16 December 2008: O2 Arena, London, UK

From WikiColdplay

O2 Arena, London, UK - 16th December 2008

Setlist

Photos

Photos from this show can be found at Coldplaying.com in the Gallery thread for London. http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/1569

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=45725

Discussion

All post-show discussion for this show at the forum thread: http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45725

Fan Reviews

All fan reviews have been submitted to us by the members of Coldplaying.com[1], unless stated otherwise.

Okay, just short: Almost the same setlist as the last 2 shows, but we got Jingle Bells (feat. Simon Pegg) instead of Death Will Never Conquer. The boys were having more fun on tonights show cause the crowd was more alive. Majority was standing and they weren´t as weak in singing than the 2 nights before. Funny: Now we know what it sounds like when Chris tries to get rid of his guitar while playing piano !!! (does anyone remember the song?) Tonight 42, the GPASUYF/Talk medley and LIT II blew me away! When I am back in Cologne, I am gonna start sorting out good Quality pics from all 3 shows. Approximately not many, but at least some good shots...((Coincidence or not? My fav local radio station EINSLIVE is playing GPASUYF during this post!))

[Fraetes]

Thouroughly enjoyed myself last night, but wish I'd driven in rather than relying on public transport. Catching my last train home meant missing the 2nd encore! Not a venue I'd do again unless I managed to get seats on the floor or first level, it wasn't great up in the clouds and the atmosphere was a bit lacking. Couldn't really have a dance without the fear of falling 100 feet!! Saying that though I thought the performance was great and Simon was very funny. All in all though Birmingham a few weeks back was a better show imo, I left the NIA with more of a buzz than last night - but I think that was mainly down to where we were sat!

[jon_r]

Useless afternoon waiting for them to arrive, we've been told quite quickly that they had arrived earlier for a soundcheck though (we thus new we'd have a special song). Got told before the beginning of the concert that flags were forbidden in that venue... WHAT A JOKE. This actually worried me and I felt quite bad at the beginning of the show though I did wave my VLV one a lot. Anyway decided to stand up right at the beginning of LiT and luckily people in my block stood up too, so I spent the concert jumping and dancing, which help when you want to enjoy it (not like on sunday...). Saw R#42 working hard before the beginning of the show and started to think I could have thrown him my banner, though I was too far away... then during VLV remix, desperate to see no one was enjoying that important part of the show, I decided to run toward the roadies area next to the stage on Guy's side (where R#42 was) where I threw my banner randomly... it landed in a roadie box XD Guess they'll find it as a Christmas gift ahahaha. Anyway I really enjoyed the show (better atmosphere in my opinion, at least in my area). Quite good performance from the band, Chris reminded everyone 2 times that he seemed quite disappointed by the Londoners : changed some lyrics to something similar to London crowd is miles away from what a coldplay crowd should be (wasn't exactly that, and I don't remember during which song it was, but it was at the very beginning of the show... we'll find out with some videos I guess). Then during In My Place (as far as I'm remember, not sure again) he emphasized A LOT the come on and SING TO ME... I think that worked quite well. Happy me. (though I'm not doing all seated venue anymore). I tried to get closer to the C stage during Hardest Part in order to leave London with a clear picture of Chris' face in my head (ahah, didn't manage to see him on sunday, being in the upper tier), but was asked to come back to my seat after 20 seconds hehe. We left the venue around midnight, I'm sure the band was still there and I guess we could have meet them by leaving later but we had no idea how we would have managed to come back after midnight, we thus had to stop stalking (which made me saaaaad).

[Khalplay]

Highlight tonight Jonny wearing reindeer ears and the others santa hats during Jingle bells think it was almost better than monday though can't split them. I had the clearest head on view and wasn't destracted this time by a certain arse off Mr Buclkland this time so could really take it all in for the loudest cheer bit instead of left vs right we had boys vs girls, Jonny was in charge of the boys (chris called this the Brave Heart Roar) and Guy incharge of the girls ( He called this the Take That squeal) to which Guy laughed and most probably blushed for Jonnys solo in IMP Chris introduced him along the lines as Coldplays version of Slash. trying to upload vids, managed one but YT very slow tonight, only down side were some annoying people who decided to get drinks during at least 3 songs I was recording. Chinese sleep chant which I had to delete because they knocked me leaving and coming back and they did it again during LIJ..they seemed more interested in the drink than the band and didn't give anyone else any consideration plus they knocked over my bottle of water.. other than that it was perfect. Can't wait to here Politik in that Stadium next year.

