Pictures are in the gallery here. Here’s are some reviews. Video to follow…

Coldplay let themselves feel

- In Prague O2 Arena last night played one of the most popular British bands

- Came to listen to it patnáctitisícový crowd

As if “slušňáci” Coldplay in today’s pop music or not. Their tour of the new album ‘Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends’ perhaps because yesterday fulfilled Prague O2 Arena to the brim. Critics, vyčítající British Coldplay colourlessness and pathos, sometimes amuse tartness, but not take so well “at the heart of” a high voice jednatřicetiletého Chris Martin in hymn like songs about human relationships, doubt, anxiety and faith.

“We’re finally here,” Martin spoke Czech at the beginning of the concert, had a light on the audience and wished them good fun. People are a little later to Coldplay almost touch - musicians with a guitar and mandolin vběhli to the audience. Closer contact with people furiously photographed the band also due to stage equipped with two side-stage.
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Pictures from tonight’s Oslo gig are in the gallery here. Reviews and video here and here [more to follow...]

I’ve ripped the audio for ‘High and Low’, which Chris performed with Mags Furuholmen from A-ha, which you can download here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/j4ythu

Long live the live

And suddenly the world’s biggest band stood five feet from our seats, on the gallery in Oslo Spektrum, and sang one of his most famous songs.

Until then had little unexpected happened to Coldplay in Oslo Spektrum. Before the end of the regular set, as they did “turn up the middle out from the crowd as street singers’ trick. And thus, suddenly stood right next to us and the song “The Scientist”. A gesture like that which is a mixture of the spontaneous and calculated, but when it works - as here - perhaps it is that separates the great bands from the mediocre.

For it is easy to make fun of Coldplay and their rock consensus - HIPT it is not, and even when they have Brian Eno as a producer can they sound like Genesis, for spring-Coldplay single “Violet Hill”, which allsang fired missile Early in the evening. Before they went through the catologue of songs that make up the permanent set during the 2008-tour. And predictability in the main party gave one more time to study, in the little boring parties, what does that Coldplay has brought them here: For a sold out Oslo Spektrum a Dance, with the year’s best-selling album in the suitcase; to the position as the world’s largest new band, with an audience that none of their hands, without the need to do much other than to stand on stage in ugly clothes and play the songs straight up and down. The secret is just so simple that there is hardly any secret: They have so many good songs that they can not take wrong, and they will not either. Bortsett fra en ting: Except one thing:

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Coldplay played a magnificent second night at The Globe in Stockholm. Pictures are in the gallery here. Reviews/Videos below…

Setlist: [thanks bergstrommarn]

Life In Technicolor
Violet Hill
Clocks
In My Place
Speed Of Sound
Cemeteries Of London
Chinese Sleep Chant
42
Fix You
Strawberry Swing
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)
Talk (partial - techno version)
Amsterdam (partial)
The Hardest Part (piano - Chris)
Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)
Viva La Vida
Lost!
The Scientist (acoustic)
Death Will Never Conquer (acoustic - Will singing)
Viva La Vida (remix interlude)
——
Politik
Lovers In Japan
Death And All His Friends
——-
Yellow
The Escapist (outro)

Here’s a Blog report from http://blogg.expressen.se/anders/. Pictures are in the gallery here. Videos to follow…

Sole and förväntansfullt before Coldplay GLOBEN. Time for Coldplay day 2, and in that I never upplevkt Coldplay two nights in a row, it should be interesting to see how much they dare and want to change. They replace the one song. They add an extra encore. Much more than that usually they do not deviate from the formula. It is, moreover, smockfullt here. I tried to find parking in a whole half hour, but p-houses are unusually full. Coldplay public has taken the car. Which, in fact, says a lot about the fans when it will follow. It is a day tomorrow, but do we.

Concert starts GLOBEN. Christer Sjögren in Tyrol, Di Living in Calcutta and Coldplay in Tyrol - it is now the concert has started. Coldplay launches as yesterday - with “Life in technicolor” and “Violet hill.” Troubled strong singing from the audience already in “Violet hill.” Chris Martin takes on outrot and say, ‘Gokväll, thank you “in English. This start bodes well.

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The first of two concerts at Stockholm’s Globe Theatre. Unfortunately no live debut for ‘Glass Of Water’ tonight, but the concert was apparently streamed live via aftonbladet.se although not many people outside Sweden knew about it. [thanks Larry]

I just got back from the Coldplay concert in The Globe Arena. My legs hurt after standing in one spot for nearly three hours but I’m satisfied still. We bought the tickets to the concert months ago and shortly after I told my sister I was going to see them and her spontaneous thought was “boooring”. At that point I didn’t really disagree with here. I’m not a huge fan but one of my friends convinced me to go along (it didn’t take much to do that) so I did. And I don’t regret it.

