank you Coldplay. I <3 you.

[thanks ailene90]

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the show was amazing. idk i wasn’t really insulted by the lack of a second encore. the show was fucking incredible and it didnt need another encore to make it any better. (i agree santogold sucked too but i expect opening bands to suck so i didn’t really mind. get there later if you don’t want to sit through some obnoxious music!). The highlight for me was chris on piano doing the hardest part. it really was BEAUTIFUL! but no one in the crowd fucking knew it so he stopped before finishing and took a shot at the citizens of hartford saying ‘it’s not a big enough hit for a saturday night in hartford’. i was REALLY upset at everyone there because i was enjoying it SO MUCH. i really wanted to like go on stage and tell chris ‘no i appreciate this so much please don’t stop!’ hahaha but he actually made fun of the connecticut/hartford fans a lot which i thought was really funny since i’m from boston. he said something like ‘it’s great to see you all support the biggest FRENCH band in the world’. He was refferring to themselves but probably thought half the people in the crowd didn’t really know where they were from. anyway…aside from chris being his usual funny self… the rest of the music was great. i fucking FLIPPED when square one started. such a nice surprise! the end of it with chris and piano was bone chilling. oh and i was on the end of my aisle on floor so when they ran by to go into the stands for the acoustic section i touched ALL FOUR of them! a nice pat on chris’s sweaty back was probably the highlight for me! hahahaha… politik was incredible. so much energy and so much emotion in the closing piano solo. the confetti on lovers in japan was even better than i imagined. i was disappointed because at first none was near me at all and i was in the middle of the floor and then after the second refrain just GALLONS of it started pouring out and i got a ton of it! it looked beautiful in the lights and it like glowed in the dark! life in techinicolor was a pretty good opener. not as good as politik and sqaure one but i was so excited that i did get a little teary eyed during it. the only points where there seemed to be low energy were yes and chinese sleep chant. at the end of yes they had a little jam sesh which pretty much saved the song and pumped everyone up before 42. crowd was great on in my place and fix you. but not too many knew the new songs. strawberry swing really took me by surprise. I haven’t been listening to it at all lately and i wasn’t particularly looking forward to it but it ended up being one of my favs. death and all his friends was an AMAZING closer!!! seriously it was so good. chris’s piano part is one of the best on ANY song theyve ever had live and when the song picks up and the big VIVA is revealed in the back there is so much energy!! haha i know this ‘review’ is really out of order and crazy but i’m SO TIRED and im just talking about things as i think about them. i’m PSYCHED to see them again monday in boston and i’m expecting it to be even better!

[thanks BostonSportsTD]

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The day was grey and ugly early on but as coldplay would have it, the sky opened up right around pre-concert party time. The vibe was very cool and laid back and as a CT native, I was proud of the crowd. The band was amazing, it was a ride, I NEVER sat down the entire evening and I was happy to look behind me and see the place rockin. I can’t even mention a best part or a point when the guys were on fire, it continued all night - completely amazing! Songs from Viva were jammin, they ventured into the crowd (very brave) and went back to the basics as 4 guys playing music. Yes, I like the other fans would have loved another oreo cookie, meaning if I really knew it was the last song I would have enjoyed it more - we were all hoping for another! But, I couldn’t walk away any happier at all from the night…..only to find a fun surprise…before the concert we wrote in masking tape on our bus “Viva La VW”, come to find a fan took some great time to rearrange the tape to read “Coldplay!” It was just fun to communicate with strangers like that. I am in withdrawl now so until next time….

[thanks Coddy4]

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I loved it, the lack of an encore didn’t bother me that much, they just played 21 songs and at the rate that Chris sweats I’m surprised he didn’t turn into a pile of dust . My favorite part was the the whole thing , but if I had to choose it would be the Chinese Sleep Chant and the techno version of GPASUYF. I decided to get a hat, I’m very happy with it.

edit: also I usually like Santogold but the bass was too loud and the sound was all messed up, I can see why some people didn’t like it

[thanks endgam470]

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I am still totally thrilled about last night. I feel like every time I see them they just get better and better. I wasn’t even really disappointed by the lack of an encore, because the show itself was pretty long and was just really great anyway. I was on my feet and jumping and dancing and screaming during the entire show. The people next to me were sitting and I’m sure they thought I was crazy but I really couldn’t care less. It was legitimately one of the best (if not the best) nights of my life… it ranks up there with the other times I’ve seen them anyway! We sat in the parking garage for like 45 minutes afterwards because for some reason all the cars were completely stopped and not moving at all, but even that was fun because people had their windows down and were playing music and everyone in the garage was singing along.

My only complaint about the night is that I was just a little to high up to get any butterfly confetti! I really wanted to run down to the floor and grab some after the show was over, but it would have been too crazy to go in the opposite direction of everyone trying to leave. So I’m super jealous of you guys who said you got tons. Anyone want to mail me some? Hahaha.

But of course, overall it was just an incredible night! Now all I can think about is the next time I’ll be able to see them!

[thanks SwallowedInSea]

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First off, i was disappointed that we didn’t get a few more songs, but i don’t think it’s fair to say there was no encore. They way i look at it, everything after Scientist was an encore, we just didn’t get a 2nd encore. I was fully prepared for that after reading the thread on the last Toronto show, so i can’t complain. Also, i didn’t interpret the early ending of Hardest Part and Chris’ comments the way that some others seemed to. I just thought he got bored with it and/or didn’t like the way it was going in his mind and moved on. I didn’t take it as a slap at the crowd for being disinterested (and he apparently did the same thing in DC last night). I really love the way the new songs come off live, so i didn’t mind not hearing some of their earlier hits in the slightest. I thought it was an amazing show and i keep thinking back to all of the great moments. Nothing quite like when a band and the crowd are connected and practically playing the song together (Viva, Yellow, etc.). The ticket said no cameras, but i knew we were close to the side stage so i brought in a crappy disposable in case the security was feeling obnoxious. At least i got a few fuzzy mementos for my g/f to remember her first Coldplay show by. LOL

[thanks BuckleThis]

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VIDEOS [More to follow - if you have some, let me know!]

LIFE IN TECHNICOLOR/VIOLET HILL [From: juminini30]

Look like jannbarbs was having a good time…


CLOCKS [thanks aia94]

IN MY PLACE [thanks jannbarbs]

VIVA LA VIDA [thanks edgapot]

Another version [thanks jannbarbs]

YES [thanks asienkany]

Another clip - thanks aia94

42 [thanks PopArtist]

FIX YOU [thanks jannbarbs

STRAWBERRY SWING [thanks PopArtist]

Another version - thanks tbsfan

CHINESE SLEEP CHANT

GOD PUT A SMILE UPON YOUR FACE

SQUARE ONE

THE HARDEST PART [thanks aia94]

YELLOW [thanks aia94]

LOST! [thanks Hansom22]

THE SCIENTIST [thanks k2snow13749]

Another version - thanks gabi427

DEATH WILL NEVER CONQUER

POLITIK [thanks asienkany]


LOVERS IN JAPAN [thanks scumball3000]

DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS [thanks gabi427]

THE ESCAPIST

And here’s a nice photo montage vid by Jacletta