[bello-lo]

Hi, I've just got back from all day in Oxford street so I'm shattered but I wanted to say what a brilliant gig it was last night, everyone was standing and dancing in my section but it was hard to see what it was like elsewhere. I noticed how you couldn't hear much crowd singing though, maybe it was the acoustics, I was also sitting "back stage" more or less, right above ( front row of the section but about 20 feet up with a sheer drop below me and just a little barrier!) the roadies section Guy's side and behind most of the speakers. It was weird looking down at all the boxes, laptops, wires, cables, guitar cases, people under the stage etc. On of the hard hats said "help" on it!

I couldn't hear a single word Chris said, it was really muffled.. We got a brilliant view of the action behind the curtain at the start though, what the roadies get up to during the concerts etc. I was also right above the section where the boys came onto the stage and saw them coming out from the gap and up the stairs. I saw the bloke (in a red T shirt) run across the stage when they went off, he grabbed Chris who slipped away from him and then the security guy (kelly?) came out from behind the curtain to help but the bloke had run back off by then.

I also wanted to ask, if anyone got any butterflies that they could please send me, I'd be really grateful, we didn't get any in our section at all as we were too far over and I got two squashed ones outside by the tube but that was it. Please Pm me if you can. Chavi so kindly sent me some from Paris in September. It was brilliant to see "our" mobile light show on the balls during the VLV remix but no-one took up the challenge to try and do it again last night did they?

Chavi, Mark etc, after looking at your photos I'm sure I walked right past you on my way to the section I was in. I wish I'd come and said hello, I thought it might have been you. Sorry.

[scusi]

Another great gig by the band. Highlights for me:

1) Sitting a stones throw away from Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson and Sporty Spice [aka Mel Chisholm] 2) Simon Pegg saying that it was his last gig with Coldplay as he’s leaving the band and they’re becoming a 4-piece of “Gary, Jason, Mark and Howard” 3) Chris chucking his guitar down at the end of ‘42′ and singing the loooooooooongest note I have ever heard him sing. Brilliant! 4) Coldplay playing an acoustic version of Jingle Bells wearing different Christmas hats! 5) Coldplay coming back on stage wearing Comic Relief t-shirts which had a cartoon of the Beatles with red noses. They took a picture of themselves at the end before leaving the stage. 6) Coldplay have won a Sun Newspaper Bizarre Award. Chris was waving a plaque about. I have no idea which category they won. We’ll find out sure enough.

[WF]

Live Text Updates

21:11: Chavi - jayz is ON
21:11: rushofbloodUK - Eek there's literally minutes left. We're in our seats, the warm ups are all done. Here we go! Jay z is playing- surely the boys will be next!
21:25: Carlaatje - OMG chavi just send a video from violet hill I'm going to upload NOW
21:28: Carlaatje - in my place phone call yeah baby
21:33: Carlaatje - speed of sound on phone now
21:39: Chavi - boy vs woman comp: women for guy me, course jon gets men
21:46: rushofbloodUK - Chinese sleep chant into 42! Woo hoo
21:50: Carlaatje - fix you on the phone
21:50: rushofbloodUK - Strawberry swing! Fantastic - now we're on to b stage! What a great gig! Love it
22:03: rushofbloodUK - God put a smile with talk! Love it! My fiancee just said this should be called the halloween mix!
22:03: Carlaatje - another call, talk, i love that remix
22:05: Carlaatje - now time for the hardest part.... chris is talking, he said something funny cos i heard them laugh...
22:07: rushofbloodUK - Lol @ strictly come dancing comment! Its the hardest part now folks! Stripped back chris on the piano and harmonys by will amazing!
22:17: rushofbloodUK - Viva la vida was every bit as good as i knew it would be when i first heard it back in the summer. Just meant to be sung with 20, 000 people! Amazing! Oh and lost was good too! He he
22:19: rushofbloodUK - C stage now! I wonder who it could be! Why it's simon pegg! And he's 9 years old!
22:20: Carlaatje - yayy simon pegg is talking... he says he's leaving the band after 2nite
22:20: Carlaatje - green eyes
22:25: Carlaatje - another call simon is going nuts on harmonica
22:25: xxKels - Pete says now playing JINGLE BELLS!!!!
22:26: rushofbloodUK - Lol they played jingle bells and wearing christmas hats!
22:43: rushofbloodUK - Wow Lij amazing! And i got a butterfly! Woo. Now its DAAHF. Don't leave yet people!
22:50: rushofbloodUK - They're back and its The scientist
22:50: Chavi - scientist, beatles shirts on all 4 of them
22:57: Carlaatje - no it wasn't beatles shirts.. she says
23:07: rushofbloodUK - And sadly its come round too fast. The end is here. What an incredible gig. Amazing atmosphere, great venue, and the best band in the world. Every single song was brilliant and the new songs stand up easily as good as the old ones. Thanks Chris, will, guy and johnny boy! You are quite simply the best! See you next year at wembley.

