31 December 2011: New Year's Eve gig, Abu Dhabi, UAE
From WikiColdplay
Contents |
Setlist
- Mylo Xyloto
- Hurts Like Heaven
- Yellow
- In My Place
- Major Minus
- Lost!
- The Scientist
- Violet Hill
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
- Up In Flames
- Us Against The World
- Politik
- Viva La Vida
- Charlie Brown
- Fix You
- Clocks
- Paradise
countdown to 2012 - Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
Photos
Photos from this show can be found at Coldplaying.com in the Gallery thread for Abu Dhabi. http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/1915
Videos
Videos from this show can be found in the Coldplaying forum live thread for this show at http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90559&page=7 (page 7 onwards)
Discussion
All post-show discussion for this show at the forum thread http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90559
Fan Reviews
All fan reviews have been submitted to us by the members of Coldplaying.com[1], unless stated otherwise.
The concert was amazing! The best possible way to spend a new years eve I was quite close to the stage on Guy's side. Guy was even better looking in person and his bass was quite loud. He wa really smiley and kept laughing at Chris and Jonny's bromance. Chris was brilliant as usual and his guitar smash during GPASUYF was hilarious. He kept sprinting up and down the ramp or just lolling on the floor. Jonny was on fire and shined during In My Place will was adorable! He sang the end of UATW and the crowd bellowed his name what I really love was that each membe of the band had their moment to shine. The grafitti background during Paradise was incredible and the video on the screens had that pink and blue Studiofeed effect. After Fix You, Chris counted down to new year. They then played ETIAW and fireworks erupted. They then bowed and left the crowd sang the viva chant for a good ten minutes! We noticed their families sitting on top by the left of the stage although the lights didn't go on them too much, we just assumed. Chris dedicated UATW to his family. Overall a wonderful night: will as adorable as ever, brilliant during GPASUYF; Jonny on fire during Charlie brown (the lights were fucking amazing! Best song of the night); Chris was charming beyond belief and The Scientist was beautiful; Guy was really enjoying Major Minus! He looked unbelievably handsome. I love this band so much sorry for typos! [thanks lefter]
Coldplay was as ever, AMAZING. Although it was PAINFULLY short but at least we got to spend new years with them so I shouldn't complain. Chris was bouncing up and down the stage like we know him to. He didn't talk as much as he did the last time he was here though. It felt like he was little sad. I don't know, just a general feeling I had. I was front row, Guy's side so I couldn't really see johnny and Will from my angle a lot but from what I did get to see was an electrifying Will drumming away. Unbelievable energy, incredibly talented. Johnny was so NICE. His usual self, what can I say. He cheering us on whenever we belted a tune. All of them did actually. But he was absolutely amazing. Especially on In My Place cos that's the part were he moves up the MX stage and does his"solo". Guy completely shocked me with how sweet he was and not at all what I pictured him to be, cold and un-phase. He was smiley all the time laughing at us and cheered us all the way especially when we were singing The Scientist. I was completely impressed with how loud we were especially with that song. Chris even said at one point, "I can't believe it took us this long to come here".
But If I had to narrow it down to a special moment, then I have got to say it was Charlie Brown. It got every one on their feet everybody was dancing like CRAZY to that song. I remember thinking if only they can play it again! A group of girls came prepared with their elephant props (elephant hand-made bow-ears) and Charlie Brown lyrics and Paradise signs. They were so cute. Chris looked twice at them to read what they had written and smiled at them. A roadie even took a picture of them dancing with their elephant gear on. So here's to hoping they making it on the Roadie 42 blog. Butterfly and MX confetti were BEAUTIFUL. I'm not even sure there were balloons at the concert=( Didn't get any bouncing off of my head. No xylobands, like Chris said. Some ppl got their own version of glowing wrist bands with them. Fireworks at the beginning of Hurts Like Heaven and at the end of the countdown. It was....magical. One of the best moments of the concert. Chris said that their families were here. So we assumed they were the ones at the balcony waving at the crowd the whole time. It was funny. Knowing that Gwenyth was there but not being able to see her was a funny feeling. Chris dedicated ETDWF for his "baby". Overall, one of the best experience(s),of my life. Every single moment that lead up to last night's concert was worth everything. Happy new year to everyone! And to all of you guys here on coldplaying.com, you guys were definitely on my mind Hope you guys have the best year coming! [thanks ramzinriko]
Media Reviews
In Abu Dhabi, revellers were ringing in the New Year with a Coldplay concert at the Volvo Ocean Race Destination Village. The band opened with Hurts Like Heaven, from their newest album Mylo Xyloto. Giant yellow, green and blue balloons sailed across the crowd as the band played Yellow, from their 2000 debut album. Afterwards came In My Place, the lead single from their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head.
