23 December 2008: Odyssey Arena, Belfast, UK

From WikiColdplay

(Redirected from 18 December 2008: Odyssey Arena, Belfast, UK)

Odyssey Arena, Belfast, UK - 23rd December 2008

Setlist

Photos

Photos from this show can be found at Coldplaying.com in the Gallery thread for Belfast. http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/1570

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=45487

Discussion

All post-show discussion for this show at the forum thread: http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45487

Fan Reviews

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

All done end of the year. OH and i got a high five from chris tonight. Exact same setlist as friday night except they did death will never conquer first then green eyes then jingle bells

if anyonehad told me to sit down i know what i wouldve said to them haha, i was on my feet from the classical music on both nights until i got back to the car

got a set list from the first gig and on the 2nd night i got the revised time sheet haha, they had a chartered play back to london for 3am.

But the fat security man really needed to chill out, told me to step back a few times haha and that i was blocking his line of sight.

Bet he was raging when i got a hi-five from chris martin haha plus he kept on looking at me and guffs electronic devices

[cooki2222]

Twas awesome stuff. Never expected all the lasers and big screens and dangling ball screen thingy and exploding balloons etc. The band were on top form, started off a bit quiet but got everyone into it after Violet Hill. After that the crowd were awesome.

Took seeing them live to really appreciate Will, he can do everything and do it well. And more bands should stick a stage in the back of the crowd. When you realise your seats are at the very back and feeling pretty bad about it, having the band come from the other side of the arena to 10 feet on front of you is amazing. I am so jealous of the people surrounding them then.

Probably the best show I've ever been too, singing, energy, and niceness of the band made my Christmas Eve eve.

[zorro37]

seats seats seats. coldplay should never do all-seated shows again. i thought it was hilarious when chris was full flight mid-song and then right next to him 2 latecomers come along with there beers and take their seats right beside him on the catwalk. also everyone seated during the first couple of tracks..somthing i was worried would happen and was embarrassing really.. that aside, a fun show..LIT2 was my fave and the C stage idea is amazing, worked really well i thought.

[ross_ander]

I am the one that was sat beside cooki2222 - i have a few good photos of the night. All in all, I must say some songs were better on Tuesday than on Friday. The top 4 songs from both shows... 1. Viva La Vida (Tuesday) 2. Viva La Vida (Friday) 3. The Scientist (Friday) 4. Fix You (Tuesday)

It seemed as if he had to "work the crowd" more on tuesday - the crowd on friday were standing throughout and sang throughout where as Chris had to interact a bit more on Tuesday.

[Guff]

Ok so, I won't go on about the trip from dublin to belfast and the time spent in the city center. We arrived at the Odyssey at 5 more or less, so I was sure they were already inside. Went to the box office to collect my ticket then we went around the venue to see were each numbered entrance was (when in fact the numbered ones were once already inside the venue ). We passed some gates, and at the last one we found three people there waiting..something suspicious was going on, they looked at us, we looked at them, we knew they were waiting for the band, it was too obvious. After not so much time someone from the security came at the gate, they were talking through some device, prolly with the band's van driver and we caught "they're arriving" We didn't have to wait too much, their vans arrived and we showed them the banners. Now I tought they were going to close the gates and we would see them far gettin off and run into some door in the arena..but I was wrong. They stopped right there at the entrance. The first one to get off was Jonny, he seemed happy to see some people waiting for them and was all smiles, took a pic with me, signed some stuff the other gave to him and then went inside a door At that point my neurons were not working too well My friend called my name and I turned to see Guy coming over, I didn't faint, not screamed, don't worry, I never do it when something like this happens, I was just happy to finally meet him. He was smiling as well, he got I was the one with the CoW banner, I asked if they were ever gonna play it and he said "we don't even remember how to play it"..mean Chris, he was joking then Anyway, in that moment I couldn't care less..we took a pic and my friend did the same then the other three people asked him for an autograph and then we talked to Will, who was so nice to ask us where we were coming from and thanked for "coming all the way" too see them. They were all so great, but unfortunately were a bit in a hurry, so we didn't have much time to chat with them. Just when they were going I saw Phil and called him, he asked where we already met, and I pointed out it was the day before in Dublin, and then he remembered and laughed Phil if you're reading, thank you

I don't have anything signed, tough I had brought some cd covers with me, but I really could have not asked for more: Coldplay love ya all, I don't know if I was super lucky, but I'm more prone to think it's just them who are super nice with fans Oh and also many thanks to the woman from their security for letting us meet them.

