8 December 2010: Filming for Christmas Top of the Pops, BBC TV Centre, London, UK (Fan Reviews)
From WikiColdplay
All Fan Reviews submitted by members of coldplaying.com unless otherwise stated.
They were great! Chris gave someone (from here I think) a flower and someone else got a plectrum from Mr Buckland. It was brilliant to see the boys so close and Chris was just chatting with the crowd and stuff. Chris sang live but the rest of the boys mimed. It was a great day tho and a brilliant experience!
We're queuing to go back and get our coats and bags now. Will write up a better post later.
Chris sang live for sure. I forgot to mention there were snow cannons and some of the stuff from the video (piano, gramophone, etc.). They also wore the clothes from the video and Chris introduced Phil saying something like "this is Phil, he's in charge of our band. He's the fifth member of Coldplay" (Phil was one of the Elvis's).
[Dan 6N]
spotted Miller in the studio area too…but am still wondering if Simon Pegg was there too as 1 of the 3 Santas given that Phil was there as an Elvis too.
& anyone else found that fella who kept randomly shouting stuff at Chris kinda annoying? i note that he got all shy when Chris asked him what did he say…
[KopiJunkie]
Just got back home from my afternoon at the BBC. Its well worth it, had a good chat to Phil before he got up on stage as on eof the violin playing Elvis's. I had the three Elvis's infront of me!!! As the band came of stage I shook hands with Chris and Johny!! Overall it was a good day. Plus we got to hear Christmas Lights live 4 times
I can confirm that Simon Pegg was not there as one of the Elvis's!!
Chris seemed in good spirits this afternoon!!Cracked a few jokes with us all! Im looking forward to Liverpool after todays little performance!
[Kris. W]
This was a really good experience - much better than the night on the Thames for me.
I really enjoyed being able to see the band up and close (a first time for me), and they also seemed in very good spirits. It was a lot of fun. Chris continued to make me feel he could moonlight as a stand-up comedian. What he told everyone about the boat cruise was hilarious - something to the effect of, "lots of drugs. just a massive orgy. some of the spice girls showed up as well". I nearly died laughing.
Everyone else in the band looked good. Jonny and Will seemed in good spirits. Guy seemed like himself - haha.
I'm so glad I was able to make it (or rather chose to miss lecture to make it...)
[footyfan10]
Had such a great day after such an early start. We left home at 6:30 and got to the BBC at 8:15, no idea why we got there so early but we were fortunate to be first in the queue (numbers 1 and 2)
Which mean't we were first into the studio and we got a spot right at the front; directly infront of Chris. We had our Christmas Lights Glowing and our Sparkly Trees on our heads; When the band came on stage everyone went crazy; Chris asked if anyone was in the video - I spoke up and said I was he then said it was good fun with lots of drugs and some of the spice girls, they then began to sing the song...but OMG he was right in front of me, less than 2 feet away. I have been fortunate to meet him in person before; but nothing can beat being that close to him and watching him perform, just mesmerising.
Had a total awesome fangirl moment, Chris asked me if his collar on his shirt was straight; I said its a little up, he then bent down and asked me to straighten it for him, which I gladly did
Had so much fun being right there; singing away and dancing to the song; but i'm dreading seeing myself on camera on Christmas Day.
I got a little annoyed when people kept asking for things; especially Will's drum sticks even before they began to shot the performance, I felt like saying "well how is he mean't to play the drums without them." I just don't get people, we got to see them upclose for free, what more could people possible need other than that....or is that just me??
[piggy]
Just got back from London. It was a great experience and the boys seemed really happy. Got to the BBC at about 11, couldn't believe how cold it was, while queuing!
[Hysteria]
That was a really great day!!
I got there at about 9.30am, ended up being no. 34 in the queue. Met Phil and Laura and we froze for those few hours!! Met Chelsea and Daniel too....After a bit of an extended wait and a lady who had to contend with a load of overexcited Coldplay fans, we were let loose on the route towards the studio. I havn't been inside the BBC buildings before and it was really great to see everything. I was so happy to make it to the front row where me, Laura and Phil ended up on the Guy's side. Everyone was in a good mood and I really enjoyed the atmosphere! The stage was nicely decorated, although I was surprised to discover that the 'snow' was made of pieces of old newspaper hahaha!!