Adam Dunne, 27, from the UK, came with his wife. "To celebrate New Year's Eve at a Coldplay concert is just amazing. The atmosphere and the crowd has really made it," he said. Flash Entertainment estimated there were 20,000 fans ringing in the new year at the concert. During the afternoon, the sounds of the band warming up were an added excitement for visitors who attended the opening day of the Corniche's Destination Village. The band was rehearsing during a sound check at a stage adjacent to the village, where visitors milled about, listening in anticipation of the New Year's Eve concert. "It's exciting to hear them practise; I just can't wait to hear them properly tonight," said Rachel Freeman, a UK expatriate who was exploring the village with her family before the show. [2]
- Coldplay is spot-on in Abu Dhabi (Gulf News)
When Coldplay last performed in Abu Dhabi, many remember the gig as being amazing and memorable. When pressed, they say it's because of the massive lightning storm that took place as the British alternative rock band performed. After their New Year's Eve performance at the Abu Dhabi Breakwater, people will still remark how memorable the band were - and this time, it's thanks to the music.
The four-piece group, led by the boyishly handsome Chris Martin (perhaps many in the crowd wondered, as I did, what his wife Gwyneth Paltrow was doing for New Year's Eve), came on just after 10pm and put in a solid set until just before midnight, perfectly timing what we thought was their last song to segue into a 20-second countdown to the New Year. "We're so happy you're spending your New Year's Eve with us," said Martin as giant timers ticked down and the crowd chanted along with him. He'd had the 20,000-strong audience eating out of his hand since the moment he stepped on the stage, and sat down at his signature upright piano to play the songs that have brought the band worldwide fame, from their first hits such as Yellow - one of the biggest sing-alongs of the night—and Fix You, the huge Viva La Vida, and finally the current radio hits, Paradise and Every Tear is a Waterfall.
With five studio albums, the band - comprising alongside Martin bassist Guy Berryman, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, and drummer Will Champion - had more than enough material to do a two-hour set, and so after a short break for fireworks to the left of the stage, they returned, a surprise to the audience - I'd expect things to be wrapped up after the sparkles in the sky faded. In fact they came back to play another hit, and to douse the crowd with glitter and confetti. It's as they had done earlier in the night, shooting neon paper into the air, matching the colours on the Mylo Xyloto album (the band wears these colours too, and the stage background featured the yellow, green and pink in hypnotic swirls). Martin's voice wasn't the strongest at times, but the band were pitch-perfect in every other way - in fact, it was comparable sometimes to hearing them on the radio, so spot-on were they. [3]
- Coldplay rings in an Abu Dhabi New Year (The National)
Coldplay's rain-soaked 2009 performance at Emirates Palace has become part of modern UAE folklore, with drenched Chris Martin crooning Singing in the Rain remaining a lasting image. This time, however, the group returned to the capital to ring in the New Year and were met by a crowd of more than 20,000 who didn't mind crawling through hours of snail-pace traffic at Corniche Road before going through the greater struggle of getting through concert gates. The quartet waltzed on to the stage to a short burst of fireworks. The celebratory mood was set with the ethereal instrumental opener Mylo Xyloto before launching into pop-static Hurt Like Heaven.
One begins to appreciate the number of hits Coldplay has notched up in their 15-year career when they are now able to perform former concert closer, the shimmering Yellow, as the third song of the set. It also gave the audience their first chance to warm up their singing voices as they drowned out Martin's falsetto during the chorus. Next up was In My Place, which saw Martin race through a blizzard of star-shaped confetti to the group's second stage; a small space near the edge of the Fan Pit, a barrier that the band could access courtesy of the T-shaped design of the main stage. While the group's old hits such as the piano-led Science and the noxiously sweet Fix You still left many in the crowd a tad misty-eyed, it's the new dancier material from Mylo Xyloto that went down a treat. Major Minus confirms the suspicion that the group may have been listening to early Kasabian during their recording sessions, as it gave the group's congenial live persona a new dimension: strut.
