10 June 2012: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England
From WikiColdplay
Contents |
Setlist
- Mylo Xyloto
- Hurts Like Heaven
- In My Place
- Major Minus
- Lovers In Japan
- The Scientist
- Yellow
- Violet Hill
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
- Princess Of China
- Up In Flames
- Warning Sign
- Don't Let It Break Your Heart
- Viva La Vida
- Charlie Brown
- Paradise
- Us Against The World
- Speed Of Sound
- Clocks
- Fix You
- Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
Photos
Photos from this show can be found at Coldplaying.com in the Gallery thread for the Etihad Stadium. http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/1953
Videos
Videos from this show can be found in the first post of the Coldplaying forum live thread for this show at http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90520
Discussion
All post-show discussion for this show at the forum thread http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90520
Fan Reviews
All fan reviews have been submitted to us by the members of Coldplaying.com[1], unless stated otherwise.
hi guys!!! back from Manchester: mazing week-end! the crowd was awesome and the band smiled a lot, it was very nice [thanks Eve81]
Hi All... just wanted to say WOW! what a thrill last night was!! Took two hours to get away from stadiumm parking and onto the M6 heading back to Bristol (crawled into bed just after 4am!), but it was so worth it! Amazing how they have matured and progressed since I last saw Coldplay live (the tour following Rush of Blood's release...) Back then they were solid, but how they have matured into a stadium act. Talk about having a crowd in the palm of their hands!! Personal favourites for me were XM / Hurts like Heaven, Viva la Vida and The Scientist, but i'm really splitting hairs! Had my whole family with me, and it was my 12 yr old daughter's first concert!!! The look of joy and sheer amazement on her face as she sang and danced to every track will live with me forever, as I'm sure it will for her!!! If any of the band members see this - thank you for giving me these memories I hate to sound critical, but more questions / discussions to others at the gig... was the sound system not quite up to it at times (sounded tinny / distorted to me, especially in the quieter moments...), and whilst the Xylobands and confetti really added something, did you not think the ballons still bouncing around at the start of Yellow were somewhat distracting???? Anyway, back to the joy - now i'm thinking Fix You was wonderful... no, no it was Every Teardrop... damn, the whole thing was brilliant!!! [thanks mikew]
Sunday night's show was even better than Saturday. The crowd was even more into the show than the previous night and the band seemed to be buzzing too. It was very disconcerting as the concrete floor of the first tier was bouncing along with all the fans. Took a while to get used to it. I think they may have been filming some of the #Coldplayfilm. Towards the end of Yellow, the screen showed Phil in a tent at the back of the crowd, and just after the song ended Chris said something along the lines of "sorry Phil, I fucked up that bit at the beginning, can we do it again?" He then told us that he needed us to sing the "I love you so" bit again and then we would do the end of the song. I've been to a few Coldplay concerts so was surprised that the first time I've ended up covered in beer was sat in the VIP section! We had to leave a touch early as we needed to get back into town and pick up the car, and I didn't want to get stuck in traffic. We disappeared from our seats as ETIAW started. It was still fun though. We saw the fireworks going off on the stadium roof and could hear the crowd belting out the lyrics. And as we walked towards the main road, there was a Stagecoach bus parked up, you couldn't see the people sat on it but you could see the Xylobands flashing through the windows. [thanks Jenjie]
Great weather, a surprise appearance by Jay-Z, Beyonce and naturally Gwyneth Paltrow (Chris Martin's wife), awesome crowd (new friends) and a smashing set. Coldplay's live show was simply amazing. We arrived early enough to guarantee us a quite-close-to-the-stage position. Then, the waiting. People naturally found ways to entertain themselves with beach balls, singing, Mexican waves etc. It was great fun. Some one next to us was smoking (and distributing) hash...tsk tsk. So the 4 hours passed rather quickly (not really, actually)........ and after a not so amazing Rita Ora, but a great show by Robyn..it was time!~ Chris Martin is energetic as he is entertaining. Never fails to create desire in the crowd for more. Johnny ripped on his guitar, screaming out the oh-so-addictive solos that we know, especially in the newer songs. Of course, when they played the classics like Yellow and The Scientist, we were happy souls. But nothing blew the mind more than the Xylobands. Yes, those wrist bands that light up like Christmas lights. "Charlie Brown" came on, and suddenly the wrist bands exploded to life. 50000 lights shone the area, and everybody went mad. You'll see all this in the video below! All in all, it was worth the trip to Manchester. Enjoyed some dimsum in China town and the nice weather proved uplifting for the rest of the time there. [thanks TheSkateMusicianer] http://theskatemusicianer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/coldplay-live-in-manchester-concert.html