When Coldplay arrived, there was an awesome atmosphere because they were so very very close! All the guys seemed to be in a good mood and bantering with the crowd. I think I got a smile from Will at one point when he was looking in my direction and I smiled at him....but who knows, he could have been smiling at someone behind me
Me and Phil had to make way several times for Fearne and Reggie.... that was interesting
and yeah, that was Phil passing Jonny the group photograph that he'd had printed out! Glad that Jonny took it
Had a great time! (hello to any Coldplayers that were there!! )
[crazyduckette]
The guy on stage warming the crowd up was brilliant and had a good laugh with the crowd but Chris was his usual cheeky self stealing the show. His mention of the Christmas Lights shoot being "an orgy of drink, drugs and spice girls" was brilliant!
Intimate isn't really the word for it. Perhaps 'private' show? When else can a true fan watch their idols play 2 foot in front of them? None of them seemed too shy either which can sometimes happen. I vaguely remember Chris watch me belting out part of the second chorus with a grin, might have made a prat of myself on TV!
[huds601]
i got there at 9:30 and was number 27!!
best day of my life. chris came right in front of me and stared at me for a few seconds . best moment of my life. Also at the end i put my hand out to jonny and he smiled and shook my hand!!!!!
wont ever get an experience like that ever again!
[izzym]
Today was completely flawless. I wasn't expecting it to be as amazing as it was, to be honest, even though I was expecting to have a good time. But wow, I just had such a great day overall. I'll type up a review and post it soon, I literally just got back in the door of my house .
But God, these four guys and that music makes me so indescribably happy.
My alarm went off at 4:30 this morning . I eventually got to London by ten and to the actual BBC Television Centre at 10:30, where Dan and Sam were saving a place for me in queue, where they'd been since 9. Thank God they did…otherwise who knows what would have happened to me later. It was cold, definitely. I'm good with cold, but because we were just queuing, rather than watching Coldplay shoot a video in front of us this time, I noticed it more than I did a few weeks ago, and my feet were cold despite warm boots and two pairs of socks.
They gave us our stickers around noon, and I ended up being #20 in line, which was 400 times better than what I was expecting myself to end up with as of the night before, where I got a bit worried about getting into the studio at all.
We were then ushered into the waiting area, which was nice and relaxed. I wish all gigs worked like this: the people that have been waiting the longest get stickers to prove their place in line, and then they get to relax. We all waited around in a nice heated area with tables and chairs. Unfortunately, the whole thing didn't kick off until about 40 minutes behind schedule, which made people antsy and cluster around the studio doors despite the fact we knew they'd call us by number anyway, but a bunch of us Coldplayers had lovely discussions about the band and the board and the boat to pass the time . Phil had a print-out of the group photo from the boat as well, and we all signed it, even though we weren't optimistic about getting it to the band.
Eventually, we were called in in groups of 50s. Even though it wasn't a free-for-all like gigs are or anything, it was still pretty cutthroat, with lots of mild pushing and running disguised as speed-walking while following the lady to the studio. To my huge astonishment, all of us in our little Coldplaying group (Daniel, Sam, Kara, Phil, Laura, and me) got to be dead front row . As of last night, I was paranoid I wouldn't even make it into the studio, let alone be able to see anything at all above a sea of heads, but it seems my Coldplay Karma is still running strong for unknown reasons. I was overjoyed, especially because unlike at proper gigs, there's pretty much no gap at all between the audience and the stage, besides maybe a two-foot wide gulf for camera men to duck in and out of. Short of meeting them face to face, this was going to be the closest I'd ever seen the boys perform .
The MC or whatever you want to call him got us amped up by getting us to sing along to music and practicing our applause and the oohs from "Christmas Lights" that I never fail to have a Pavlovian response to after the boat video shoot . I didn't really need to be any more amped up, but I totally played along. And then, all of a sudden, the guys in their suits were standing at the side of the stage, on the floor with us. Chris was drinking coffee out of a huge travel mug, and they were adjusting their suits and flowers and talking with the three Elvises (Simon Pegg was traded out for Matt McGinn!). The MC-guy played us the infernal Black Eyed Peas "Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night" to get us excited even though it was 2 in the afternoon, and when he cut the music off, I heard Chris's unmistakable voice singing "Let's doo it, let's doo it" from the song three feet away from me in a pseudo-American voice .