In the folky Us Against the World - which Martin explains tells "the story of the band" (don't know about that, as NWA these lads are not) - the whole group performed in intimate mode on the second stage, with Martin and drummer Will Champion singing mournfully and movingly. Charlie Brown was the concert highlight. It is here you see how the band may not be far off from knocking U2 down from their perch as the biggest concert drawcard. Where the latter rely on the chemistry between Bono and The Edge, the trance-ish Charlie Brown is a brilliant display of the band's virtuosity, with each member upping his game. Led from the back by the group's underrated rhythm section of (the increasingly theatrical) Champion, and understated bassist Guy Berryman, the group soared in the chorus on the back of guitarist Jonny Buckland's signature spidery riffs.
The follow-ups, which began with the propulsive Clocks performed at 10 minutes to midnight, began the anticipation for the New Year's Eve countdown; and the cinematic Paradise was neatly finished with one minute to go. However, for a group who so brilliantly captured the moment in 2009, they seemed uncertain what to do with the midnight countdown, with Martin merely strolling back down the stage as the clock struck midnight. The anticlimax was underscored by the group seemingly hurrying to finish off the set closer Every Tear Drop Is a Waterfall before brusquely leaving the stage without an encore - not a crime if it had been a regular festival appearance, but for an NYE occasion, it seemed abrupt. Playing a little longer would have been a nice touch in what was otherwise a supremely polished performance. As for the organisers, perhaps the concert would also trigger a fresh New Year resolution: stick to hosting concerts in the Yas Arena on Yas Island, as the tight two lanes leading up to the Volvo Ocean Race Destination Village on the Corniche Breakwater proved testing for even the happiest of revellers. [4]
Media Previews
It's not often the words "Coldplay" and "surprising" inhabit the same sentence. After all, even if some of the criticism they endure is unfair, Chris Martin's band is widely dismissed as being as safe and efficient as stadium rock gets, pushing the buttons of the masses in time-honoured but clichéd fashion. So it's a genuine pleasure to report that there is something so magical, so unexpected and so innovative about the opening minutes of their current world tour that it is almost a plot-spoiler to reveal it. So, I won't, save to say that it involves lighting and audience participation - and it will be fantastic if they repeat the trick on December 31 in Abu Dhabi.
If not, well, it won't be a serious issue. Perhaps Coldplay's main problem on record is a lack of personality - it is difficult to congratulate Martin on such insightful lyrics as "I turn my music up, I got my records on", as heard on their comeback single Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall. But played live, as the kick drum thuds around the arena, that particular song not only makes perfect sense, but everything Coldplay does is ramped up, energised and, with Martin's enthusiasm bordering on the tiring to watch, imbued with character and charisma. In short, they pull off the not inconsiderable task of making their live show massive and intimate in almost the same instant. In Manchester recently, back-catalogue anthems such as Yellow and Fix You were blasted out in the manner of a band who perhaps are sick of the constant jibes that they are insipid and bland. But at the same time, Martin went well beyond asking the crowd if they were OK. He thanked them profusely for buying tickets, for giving up their evening to come, for joining in. He changed the lyrics of songs to speak directly to the audience. When he messed up a few chords, he stopped, apologised, and started again - as if he were performing in a tiny bar venue rather than an arena. Perhaps such antics are all part of the act, but they're hugely endearing. It means that even those who, quite bizarrely, watched proceedings from behind the open stage felt involved. I should know. I was one of them.
Of course, such stagecraft has been honed over a decade of filling arenas and headlining festivals. It means Coldplay is canny enough not to scare the audience with loads of new songs from the band's fifth album Mylo Xyloto - in Manchester they played roughly half of it. But what they do showcase reveals exactly why the record is so uneven. Live, the raucous Major Minus sounds unhinged and ragged - and is all the more interesting for that - but the tracks that display a hitherto undiscovered love for R&B and chart pop (specifically Paradise) are indistinguishable from a million other chart acts. There's the sense that, five albums in, Coldplay is not quite sure what kind of band it would like to be. Undoubtedly, when Martin is hammering away behind a piano during fantastically epic versions of Politik and Clocks, Coldplay makes perfect sense. It is then that they make the job of being in a multimillion-selling pop band seem like both the most normal and the most amazing thing in the world. With Grammy nominations and sell-out tours in prospect for 2012, it's likely to be a happy new year for Coldplay - in more ways than one. [5]
Chris Martin opens up in a rare one-on-one interview, as Coldplay returns to Abu Dhabi on New Year's Eve. Being the lead singer of arguably the world's most popular band is hardly a suitable occupation for a man who cherishes his privacy, but Coldplay's frontman Chris Martin has never been one to conform to stereotypes. Described by some as moody, by others as aloof and by a few as downright rude, Martin is a long way from being the self-promoting egotist revelling in the spotlight that comes with the global success his band has generated.
