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  1. I suppose I should review the Sunderland gig.

    A day already going badly — mainly due to terrible traffic, the strike on the metro and the time that went against us — got even worse as we approached Sunderland. As soon as we left the restaurant, there was this horrendous downpour. To get to the stadium, we parked at my brother's friends house and had to get a bus.

    We reached the Stadium of Light at about 8.15 — an hour before Coldplay were scheduled to come on stage. We got to Gate B and had the 'GA' wristband put round our arms, yet there was none of the Mylo Xyloto flashing wristbands. Apparently, they had "ran out of wristbands", much to my disappointment. Therefore, I'm probably going to have to buy one of eBay. We had a ticket for unreserved seating, so we decided to sit. I wasn't really bothered either way. With the day getting worse, and the weather deteroriating, we both wondered if anything else wouldn't go our way. I thought there was going to be something else. A lot of the roadie's looked as if they weren't really doing anything, which lead me to think that the concert was going to be cancelled.
    Robyn left the stage as a pretty disappointing support act, even though I only saw half of her set. She was soaked to the bone, so I was wondering how wet Coldplay were going to get by doing a 100-minute set. Eventually they started to set-up with every single light movement and instrument sound lighting up the crowd with a massive cheer. I sat getting drenched as I only had insufficient clothing on for a torrential downpour. As it approached 9.15, there was no Coldplay, and there wasn't for another 10 minutes.

    The house lights went down and the Back to the Future theme tune belted out as the crowd went insane. Coldplay came on stage full of energy and, for a rainy night, looking extremely happy. They belted out 'Hurts Like Heaven' with fireworks, lasers surrounding the stadium, and various other things to do with Coldplay's almost radical stage design. What was funny about the start of the gig was that a lot of people were sitting down for 'Hurts Like Heaven', but stood up once 'In My Place' started. Obviously people weren't familiar with the Mylo Xyloto songs. I remember being extremely ecstatic when 'Lovers In Japan' came on, but it was a shame that not a lot of people were singing along to it. 'Yellow' had a piano intro, which I wasn't particularly fond of as I prefer the band to just get right into it. But that version of 'God Put A Smile Upon Your Face' is just sublime. You would never expect a crowd to go that mental at a Coldplay gig. The energy in that version is off the chains! It actually reminds me of the version of 'Gone' on the Elevation Boston DVD.

    Coldplay went onto the B-stage and performed, in my opinion, a great version of 'Princess of China'. I never thought it would work well, but Coldplay made it brilliant. It shows Coldplay's outstanding work as a live band. It was also really nice to hear 'Warning Sign' — a song that not many people know, so the crowd were pretty quiet.

    Back to the main stage and 'Don't Let It Break Your Heart' was played. I wasn't a fan of the studio version at all; infact, I hated it and thought it was the worst song on the album. I don't think I'll stick with that judgment anymore as the live version was a massive improvement. 'Viva la Vida' followed with the crowd bursting out a magnificent singing along with everyone in the stands standing up to sing along with the song. 'Charlie Brown' went off a treat as did 'Paradise', which was really the only song from the new album that the entire crowd knew.

    As the band were playing 'Paradise', me and my brother noticed that the crew were setting up this mini stage, entitled the 'C-stage', pretty much in the middle of the stadium. The band came on stage by coming out of the Stadium of Light tunnel with security quarden off that area. We decided not to go down as it was still pissing down with rain and I was pretty sure that hypothermia was approaching; more for my brother actually as he was shaking through the entire show! A lot of people from the unreserved seating went down to the standing area to get near the band. The band hit out both 'Us Against The World' and 'Speed of Sound'. The short and stripped down version of 'Speed of Sound' was outstanding, as I'm not too fond of the studio version.

    The encore raised everybody upon their feet as songs such as 'Clocks' and 'Fix You' were played. The entire crowd sang 'Fix You' in harmony as the crowd raised their arms in the rain. To complete the show, of course, 'Even Teardrop' was played along with the high energy of the crowd. As soon as Coldplay went off stage, the general admission flooded out of the stadium to get to public transport (which was bloody horrific), taxis and to get home extremely quickly.

    We walked back in the pissing rain for 50 minutes and was soaked by the time I got back on the car. Heater on full blast.

    Overall, a disappointing night because of the rain but the performance cannot be faulted. I can see them going bankrupt in this tour eventually with all the stuff that they have.
  2. Originally posted by Ali709:[..]

    He's a big ASOH fan, he mentioned it in the little note he wrote about U2 in Rolling Stone too, he said it was the first song he sang for his newborn baby.



    Wow...didn't know about this! Really great!
  3. Originally posted by KieranU2:But that version of 'God Put A Smile Upon Your Face' is just sublime. You would never expect a crowd to go that mental at a Coldplay gig.
    THAT.


    The band aren't, either


    Thanks for your review, Kieran! Glad to hear you had a good time, besides the rain and the usual transport problems!


    And Dan, I hope you're having/just had a great show as well
  4. Graduated high school today... and as I left I blasted DLIBYH out of my car speakers. Drove by my best friend and yelled one month! (we are going July 9th) too excited for this show.
  5. My friend graduated too!!!

    Originally posted by LikeASong: (...) Tomorrow my GF has her big throw-our-hats-in-the-air party (graduation, or whatever it's called in English) and I (...)

    Posted yesterday
  6. haha tell her I said congrats. I also just talked to my dad, and he told me I'm going to two more in July as well. I'm going to Coldplay July 9th, Wilco July 19th, and the Gaslight Anthem on July 20th. Super Concert month right there!
  7. Not a single word in my entire musical knowledge about Gaslight Anthem, but seeing you have an excellent taste, I'm sure they'll be amazing

    And what can I say about Wilco?! wow Glad you're gonna have an amazing concert-July!

    Edit. I have 2 relaxed work hours before going to bed. Care recommending something from Gaslight? [/.offtopic]
  8. Originally posted by LikeASong:Not a single word in my entire musical knowledge about Gaslight Anthem, but seeing you have an excellent taste, I'm sure they'll be amazing

    And what can I say about Wilco?! wow Glad you're gonna have an amazing concert-July!

    Edit. I have 2 relaxed work hours before going to bed. Care recommending something from Gaslight? [/.offtopic]

    Sorry Sergio, I was out doing graduation things with my friends and family. They are regarded sometimes as the next Springsteen, being from Jersey and having played several times with him on stage. I like to think of them as a hybrid between Bruce and The Killers. Look into their album The 59 Sound, definitely their best work. Their new single 45 is looking promising for their next album, Handwritten, released on July 24th. Enjoy.
  9. Thanks for that, Andrew. I will check them out asap


    Going on topic again, me and my gf are now doing serious plans to see Coldplay again later this year. We're considering Poland and Germany (Leipzig or Frankfurt) in September. Poland has cheaper flights and tickets (golden ring at the same price than we paid for regular GAs here!), but Germany will be more special I think. Ahh the decissions!
  10. Two friends of mine made this "parody" of the Paradise video. It's pretty damn impressive what they've managed to do... That they've been let into an airport and everything.

    Also... this video would be good if you want to know what it looks like where I live.

  11. Originally posted by LikeASong:Not a single word in my entire musical knowledge about Gaslight Anthem, but seeing you have an excellent taste, I'm sure they'll be amazing

    And what can I say about Wilco?! wow Glad you're gonna have an amazing concert-July!

    Edit. I have 2 relaxed work hours before going to bed. Care recommending something from Gaslight? [/.offtopic]

    Dude you need to check out Gaslight. They're Springsteen for the new generation.

    Check your PMs.
  12. Thanks in advance
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.