And then they came on stage and I realized how amazing my positioning was. I was to the left of the stage, on Jonny's side, literally nose-to-nose with the new blue piano with rainbow keys. I could see every hair on Chris's arm and the finer details of his A and M tattoos, which was just awesome. This is my second TV taping event with Coldplay, and I've decided I love them just for the banter they do and how they interact with the audience, and being so close to them in their downtime to see them do little human-y things we don't get to see so much at shows or on TV. At one point, Will picked some confetti (ripped up newspaper, just like in the video) off his drum kit, examined the text on it, and then sniffed it. Chris did a lot of bromancy hands-on-shoulders with Jonny and Guy and was genuinely adorable--in a much better mood than the last time I saw him . I gave a huge smile to Will, which he returned (God, that man loves eye contact). Chris gave me a look as if to say "I know I've seen your face recently, but I can't place it," which is FINE with me given the hilarity of our last encounter . His eyes, though. When I met him two weeks ago, they actually scared me in person, and today was really no different, being that close to him again. He has inhuman eyes, like blue lasers. [/fangirl]
Chris seemed nervous, like he always does before TV shoots. This may be TMI, but his armpits were soaked through before he even got onstage. The poor guy. He cracked off a few self-effacing Chrisisms about how the only good part of the song is the part where we sing and he doesn't, and how he forgot all the words and it was a fucking good thing we knew them and how he couldn't remember the note to practice the "ohhs" with us from, and how he was sorry we had to hear the song three times in a row (like most of us hadn't been listening to it on repeat all week or anything). He had to get Jonny to play the note on the guitar, only to remember that the guitars were for show only and were completely out of tune. So he tried the piano, which also was just a mock up and didn't make a sound.
They did three takes over the course of an hour. I will undoubtedly be glaringly visible on BBC1 on Christmas Day, looking like a total loon singing along with all my heart and displaying my true lack of coordination even with simple things like hand-swaying and clapping. But whatever. Jonny seemed impressed, or at least giddy at the fact that everyone in the audience, 300 people or so, knew every note and every word to the song that they released only 7 days beforehand and did a lot of smiling down at us. Guy looked like his usual diva self, but he's a beautiful diva, at least. I wish I could remember more of the things they said. At one point, Sam shouted out "PLAY SHIVER!" next to me, when Chris good-naturedly rounded on him and said "oh don't you start THAT." The two hosts of the show that my Americanness prevents me from knowing asked Chris what he thought of X Factor, and he passed the question off to Guy, who is apparently an avid fan? That seems out of character to me, but whatever, he said he likes someone named Rebecca, I think? I don't know a thing about the show. A lot of people tried to shout things at them and begged for drumsticks and picks etc before they were even done, which I found a bit obnoxious, but they were good-humored about it. I did chime in when someone asked them if they were going to play another song for us and everyone started shouting song titles, but Chris just reached into his waistcoat pocket and pulled out his pocke****ch and said "hmm, we don't have time for that" in a mischievous way. Oh, he's so cute. Being that I was that close, part of me thought it was a shame I couldn't take pictures (and being at front, I couldn't have risked pictures with my mobile), but I was also grateful for the prohibition because it allowed me to completely focus on what was going on onstage--I never feel like I focus MORE on my camera than on the show I'm watching, but I do get rather intent on taking nice photos at gigs. It was nice to not be distracted by that this time.
Everything was mimed 100% besides Chris's vocals, which was no surprise to me, but I hope no one was going in expecting a live performance. Jonny and Guy's guitar and bass weren't even plugged in or in tune, and you could hear them just goofing off on the strings underneath the recording of the song. Chris's piano playing was completely mimed as well: he starts off playing the first few bars, but then moved to center stage while the piano intro was still playing. So much for hiding the mysteries of television. To me, this whole thing was about the opportunity and the experience rather than the music, which is the complete opposite of my first priority when I see them at gigs, but it was almost better for that reason, in some ways, or at least it allowed me to enjoy different things about them, in a fangirly way.
The whole thing seemed so short, and it was. It's impossible not to want more after something so great that was so short, but it's not like I expected it to be longer, so I was more than satisfied with what it was. I don't know if I've ever felt such a concentrated happiness and thrill in such a short span of time before. I was grinning like a complete idiot the entire time, laughing and cheering and everything. It was just about 400 times better than I imagined: I thought that at best, I'd get somewhere halfway back in the crowd and have to peer through heads to catch glimpses of anything, but I somehow managed to be closer to the band than you can ever get to be at gigs and be petrified by Chris's eyes again. The only possible thing that could have made it better is if Chris had handed me the flower pinned to his waistcoat when it was over rather than to the girl standing next to me, but I don't deserve to ask for anything in the Coldplay realm for the next 200 years.