On Sunday I went to see Coldplay with my Scottish friend Neil Bird. We went into Manchester for lunch with Laura and Cathrin of Goodnight Astor fame. We had lunch at Bella Italia which was really nice then walked around the city and had a couple beers at a place called Dry. We got the bus to the venue which was the Etihad Staium and had a sneaky portion of chips. Opening the show was Ritaora who was quite good but nothing special in my opinion. Then Robyn did a set, I didn't think she was very good at first but as her set went on it got a lot better and I found myself enjoying her set more then Ritaora's. Coldplay were pretty damn awesome and performed really well. I am not the biggest Coldplay fan but I did really enjoy myself and was excited to be going. Chris Martin is a pretty good showman and performed really well. He used the lights and they did a few sneaky things that were pretty cool. I really liked the stage setup it was very Coldplay. Before the set they handed out wristbands for free which flashed during set and looked really cool. After the set we walked back to the car as the traffic was a nightmare. The night was pretty good I was a bit tired for work the next day but it was all cool. [thanks WyattsWorld] http://wyatthaplo.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/coldplay.html
So after all these beers in the F&F lounge I decide to go to the loo, I'm wondering who I might find in here. ROADIE #42 HAVING A SLASH! seriously! Well Miller he was busy, I could have said hello but I didn't want to disturb him, I guess it's a man thing. anyway one of the other roadies wearing full white outfit came in and R#42 disappeared. What else? They had a fridge full of wines and champagnes, the red wine was nice too lots of tables with burning candles on and Ikea furniture (according to Jen anyway). Nibbles consisted of posh melons and fruits and cauliflower dips.(!) Really does create an atmosphere when the room is filled with candle light and everyone talking really quietly. Guy was in the fridge a couple of times pulling out soft drinks. Jonny I think was arranging something for his brother, possibly tickets. He did look over to me and Jen but we were sat a little bit away from his group but then he went to get ready. Noticed he'd had a change of outfit, he was wearing red pants in the lounge but green on stage. Phil talked a little bit about stuff like trolls attacking on the forum, I told him probably Radiohead fans were the main culprits when they've got nothing better to do but it's a rare event. He asked who looks after the forum and I told him about moderators and stuff and what we do He seemed quite interested in the history of the site so I told him how it got started way back in 2000. Also how busy it gets and I told him the traffic really depends on what Coldplay are doing at the time. He thought it was my full time job to run the site! He uses the site to find out what the media are saying about Coldplay etc. We chatted about families and stuff, and briefly the boat trip. [thanks busybeeburns]
The weather was good for our trip down the motorway to Manchester but I felt lousy. I had done a night shift at work on the Friday and for some reason hardly slept on the Saturday night, so Sunday during the trip tiredness caught up with me, so much so that I felt physically sick. At around 2.30pm we arrived at Glen's son's house (he was at the Download Festival with his girlfriend that weekend) in Swinton where we were staying, I went to bed for a couple of hours and actually slept, anyone who knows me knows that normally I don't take naps but I so needed this one! I felt much better when I got up.
At 6pm we went for am meal at a nearby pub called The Farmer's Arms. It was ok, typical pub fayre, nothing, special but ok. With the aid of my sat nav Glen drove through the centre of Manchester and on to the Etihad Stadium, I doubt we would have managed it without the sat nav. We parked our car for the extortionate fee of £10 and then walked the short distance to the stadium, it was a cool but pleasant evening, so much better than the monsoon conditions there had been the previous night. Everyone was given wristbands (xylobands) to wear at the turnstiles.
Our seats were in the 2nd last row of the top tier but not far back from the stage, it was a bit windy up there lol! One of the support acts, Robyn, was just finishing her slot. The set consisted of four circular screens at the back of the stage, a curved main stage and a small, x-shaped b stage reached by a catwalk, it was all decorated with vividly coloured graffiti. There was a buzz in the audience, I just love the atmosphere of a live gig.
