This was the one I had been waiting for! This was the one I had
been praying for! This was the gig of all gigs! The big daddy of them all, the
BEST BAND IN THE WORLD! I had sweated prefusely, I had chewed my nails down to
the muscle, I had worried myself into a stuper, because I had not seen Coldplay
for over two years! That's a long time, people! To long, too damn long!!! I
thought that (for some unknown reason, which I'm still trying to work out) that this
gig would be the only time that I would get to see Coldplay this year! So when
the tickets went on sale I applied straight away and was rewarded!
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSUUUUUUUULLLLLLTTT!!! June 27th 2005 will
go down in my diary as (probably) the defining moment of this year! I may have
missed Glastonbury, but Tonight this gig I saw in it's entirety! And holy shit
was it good!!!! To hear Coldplay on an album (any album) is amazing BUT to hear
them live in front of what 30,000+ people is something else! The whole crowd
erupted when the band came on! Then Mr Martin made his appearance and
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!! The whole place exploded!!! Jumping and leaping about like a
fire cracker, this was going to be some gig! And believe you me it was!!!!
On a very sunny afternoon in South London, in a very pristine venue Coldplay were set to start a nationwide tour covering many miles round the country. First stop Crystal Palace, the crowds gather in a sun drenched athletics stadium! Hundreds were pouring out of the train stations, all afternoon wave upon waves of bodies were flocking in. The sun shone brightly until about 8:15pm then the cool of the night came and the party really began. The supports bands were MORNING RUNNER and SUPERGRASS! Both whipped the crowd up into a jumping sea of bodies! From my vantage point it was quite a sight as the afternoon wore on the mass grew and grew and grew. I was situated in the Jubilee Stand, which was to the right of the stage! There' was lots of shade there, that's why I chose it. It was a hot day, and I didn't relish the though of standing in direct sunlight for what seems like hours. So to the stand it was, and a bottle of water in my hand!!
Sales figures for X&Y have been hard to come by, research has stalled and fall away. The only data that I could gather is that in the first week in Britain the album sold well over 100,000. In the States it had sold almost 750,000 copies. Since then information has been hard to come by! Though with the album going straight to number one in no less than 28 countries across the world, the sales figures should make pretty damn good reading!
Coldplay were there enigmatic selfs as always, having seen then play on TOTP and Later with...Jools Holland, you would expect nothing less than 100% from the band, and that's what they gave! One of the best things about the gig was that all the lighting effect was direct straight at the crowd infront of the stage, as I was to the right and out of range, it was quite a spectacle. The lighting was not over used, which have attending an number of gigs where the effects of lighting were over used, it was a subtle change and one that worked well! The set opened up with SQUARE ONE! A noise, banging and crashing start to a truly phenomenal set! The crowd who had a growd considerable during the afternoon packed the edge of the stage so thet there was a wall carpet of bobbing heads facing forward. YELLOW was played with te ususally eruption from the crowd, for the first few opening lines the crowd sang the lyrics instead of Sir Chris. Sir Chris had said that this was one of the most overwhelming gigs the band had every played. Maybe when YELLOW was played he seemed to take he's time, gather his thoughts and then join in. The band played a number of songs from X&Y, WHITE SHADOWS, X&Y, SPEED OF SOUND, SWALLOWED IN THE SEA, with a number from PARACHUTES and A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD. DON'T PANIC, WARNING SIGN, GOD PUT A SMILE UPON YOUR FACE, and EVERYTHING's NOT LOST. The band had hoped to have had a number one before the gig, but no mention was made to a slimy green amphibian who stolen Coldplay's thunder!!! Though Sir Chris and the band prophesized that hidden track on X&Y TIL KINGDOM COME would be there first number one. The song was originally written for Johnny Cash.
The encore comprised of IN MY PLACE and future single FIX YOU. The latter of these songs finished off the set, and wholly fuck was it good! AND I MEAN GOOD!!! It was the perfect song to end the perfect gig! Sir Chris had the crowd in the palm of his hand. A sea of hands holding lighters aloft was a sight to behold! The crowd sangs the chorus and the whole place felt the vibe it was ace!! The band of the moment were stealing te headlines for all the right reason. Not one song, not one word, not one moment that nite was disagreeable. It was sheer perfection from start to finish!!