[Iriden]

Just as I had reached the point of despairing that I would not be seeing any gigs while on holiday, the luck of the Irish seemed to smile down on me (we won’t dwell on the Kings of Leon in Dublin while I was in Kerry debacle). Coldplay had originally been booked to play in Belfast on the 18th and as with their Dublin show, the tickets sold out in a matter of minutes. But oh joy of joys for me, they had to change the date to the 23rd and some unlucky feckers couldn’t make it anymore. So, to the poor bastard who had to return his ticket for seat 4, row 4, thanks very much for an awesome Christmas present!

Opening for Coldplay was a band called The High Wire. Very indie-folk. You know – obligatory crusty lead singer with untamed facial hair and cardigan, slightly more edgy guitarist in a Ramones tee and a girl on keyboards with a shiny ponytail and a waistcoat. Very appropriate given that Chris Martin is pretty much the godfather of crusty indie-folk style. They were quite good, and I felt bad for them that the show started 30 minutes earlier than advertised and the arena was essentially empty. Nonetheless, their performance was enthused and I’d say opening for the likes of Coldplay helped soothe the pain for such a relatively new band.

And then, strangely, there was a DJ. Like, as in, a guy, under a spotlight, with his decks and thingies, playing (is that the right word??) what I suppose would be described as trance or dance or something, while really bizarre images flowered on a big screen. Pity I forgot to drop a couple of tabs in the taxi on the way over. Anyway, the guy’s name was Jon Hopkins, and I guess if you like that kind of thing, he was very good. I do not like that kind of thing (in fact it makes me want to peel my skin off) but he was hot so that kind of made it vaguely bearable. The animation was kind of entertaining as well I suppose. I was glad when it was over and honestly, everyone around me seemed a little bemused by the whole turn of events. Ugh. Dance music. Shudder.

Right. Back to things more wonderful. I managed to see Coldplay when I was living in Dublin in 2003 and they were fantastic then, so I was pretty damn excited about the show in Belfast. I was also intrigued because it was an all seated show….which when you consider that I was in seat 4, row 4, will tell you just what a great Christmas present that poor bastard gave me – I was literally within spitting distance of the band. Metaphorically speaking of course, it wouldn’t really do to spit at Coldplay. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing them, you may think what I did pre-2003….they’re a pretty chilled out band and are likely to be boring live. Well, they unequivocally come alive when they take to that stage. Yes, Chris dresses funny and they’re all Oxfam-Fair Trade hippie types, but they know how to blow an audience away. The show started with the auditorium in complete darkness and the stage shielded by a gauzy curtain. The band came on wielding sparklers so all we could see was 4 twinkling lights and their silhouettes. The crowd went wild, the lights came up and the music rolled over us. Phenomenal. Chris Martin is a manic presence, whirling all over the stage and keeping the audience on the crest of a wave of excitement. After the first song he kindly told us we didn’t have to stay seated and the whole place erupted. Fix You was incredible, with Chris at the piano, grinning broadly as we did the singing for him. Yellow got pretty much the same reception, as giant balloons drifted overhead, which Chris took great joy in popping with his guitar to unleash a rain of yellow confetti on the crowd. In fact, there wasn’t a song that wasn’t accompanied by roars of joy and gleeful singing from the audience. And Coldplay are all about pleasing their audience. The stage was constructed with a ramp going into the crowd on each side, and they made sure to play a few songs from those points as well, going so far as to set up a piano at the end of one ramp – practically right next to me - hurrah. Just in case that didn’t bring them close enough to their audience, they disappeared at one stage, only to reappear in the crowd in the stands at the back of the hall, and proceeded to play a few songs from there too. Based on what we could see on the big screen, the people immediately surrounding them looked as if all their Christmases had come at once! The show was full of light and sound and energy, and they played songs from all their albums, as well as an interesting rendition of Take That’s Want You Back and a few verses of Jingle Bells. It was 2 days before Christmas after all. They played for two hours and still the crowd begged for more, as an avalanche of paper butterflies floated over our upturned faces. Frankly, I think they could have played all night, and still we would have cajoled and pleaded for just one more. Without doubt, the best live show I have ever seen.

Eventually we had to drag ourselves away from the euphoria inside the arena. I shared a taxi back to my hotel with a couple who had also travelled from the Republic of Ireland to be at the concert…and to our great delight we were welcomed into the cab by the sweet sounds of Coldplay…smart man, our taxi driver!

http://bellesbands.blogspot.com