But it gets better! They ushered us out after the hour was up, but somehow Phil managed to hand Jonny Buckland, of all people, the signed group photo from the Coldplaying boat trip! According to Kara he seemed a bit bewildered by it, but he took it! I hope it mends some of the bad board-band vibes. At least, I hope they don't just chuck it aside before opening the folder and saying "Aw, that was nice of them."
Anyway, that was long and fangirly, but there's a rough account of the day that was more glorious than I ever expected. What a wonderful way to kick off the Christmas season. I'm only sad that I'll be in America on Christmas and won't be able to watch the show on TV or the iPlayer due to international copyright restrictions, but I know someone will upload it here, and Phil kindly offered to make a DVD for me after it airs .
[ApproximatelyInfinite]
Oh my GOD, what a FANTASTIC DAY. I'll post a full review to my LiveJournal later, because if I do it here I'll just harp on for ages, but suffice to say that it was so much better than I could ever have expected it to be. It had such a cozy, intimate feeling, almost like a house concert or something. Chris' voice sounded amazing, I thought, and they all just looked really happy. It was great to watch, especially from a foot away from the stage. My mad flailing/fairy lights elicited a smile out of Jonny and--dare I say it--what might even have been a smirk out of Guy?! And I got a handshake from Chris! *faints* But the other thing I -loved- was the feeling of community...I met some of the other Coldplayers, you are all lovely, by the way. It was like some massive, dysfunctional family gathering. Well, that's what it felt like to me anyway. xD It was just lovely. I have warm fuzzies all over.
Did that actually just happen?
Did I just see Coldplay perform 'Christmas Lights' from a foot away from the stage?
Yes. Yes I did.
And it was amazing.
Fully worth the 2.5 hour coach journey, navigating the Tube by myself, standing in a queue outside the BBC for nearly 2 hours in subzero temperatures (wind chill factor not included) and finally being let in to the recording studio half an hour behind schedule?
Absolutely.
The disgustingly cold wait was made much more bearable by the fact that I made friends with Sophie, the lovely girl in the queue beside me. Her aunt came along later and the three of us stuck together after that. I have to say, meeting someone who actually shares my idea of what is acceptable in terms of what lengths one goes to for a concert was probably one of the better moments of my life. I mean, I knew they were out there. I'd just never actually met one. I felt vindicated.
When they came to sticker our tickets, I turned out to be number 77--my favourite number. I felt sorry for whoever had been in front of us--an hour and a half in the cold felt like forever, and they must have been there twice as long. Coffee runs and mini-picnics helped but really, all we wanted was to be warm. But, noon came around eventually, and we shuffled our frozen toes indoors, where there was warmth and food...and where, as if meeting one like-minded Coldplay obsessive wasn't enough, I met more! There were a few Coldplayers present, easily recognizable by the strings of Christmas lights strung about their persons. (Incidentally, battery powered LED lights are actually the most fun things ever. Especially when you're wearing them.) We stashed our bags and coats, and settled in around the tables in the audience lobby--a very nice touch, by the way--to wait. And queue...and get told to sit down...and wait...and queue...and false alarm...and, oh, sound issues, crap, is it cancelled? Nope, just late. Phew. They *finally* had us line up in groups of 50, which wasn't very effective seeing as everyone barged forward anyway, but we made it to the studio eventually. Sophie and I snagged the last spots in the front row, right at the left end of the stage, but we had an excellent view. I couldn't see the rainbow piano keys, unfortunately, but something tells me I wouldn't have noticed anyway. Ahem.
We had a very amusing stage manager type guy come out and explain what was going to happen ("When you clap, hold your hands up high, not down in front of you. Otherwise it looks like you're getting a little too happy on Christmas day"..."all you crazy stalker fans, no storming the stage, there are fireworks and you'll die"), and had us practise the 'whoa-oh-oh' bit of Christmas Lights so we knew when to sing it later. He also liked our fairy lights. Amazingly enough, all of us that were wearing them had made it to the front row. I looked across to see Phil (I think that's his name? Sorry!), glowing like me, and we shared a comradely heck-yes-we're-draped-in-Christmas-lights-this-is-awesome grin. To 'warm us up', the stage guy blasted Sex On Fire, and then I Gotta Feeling, and we sang/danced/clapped along. It was about halfway through the latter that I looked to my left...