Media Reviews

I guess if you've played every mega-bowl on the planet, the O2 arena must feel a bit pokey.

Maybe that's why Coldplay treated their concert last Tuesday at the old Millennium Dome like a Christmas knees-up down the pub (with 20,000 mates, that is). And even though Chris Martin can get right up some people's noses, you can forgive them a bit of fun at the end of yet another bumper year. Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends set a new record for the most downloaded album ever; picked up a clutch of Grammy nominations; and, recently, a copyright infringement (you know you're doing well when the lawsuits start flying your way).

Busy boys, then, and they certainly seemed in a hurry for the show's first hour. "Clocks", "Speed of Life", "In My Place", among other hits, simply sped by. As for "Yellow", the band's breakthrough hit, even they recognised that this needed some novelty value eight years after it first had us weeping into our Chardonnay – giant coloured space hoppers were released into the arena, they floated beguilingly above only to explode, spilling luminous confetti everywhere.

It was the sort of distraction that Coldplay hardly need, though. The band know exactly what makes their adoring audience tick, and meticulously craft each tender melody or stirring coda for maximum emotional impact. Time and again, bittersweet passages signalled soaring choruses that even Scrooge might warm to, and when the heart-wrenching organ piped in on "Fix You", thousands sighed en masse.

By the song's end there were dozens around me in tears. As the audience relaxed, so did Martin. He's no Stevie Wonder, and was happy to casually prompt the crowd to help him with some of the higher notes. Often, he dropped a phrase, letting the audience finish it for him. In most singers, this would be irritating, but somehow he got away with it. In fact, I totally fell for Martin on Tuesday.

He bounced all over the stage like Pinocchio with a guitar, limbs everywhere. When he collapsed in exhaustion, you half expected to see him yanked back up like a marionette. But his affability comes from the fact that he is not afraid to stumble about and crash into guitarist Johnny Buckland with a smile. It may all be part of the performance, along with his apologies to us for rambling on, but it's a part that the audience appreciates doesn't need rehearsing and they cheer him to the pre-stressed steel rafters for it.

Behind Martin, drummer Will Champion and bassist Guy Berryman provided a lithe platform for the guitarist Buckland , who switched smoothly between intricate melodies and stadium-chewing riffs. Sadly, quieter moments, such as "Strawberry Swing", fared less well in the cavernous O2, but these were few. As Coldplay's No 1 single "Viva la Vida" gave way to new single "Lost", the crowd more or less took over.

A brief section on a secondary stage didn't quite work, with the band segueing "God Put a Smile On My Face" into "Talk" before anybody realised what was going on. Much more successful was a foray into the rear seats of the O2, where, surrounded by the wide-eyed faithful, all four members of the band played an acoustic and affecting "Green Eyes". But before anyone forgot this was an end-of-term party, Simon Pegg joined in on harmonica for a loose, bobble-hatted blast through "Jingle Bells".

As the crowd spilled out into the icy Greenwich air, fans began singing impromptu versions of "Viva la Vida", like me, sweetly satisfied. The band returns in September with a string of shows at Wembley Stadium, with no less than Jay-Z for support. Soon, perhaps even that giant venue may be too small for them.

http://www.independent.co.uk

SIMON’S BLOG: Goodbye Coldplay...

After three highly enjoyable days, I have decided to leave the band Coldplay. How they do as a four piece is anyone's guess. I wish them every success and remain confident that they will get a record deal and eventually find themselves in the top twenty. Good luck boys and remember, keep your feet on the ground but keep reaching for the stars.

I am still not returning to acting and writing, having secured a position as a blacksmith in the Cotswolds. I will shoe your horses half price if you bring a copy of Shaun of the Dead to my forge (this week only, no bootlegs).

Goodbye

Sx

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...ogID=456917913

Coldplay capped a great year by inviting 20,000 adoring fans to join the singing