That he is married to the Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow makes the mystique surrounding the 33-year-old lyrical genius even more intriguing, yet he offers barely a hint of a bite when he grants The National this rare interview. As Martin and Coldplay prepare to return to Abu Dhabi for a New Year's Eve gig that is certainly this season's hottest ticket, he has been persuaded to become a reluctant participant in the publicity bandwagon promoting Coldplay's addictive new record Mylo Xyloto. It hardly bodes well when his advisers request that "certain questions" be avoided in our interview, before I am asked to remove my shoes to protect the newly polished wooden floors in Coldplay's rented recording studio in north London. "I have been told there are certain questions I'm not allowed to ask," I inform Martin as we meet, to ascertain whether it is just his minders who are the protective ones, rather than the star himself. "You can ask me what you want," he responds. "I might not answer everything, but whatever you want to know, go for it."
With that, the atmosphere in the room clears a little to allow room for a less formal chat. The character that emerges is one clearly concerned by his image as music's "Mr Bland", as he admits Coldplay's many critics have a persistent habit of getting under his skin. "There have been times when it felt as if we had become people's worst enemies just for producing a song they don't like," says the singer, whose popularity in his own country is often shaded by a host of sceptics."
When your first five albums have topped the charts in the US, the UK and virtually every other music-buying nation in the western world, criticism should matter little. Yet Martin admits it unsettles him. "It takes some getting used to, that kind of pressure, as well as the stories that our record company is relying on us to keep the share price up," he says. "Then you feel the pressure, but you have to get over it. The positives outweigh the negatives in this job big time."
Martin acknowledges that success does matter to him. "I worry about being successful, of course I do. I have two kids now who have made me more driven than ever to be successful, but then you get to the point where you have to give up worrying. There is enough in this world to be miserable about, so enjoy any success you can get."
His mention of his two children, Apple and her little brother Moses, offers an opportunity to probe a subject that we have been told is off limits. While some interviewers find Martin's evasiveness frustrating, his determination to keep his family life separate from his work could be viewed as admirable. "I am famous for Coldplay and being married to someone who is more famous than I will ever be, but the truth is none of us in this band see ourselves as anything other than four guys trying to make music people might like," says the singer, who has used his fame to promote a range of charity projects over the past decade. "We don't set our sights too high. It would be great if someone enjoyed our record while they are driving down the road. That is all we can ask for really, and if some people don't like what we do, then I guess they won't buy our record or come to watch us in concert."
Speaking of, his band's forthcoming return to Abu Dhabi prompts memories of their first appearance in 2009 at the Emirates Palace hotel, where the audience was drenched in a surprise downpour. "I didn't think I'd be doing a version of Singin' in the Rain when we did a show in Abu Dhabi," adds Martin, a smile breaking out across his face. "It was weird to be in the desert and the rain lashing down. Weird, but kinda cool I guess. Yeah, Abu Dhabi was cool."
A dry sense of humour evident in quirky and nervy answers to the most polite of questions confirms Martin's status as an icon still struggling to come to terms with the worldwide phenomenon he has become. Young men hailing from his native UK county of Devon tend not to have dreams that end in music-industry domination. Martin and his bandmates have beaten the odds to achieve that and much more. "Will Coldplay ever be cool? I don't know," he says. "We still have a long way to go before we can be called the best band in the world or be compared to some of the greats of this business. Getting better is a good motivation for us." [6]
Twitter Updates
The Oracle on 31 December 2011: New Year's Eve gig, Abu Dhabi, UAE
December 30, 2011 - submitted by Dan, United Arab Emirates
Q. Who's the support act on New Year's Eve in Abu Dhabi?
The Oracle replies:
There'll be a local act opening for the band tomorrow night. Have a great time anyone who's going. Happy New Year!