And saw Coldplay standing not six feet away from me. Waiting to get on stage. Just...standing, talking, getting ready, in all their fucking god-like glory. I am serious here. Take any photo of Coldplay. Take every flaw you see, and erase it. Add about four or five inches to however tall you imagine them, and maybe put a faintly glowing halo around that. And then just freaking give up, because there is no way that any words can describe how much justice pictures or photographs do not do these four men.
Anyway.
I was close enough to hear Chris singing along with BEP, and one of the Elvises saying 'When do we pick up our violins?', and was struck by how cool this all was--there was no backstage, they were right there, and I was seeing something that hardly anyone ever does: a world-famous, platinum-record-sold-out-stadium band, getting ready for a performance. Usually you just get the package deal: they come on with a bang, they leave the way they came with you screaming for more, done, hop-on-the-tourbus-let's-go. This was so different. It was totally intimate; they weren't a load of very rich and very famous rock stars taking all your money. They were just four guys, playing to an audience that could probably fit in my living room if you removed all the furniture and maybe knocked down a wall. And then Guy looked at me for a second with his broody, 'I am the sexiest man alive and I know it' stare and the intelligent moment was over because I probably peed or something embarrassing.
They came on stage--ohmygodrightinfrontofme--and we cheered, like we'd practiced, only this time it was for real. Chris was very bubbly, throwing around cheerful banter with the crowd, and because of the size of the audience and the setting, we could throw it back. He joked about the Christmas Lights music video boat-ride filming session thingy (words, I speak them good), saying it was a massive orgy with lots of drugs and some of the Spice Girls involved. When turning to Jonny for the starting note for the whoaaaa... bit so we could practise with him, it took him a couple of tries to get it and he said 'I'm not a singer, so...' Heh. At one point, he expressed, in his humble Chris way, his nervousness at how this was all going to go--they'd never done the song 'live' (the only live bit was Chris singing, it was Top of the Pops after all) before. I yelled, 'Don't worry, we all know the words in case you forget' or something which, in hindsight, might have been a bit rude but there you go. Audience participation! I didn't catch his reply. Oh well. There was some banter about X-Factor, and they all turned to Guy who is, apparently, an avid fan, for his opinion on who's best. I have no idea, I don't watch it, but LOL, he is so quiet. He comes off like he's acting the model when he doesn't run around the stage and stuff but I think he's just shy. And maybe a little vain. But I still love him. Of course.
They did the song three times, and I sang/clapped/waved/cheered along vehemently. (My throat is sore.) Chris loved our singing, said we had to do one more take because we were showing the band up, and that 'the song is shit until you come in...you'll get us to number 36 on the charts, which is our favourite position.' I, on the other hand, think he sounded fantastic. Guy, Will and Jonny were just miming, unfortunately, but they all looked like they were having a great time, all relaxed, happy...maybe because they didn't have to worry about their playing, lulz. Anyway, my ridiculous flailing, paired with a light-up torso and the hair of a madwoman, got me a grin from Jonny (squee) and what might have even been a smile from Guy?! (Gasp!) Whatever, THERE WAS EYE CONTACT and I swear I saw his lips twitch upwards. I couldn't see Will very well for most of it, but I got glimpses. And then Chris was all over the stage, standing riiigghht above me for some of it so I had a very good view of him. Cough. He pointed the microphone to us for a couple of lines on the last two takes, which I thought was pretty cool. (Especially since it'll be on telly! There was a camera pointing right at me for a minute there.) When the show presenters did their link for announcing the winner, i.e. not Coldplay, we all boo'ed. It was great. Stage manager guy went, 'OK, well, we have to do that one again for obvious reasons,' and told us we had to clap but we could boo in our heads. We did so and he said 'You're all liars.'
There were, as promised, pretty spark showers on the word 'fireworks' and 'snow' (bits of damp newspaper) and a very cool light show...all in all, I think it'll look fantastic.
