Third date of the stadium tour that begun one
week ago in Porto, the Mylo Xyloto Tour 2012 of Coldplay stopped in Nice on
Tuesday. The band had not play on the French Riviera since their concert at the
Dome of Marseille in 2005, in other words they were well expected there !
It was very rainy the days before the concert
so we were pretty afraid. Supernaturally, the sun finally appeared at the end
of the afternoon ! Thus it’s in the heat that the circular Stadium Charles
Ehrmann began to fill around 5pm.
First, two girls opened up the game. The English
Rita Ora and Marina and The Diamonds. Besides Marina will also be the opening
act for Coldplay’s concert at Paris Stade de France on September 2nd. The
basses were saturating for Rita Ora's sound, in the continuity of LMFAO if I
can allow myself the comparison. On the other hand, Marina was more pleasant to
listen to, even if the public began to be languishing. It is necessary to say
that it was already late and that the wait began to make long.
Once at
night, the lights of the stadium went out. Back To The Future theme announcing
the arrival of the band then began and the big screens ignited one by one. Fireworks
irradiate the sky and the first notes of Mylo
Xyloto reasoned. The magic operated at once with the illumination of all
Xylobands (wristbands given to the public) !
Chris,
Jonny, Will and Guy then arrived on stage under a triumphing welcome by the crowd.
The beginning of the concert was very rich because immediately when Hurts Like
Heaven ended, the band went on with In My
place, Major Minus and Lovers In Japan where thousands of
confetti invaded the sky and balloons spun among the public. In My place ended on the cross in the
center of the stadium, Chris Martin on the ground with Jonny by his side.
The Scientist quickly arrived in the setlist and it allowed
the stadium Charles Ehrmann to sing along with the band. Moreover, I have to
say that the crowd sang in accord throughout the concert ! The atmosphere was
joyful and warm and the band seemed delighted to be in Nice. As usual Chris
Martin exchanged some words in French with us to introduce the concert and to
make sure that the entire stadium was spending a pleasant evening. They played
songs stemming from each of their album with a majority of titles stemming from
Mylo Xyloto and A Rush Of Blood To The Head.
We had a
new arrangement at the piano for the beginning of Yellow, which enthused everybody.
It plunged the stadium into yellow and a state of ultimate enjoyment !
The electrifying
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
literally set fire and ended with Chris Martin throwing his guitar in the air !
The band
then moved along to go to the center of the attentions. There we had Princess Of China, which, during the
previous tour had been pushed aside from the setlist. Meanwhile the unpublished
clip of this featuring with Rihanna was spread broadcasted on big screens,
letting appear the singer dressed up with an Asian outfit. Splendidly
interpreted, Warning Sign, delighted the fans from the very beginning.
The band
returned on the main stage for a quartet of successes! First, Don’t Let It Break Your Heart on which bracelets
flared up again with a crazy Chris Martin who was running in all directions.
Then Viva La Vida, which enchanted
everybody. The entire stadium was jumping and singing in accord "Oooooh
Oooooh" ! Next, Charlie Brown,
the third single of the band continued to delight the crowd. Useless to say
that this song is very energetic and it was accompanied with the illumination
of Xylobands what contributed to an outburst of joy. Finally, Paradise ended to transport the public
and the band left the stage under big applauses.
Their hasty
departure plunged the stadium into the dark and it is in astonishment that we
discovered Chris, Jonny, Will and Guy on a mini stage near the seated sections.
Previously Chris Martin had announced " People in the back, don’t worry we
are coming to see you", it thus gratified the spectators of the bottom of
the stadium who were able to see the band closely. There they interpreted two
acoustic titles: Us Against The World and Speed Of Sound.
After a
walkabout the group returned by running on the central stage to interpret Clocks. For the occasion a set of green
lasers propagated in the air. Afterward the stadium was plunged into emotions
for the very last time with Fix You,
Chris Martin inviting the public to sing along with him for an ultimate moment
of communion.
Finally,
it is with Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
that Coldplay closed the show. Xylobands then glowed in the dark one last time
for everybody’s happiness. Under an ovation the band thanked for a long time
the crowd and bowed out. To mark the occasion Chris Martin even kissed stage.
The show
lasted a little more than 1h30 in an atmosphere which never fell ! Coldplay set
fire to the stadium and delighted the 45 000 spectators who came to see them by
sharing energy and generosity. The numerous stage effects and surprises organized
by the band made of this concert a real interactive show. Xylobands, confetti,
fireworks, multiple stages, big balloons, Coldplay did not do things half
measure for this stadium tour !
My vision
of this concert can seem idealistic. It’s because except a long wait and the
presence of the cameramen preventing me sometimes from seeing Chris Martin, I
spent an excellent evening ! I was afraid that the sound might be bad given to
the architecture of the stage stadium but the quality at the rendezvous (at
least from where I was). I’ve been lucky enough to obtain the setlist of the show,
I let you discover it in its entirety:
The French
newspaper Nice Matin dated Wednesday, May 23rd dedicated 4 pages to the
concert. You can discover them here:
Finally, you can have access to my best pictures on Photobucket:
Here !