Coldplay made their grand entrance at 9.15pm. Everyone's xylobands (named after part of the latest album's title Mylo Xyloto) started flashing in unison. There was a sea of red, blue, pink, green, blue and white lights all around the stadium and fireworks whizzed into the air from behind the stage, it was pretty amazing. Later confetti canons spewed hearts and butterflies into the air, some even managed to float up to our level. It must have been amazing to be in the crowd at the front.
The opening song was Hurts Like Heaven, followed by Rush of Blood to the Head. The sound where we were (I know sound can vary so much in a stadium) was not good unfortunately, it seemed to improve as the gig progressed but was never really good.
Chris Martin gave an energetic performance, bouncing about like one of the huge balloons that were fed into the audience at one point. He talked to the crowd a bit, but I didn't feel he had the charisma that makes a front person in a band really special.
It was good to hear some of my favourite songs such as Yellow, Viva La Vida, Paradise which I really enjoyed. But there was never a time that I got that lump in my throat, felt deep emotions, felt transported by the music. Coldplay are good but they - for me as music is very subjective - haven't the depth about them that I find in bands like U2 and Snow Patrol.
They came on for the encore and for a moment I thought "where the hell are they?" It turned out that they had come one at a time onto small stage right at the back of the field, a nice touch giving those fans furtherest away a close up treat for a couple of songs. The band then ran down the side of the pitch and went back onto the main stage for the final three songs. The first was Clocks and the xylobands flashed into life again. Now that it was completely dark the effect was absolutely stunning, so beautiful, like colourful blanket lying over the whole stadium, gently flashing and undulating in time to the music. It made every person feel a part of the gig as indeed they were. To see that on such a huge scale (I think the stadium holds 55,000 people) and hear the crowd singing along was awe-inspiring.
The penultimate song was the lovely Fix You, another of my favourite songs by Coldplay. Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, combined with communal singing, sparkly xylobands and then fireworks brought the gig to an end.
I enjoyed the concert, it didn't move me, but I had fun. Coldplay have been accused of being a bit bland, and sometimes I can see where that comes from. But it can't be denied that they have also created some wonderful songs over the years too. Would I see them again? I don't think so, but I am glad I went this once - though I am miffed my xyloband remained stubbornly dark lol!
[thanks Sue Fell] http://the-crystal-gazer.blogspot.co...june-2012.html
Media Reviews
No media reviews for this show yet...
Twitter Updates
- @mdrowe: Coldplay tonight at the Etihad! like an excited school girl. Can't wait to hear Princess of China.
- @megannkilburn: Not looking forward to standing outside etihad stadium for 7 hours to watch @coldplay #itwillbeworthit
- @gabcampos96: Outside the arena in manchester listening to the @coldplay soundcheck!! So so so excited! @RitaOra andd @coldplay !!!!!!!!!
- @molliiee63: Listening to sound check outside the ETIHAD.. #brilliant @coldplay
- @hannahsutcliffe: Just setting up @coldplay in manchester, sure they'll be amazing again tonight! yfrog.com/g0xj4tj
- @Aneesa: Rita Ora is on stage! #coldplay #etihadstadium
- @bluwhit: Just been offered a red wristband at the Coldplay concert. Obviously I declined... only blue! #Etihad #coldplay #champions
- @leanne_lester: Ah Beyonce + Jay-z in stand behind us at coldplay #etihad
- @TheGhanaianQid: Ok I can hear Robyn playing at the Etihad stadium for the Coldplay concert from my bedroom ..she sounds good
- @brettmeistr: Can hear coldplay music coming from the Etihad.
- @MCFCblurbs: At the Etihad watching @coldplay . Got to say these guys know how to entertain. #fuckingawesome
- @AnnerBolters: Can hear Coldplay playing the Etihad from the flat... Who needs a ticket ;)
- @x_Jazmine_x: Can hear the Coldplay concert from the kitchen. Another perk of living so close to the Etihad
- @ryandoc11: Can hear coldplay playing the scientist at the etihad from work and it sounds class #nobodysaiditwaseasy
- @MCFCblurbs: Sat 5 boxes down from boyonce, just watched Coldplay perform yellow all at the one of the CHAMPIONS. Manchester I fucking love you!
- @_SarahBelle_: I'm 1.5 miles away from the Etihad stadium and I can hear Coldplay and even make out what song it is!
- @HarryGarne: Either the Etihad has just exploded or Coldplay are finishing their set. pic.twitter.com/X9DzzNlX
- @coldplay: Manchester you were incredible. Possibly the high point of what has definitely been our favourite ever tour PH