It was over all too quickly. They thanked us, and we cheered, and they waved, and as they came off the stage I reached out a hand and Chris shook it. Or held it briefly, touched it, what have you. (He has very large hands, FYI.) I still can't believe it. I mean...right? The whole thing was just...incredible, from start to finish. Yes, it was just one song repeated, but it is a very good song and it was a very special setting. It was almost like a jam session, or a weird family gathering. I didn't have any 'HOLYCRAPFAMOUSPEOPLE' hysteria, like I *always* have at concerts, because they weren't acting like famous people. It was like a house concert. I was extremely happy and excited, yes, but not off-my-head-hysterical. Although I was still kind of stunned from my Chris Martin handshake, so I didn't realise where they were leaving from for a second. Just as I saw their backs go through the doorway I saw Sophie legging it after them. I hesitated a second, and then ran after her, but that goddamn second will haunt me for the rest of my life as it gave the security guard time to get in my way. She came back a few minutes later with a picture of her and Chris. I was a bit gutted at first but I sort of told myself, 'next time...' because there will definitely be a next time and this was her 9th time seeing them and "only" my 3rd, and I had an amazing experience anyway--no tall peoples' heads in the way!
So despite my lack of photographic evidence, I could not wipe the grin off my face all the way home. I don't care if people thought I was a crazy person. And anyway, if I'm honest, when it comes to Coldplay...I kind of am one.
[englishrose]
I left home at around 7:45 this morning and got to TV centre at around 9:45. I saw Crazyduckette in the queue, and then met with **Laura** and we speculated about what was going to happen. Would we get the group photo to the band? My own views were the Beeb would be quite strict about this, so I'd ask someone at the BBC to hand it over if i couldn't do so first hand.
I was excited about this gig because we haven't seen Coldplay live for so long. They've been like an old friend who always made you laugh so much or gave you so much joy you haven’t seen in ages, and you really miss them. One day I hope to meet them in person, to tell them in person how much their music helped at a particuarly painfull crossroads in my life.
I have seen Coldplay up close live before (front row @Wembley Sept 09) - has it been over a year since I've seen them? I can honestly say that the band appeals to me for as much as what they do outside of music ,as for the music itself. I've loved live music for ages, but never before have I taken my love of a band’s work music to such a fan level. Fan love is unconditional love, and I never tire of their music or hearing of their good causes. The old king was never dead: he was merely resting. And here was Chris today telling us he was back with great gusto!
I went up and down the line trying to get as many Coldplayers signatures as I could for the signing of the group photo (my apologies to the girl who wanted to sign outside the studio doors - I'd got rid of everything bar photo and our Christmas lights by this stage). I also met up with Chelsea and Dan (dmuse Dan not Dan 6N) and Laura as well - it was great meeting you all, and hearing Craig's story about the formation of his band and advice from the band themselves! Good luck Craig!
I've been to old Auntie Beeb before so I'd passed through those iconic gates. Is TV centre really to relocate next year? If so, sadly we've been a piece of history today! Memories - good memories- are what life is all about. Forget possessions, it's good times that keep you going in the bad. Coldplay have given me so many good ones at dark times in my life; people forget this sometimes themselves. How special was last month, when we took part in their video? How many other bands interact with their own fans so much? Don't take anything for life for granted, for one day it will no longer be there. I've been there, bought the T-shirt, saw the movie, and ate the pop corn too.
So I gave out my extra Christmas lights and once in to the BBC we were on the wating game. Now as Chelsea said, the great thing about this gig was that we got to get our tickets stickered with a number in the order we were in the queue. If all gigs were like this!
At around 2:00 an annoucment from the BBC that there are sound problems in the studio! They only do TOTP once a year now after all! We got into the studio for around 2:40 I think, and myself, Laura, Kara and Chelsea were very near the front of the first batch of 50. Some banter with the "crowd" control lady ensues, where she asks me about my Christmas lights and if they work. I didn't flash at her, but it could have been worse if she asked my where I kept the batteries.
So oddly we got to walk back outside (still freezing cold) and across the iconic forecourt of the BBC with the fountain (rumoured to be this year's Christmas ident), and then back inside, down a few corridors and then round a few backstage areas and into the studio itself. It's a small studio, much smaller than you might imagine on the television (wide angle lenses make it look much bigger than it actually is). I was just so excited that we were there, anything else was a bonus. We used our "save a place" stategy that worked so well @ Wembley and Crazyduckette go in front just before me, with myself and laura closely following. We'd done it and were just feet from the stage. We were just right at Guy's side, with the multi-coloured piano stage left.