They never played Trouble from Parachutes and that disappointed me a bit but not much since I wasn’t really expecting them to and I would have wanted it to last a bit longer, I always do after a live concert but just over 90 minutes is a tad short. Besides that it was a great show. Their music came alive unlike when you listen to their CDs that, at points, can almost make you sleepy. Combine this with a great show where lights and video played a big part and you have one helluva party.

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a.k.a. Everybody Nettie loves Chris…

I hauled ass over to Berlin early Sunday morning. The train ride on the ICE train only took 2 hours, but the ride seemed slow. We were in a little private compartment away from the noise, which was nice. I just put my ipod on and had 40 winks.

I was staying at a hostel [my first and last time. Never again...], which was bang smack near that train station, so I was able to dump my suitcase and get over to the O2 World arena, where I was met by the lovely Mel. We had a ball just messing about near the Beriln Wall [now called The East Side Gallery], which was a stones throw away from the Arena. There’s lovely artwork on it, plus slogans from that evil time that I imagine most people would rather forget. You can actually buy pieces of the wall to take home….

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a.k.a Hamburger anyone…?

I flew out to Hamburg on Saturday, to catch Coldplay’s gig at the Colour Line arena. As mentioned before, it was standing as well as seated, which appealed to me muchly. Plus, I wanted to see the whole of Coldplay’s new ’show’ before the December O2 dates [you really think I was gonna wait that long? Yeah, right...]. The flight was short at 1hr 20mins, but the descent was awful. The turbulence was fierce for most of the flight and the plane kept bobbing around as it was landing. I did start to pray under my breath [I have no desire to die in an air disaster anytime soon, thank you very much!] We landed ok - everyone started clapping when the Captain showed his face before we got off the plane. Why are BA flights so hair-raising?

So, I found my hotel and crashed out because I didn’t sleep the night before and had been up for 36 hours solid, so no sight-seeing for me, which was a pity because I did want to have a look around. From what I could see Hamburg is a lovely city, really spread out and very green/leafy, with some nice old buildings and a canal/river going through it. I wanted to see the harbour, just I just didn’t have the energy. I did do a recon to see where the Color Line Arena was. It’s bang smack next to Hamburg’s Nordbank Stadium, a bit like how Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena are next to each other, but their’s are much closer together, with a good transportation system. You could walk from the station about 1100 metres or take a free shuttle. When I got there, the footie had just finished and there were fans everywhere, plus DJ Bobo was rocking the house at the arena. Um, ok…

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A.k.a when a shitty day turns into a fabulous one!

I had to work today, which sucked loads. I was hoping to get the day off so I could get down to the BBC Radio Theatre in time to see Coldplay arriving, but alas due to work [and other bogus mishaps], I got there too late…

When I did get there, there were a few autograph hunters - you know, the ones that sell their signed pictures on eBay [shock, horror!] and two other diehard Coldplay fans [Hey Jeff and Maria!]. [Read more]

Head here to listen to Coldplay’s best, most hilarious Residency episode yet…

Chris, Johnny and Guy turn in their most explosive Residency show yet as they turn up the heat on the Simon Pegg feud. Strip bars are also in favour, it seems…

Chris Martin, Johnny Buckland and Guy Berryman turned in their greatest performance as Xfm DJs on last Sunday’s Residency show. They mentioned strip bars, turned up the heat on their ‘feud’ with Simon Pegg and also stumbled very close to being libellous.

“We called Simon Pegg and he blatantly ignored our call”, said Chris Martin, stoking the flames of the feud that begun with the British funny man two weeks ago. “Let’s not call him at all this week. If you’ve got a DVD of Shaun Of The Dead or Hot Fuzz, take it back because that guy just doesn’t care about you and he doesn’t care about us”.
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#42 muses on the band’s time in Japan

Can it really be a week since we left Japan? Worse yet, I’ve not yet submitted my journals from those shows. “Jetlag” sounds far more glamourous and interesting than “couldn’t get off the sofa”, so I’m sticking with that. Somehow though, I think we all know where the truth lies.

In a nice follow-on from the previous journal, I opened my hotel room curtains in Osaka to be greeted by a building in the distance bearing the word “Yodobashi”. The very same camera shop I arrived at in Tokyo minus my credit card. Over breakfast, I enlist the permanently Leica-bearing Berryman to join me for a trip over there. I’ve managed to obtain cash and today there’s no stopping me. We both return somewhat lighter of wallet, but laden with photographic goodies. [Read more]

Simon Pegg vs Coldplay – Feud Continues.

Part III of Coldplay’s XFM Residency is now online. You can listen to it here.

In the third eventful part of Coldplay’s Xfm Residency last night, Simon Pegg once again dodged the world’s biggest band’s phone calls. Admitting they “didn’t have great radio personalities, but have buckets of enthusiasm and passion”, Coldplay tried calling the star of Spaced and Shaun Of The Dead to add spice to their show.
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