Coldplay's set was decorated in a similar way to the video shoot: old nostalgic musical items, set against a backdrop of white neon snowflakes. All very Christmassy. We were also right next to the snow machine, and wondered if we were going to get soaked and the photo end up soggy mush. Fortunately the snow ends up to be pieces of old newspaper (good recycling from Coldplay here!)
So the warm-up guy comes on and tells us how to move our arms TOTP style. When he asks the audience who had been to TOTP before, only 1 guy puts up his hand in the audience. When he asks him what band he saw, he says "ELO" - come on Auntie Beeb - a whole generation are missing out here! Just so long as you get Coldplay on every couple of weeks!
We sing along to a couple of non Coldplay tracks so that "they can see who to shoot and who to avoid" and I'm having a lot of fun by this stage. There's a real good party atmosphere in the studio, and Coldplay haven't even arrived on set yet.
When they do (stage left) it is great to see them all again. Chris is his usually funny self, and the banter with the audience is great. I personally didn't see the masses of sweat, but then again I was some way from Chris. They all looked in good spirits, except - as has already been noted - Guy who was doing his usual Diva routine.
My aim was to get the photo to the band, and when it was appropriate. I was genuinely thinking "hmm they might not like a big envelope waved at them". So I left it for the minute.
So we do the Christmas lights song 4 times. Singing along with the band so close was so much fun, I'd just forgotten we were also at the BBC as well to boot! Chris voice was great live, but the rest mimed. The rainbow piano just played away by itself (I can see this becoming a very collectable item in the future!) .
There are noticeable boos when they don't announce Coldplay as the Christmas no 1 - "OK we'll have to do that bit again for obvious reasons" "You liars" they say when we applaud crazily on the next take (though with an undercurrent of visual boos).
When it all came to wrap up and the band leave the stage Chris was giving his rose to someone on the forum, and I tried to get his attention, but no luck as he probably couldn;t hear (me being on the far corner). Fortunately as Jonny was leaving (who stayed longest on stage) I kept shouting for him and he seemed perplexed by a black plastic envelope (good job too, it was based around on the stage floor - it kept the photo in good shape!). If Coldplay is reading i hope Jonny didn't think it was anything untowards - you guys know I wouldn't do anything like that to you! (naive me just realised a black envelope could have connotations )
So my Coldplay karma is working of late. Coldplay gave us something special a few week ago. They gave us good memories. Life is about good memories - they see you through the bad times. Possessions and even our own bodies are just transient items that our modern world place too much emphasis on. Coldplay have brought me so many great times, and meeting others who love their music as much as I do too has brought me even more. I believe - or hope - that our souls will be the sum of our memories, and that like emphera, their music will live on. My good memories will live forever. Thankyou Coldplay. Thankyou Coldplaying.
[Long Live Life]
Hi everyone, now that i have calmed down a bit from yesterday i thought i would post my comment on totp- myself and my friend arrived pretty late i must say like 12.30! and i woz so shocked we were able to get in and sooo happy we did! That was by far the best experience of my life, bein so close to the boys, and like others have mentioned it was a great atmosphere and seemed very personal to us all, i was standin at the back to the side a little, i kept lookin around to try spot them and was gobsmacked when i turned round and chris was standin there!! it felt like bein at a party and they were just everyday people there with us! I saw a few of the coldplayers who were on the boat includin kris, i was the histerical one at the end if any of u saw me lol! chris was very entertainin as always. The ultimate highlite for me was as they were leavin they walked past me and i caught will's attention and extended my hand which he accepted and then as chris walked past i could not help myself and reached for his hand, which i held on to as he walked on!! and oh wow just brilliant! i shall not forget this day my god he is soooo handsome so for my first encounter up close wiv the lads this was the best i could hope for!! Hello 2 everyone who was there, shame i didn't get to spk to you all
[yellowlover]
It has been two days already since the best day ever of my life with Coldplay ...but I am still buzzing, as I'm sure all of you probably are, and wanted to absolutely agree with everyone on what an amazing, legendary day it was indeed!
I must say well-done to everyone for braving the unforgiving cold weather outside! Sounds crazy but I actually was the first to arrive at 5.30am...having learned a lesson from the last time I attempted to make it to a free Coldplay gig in NYC when they were performing at the Today Show. I arrived for that concert at 4am and the queue was circling around the entire city block at that hour!...so I thought I'd make the extra effort this time around and arrive super-early...also because I knew I wouldn't be able to see any of the band/stage unless I was at the front of the crowd at the TOTP studio given I'm quite a short little lady
But sadly I got pushed back to number 59 ;(...as I had gone to the nearest open cafe I could find due to the excruciatingly cold weather...at that hour, you literally couldn't stand for more than a mere few minutes outside without losing all sensation in your extremities. This tiny cafe didn't have any heating but was the best I could do at this time to try and feel my toes again ;P And I had to wait for Westfield to open to use the restroom...so by the time I made my way back to the Beeb, the queue had already long been forming ;( But all of it was absolutely well worth the wait!...I was quite close to the stage but needed to stretch and stand as tall as I could when we got inside the studio ;P...to see the boys. I still simply cannot believe that we were in SUCH an intimate setting...with Chris, Jonny, Will, Guy, Phil...all just standing right there on the side,...within a mere few feet from us ready to get on the stage!
All of them looked absolutely dapper in their smart, grey and black suit attire from the video. The vintage stage setting with the pretty lanterns and christmasy lights strung across the top of the stage and that purplish-vintage piano, and mustn't forget the three Elvises ...all carried the vibe of the video set. It was SO nice to hear Chris say that it's great to play in front of people again as they've been stuck in the studio for so long they forget that there are people out there...perhaps they've missed us just as much as we've all missed hearing and seeing them as well! They seemed quite jolly...I didn't really get to see Guy and Will at they were out of my line of sight but Jonny was certainly his very warm shy smiley self and Chris gave us his usual clever, charmingly funny remarks and even flashed a jokingly posey and devilishly handsome smile at I think someone trying to take a picture from the crowd I assumed from my view...at which point everyone, even the boys in the crowd, went a bit crazy...seeing this not-so-usual cute side of Chris
Then the lovely Miss Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates came on stage to do their link bit of the show and asked the band their thoughts on this year's X-factor. When Chris said the band all thought Gamu was brilliant, there was a funny bit of silence from the crowd ;P. Then Chris remarked: "Look at that, I killed it [the vibe] with that comment. Ok fine then...its 'One Direction' (he said reluctantly with slight roll of his eyes ;P) But Guy did say Rebecca was pretty great which the crowd seemed to agree with.
When the song recording got started, hearing Chris sing live and get the crowd going was brilliant. When he heard us practice our 'woa~uh-oh' bit of the song,...he said: 'That was f***ing lovely' And loved it each time we did it during the recording as well. He even adoringly said we were doing a second take of the recording because we the crowd were "too good" and making the band look bad But singing the song with the band and the intimate crowd of 300 in this tiny room was simply incredible. I really think nothing pleases and flatters certainly Chris and the rest of the band more than a big sing along from the fans,...who knew all of the lyrics already as well! I even heard some harmonising from people who were behind me..so well-done indeed
After three or four takes, it was sad indeed to see the boys leave the stage so soon of course...and all of us couldn't keep our eyes off of them as they stepped off and walked just past the crowd and those lucky sideliner fans who got a last handshake or smile or two or maybe more ;P before the band completely disappeared from our sight. Will was kind enough to throw his drumsticks to the crowd, well-done to the one who got it at the front...we're all jealous! I'm even more jealous of the person who got Chris' flower apparently...which I didn't actually witness...but whoever you are, lucky lucky you indeed! I was so mesmerised by the whole experience...believing this was the only time I would probably ever be this close to the band ever again and will carry this memory forever...but fingers-crossed I'll get to have an upclose encounter someday in the future and tell them how inspirational they are in so many ways to so many people. I love living in London because of Coldplay...sharing the same environment and witnessing the same influences around us that shape who they are.
I was so honoured to have been a part of the legendary TOTP show which I'd heard about even when I was in America and seen Coldplay perform on it in previous episodes. It was so great to be inside the legendary BBC television centre as well...and to have stepped foot also outside where Coldplay did their outdoor Viva concert in 2008 (I think it was) as well!...so many lovely associations with this place and this one will probably top them all.
Our biggest and warmest cheers to Chris, Guy, Jonny, Will and TOTP for giving us this unforgettable experience...the best Christmas gift ever!
We are all absolutely so very excited and eager to see you guys again very soon!!
- For those of you still in the room,...cheers for patiently reading my long-winded review til its end
[Lovers in NYC]
Media Reviews/Setlist/Tweets
Can be found on the additional page for this session 8 December 2010: Filming for Christmas Top of the Pops, BBC TV Centre, London, UK
