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reviews:
SF Bimbo's Review (Alice in
Winterland)
i know i'm a little late writing this, but better late
than never. anyway last night's gig was extremely cool. it had that
sort of informal, block-party vibe...chris even joked about performing
to all 25 of us! he mentioned the "jazz" thing a couple of
times and he mentioned something about "san francisco" being
a "cool city" - THAT'S RIGHT!!!!
chris introduced the band, jazz style - jonny "the fingers"
buckland; "duke ellington" will champion (something along
those lines); and guy "the big hair" berryman. oh guy...so
good looking...the beard, the hair, the face!
the band appeared very happy on stage. looked like they were having
fun. i didn't get there on time to catch the support act, frou frou,
and i'm sort of disappointed because i heard that the singer kicked
ass. i managed to see her in the lobby after the show, but there was
a long ass line to meet her. i didn't bother, but maybe i should have.
she looked fucking cool...her hat caught my attention. anyway, i'm so
tired, i don't think that anything i'm typing right now is making any
sense. be rest assured that coldplay are still very humble and friendly
to their fans. oh...and they performed "warning sign" last
night! chris said something about testing "warning sign" -
if we liked it, then maybe everyone else would...the crowd fuckin loved
it!
"warning sign", an acoustic-chris-only-with-no-microphone
"green eyes" which captivated EVERYONE (you wouldn't believe
how quiet it became in the venue), and "clocks", which kicked
butt as usual, were my favorites of the evening. chris snuck in "have
yourself a merry, little christmas" during "in my place"...and
i'm very tired right now. this isn't my best write-up, i know, but i
need some sleep.
peace to everyone reading and to everyone around the world. happy holidays
and don't drink and drive. we love coldplay and coldplay loves san francisco.
Klee:
I hate to be the bad guy, but I have a completely different take on
the Bimbo's show last night. Although they are my favorite band ever
and I still think they are incredible, I was very disappointed. The
engineering was messed up and consequently everything was off-key. Except
for Politik and Green Eyes (amazing and worth the whole trip) the sound
was off--and they knew it. Couldn't anyone else tell that they were
pissed off!?! I was in the very front and saw the playlist...they didn't
even finish it as they had planned. I felt sick for them, because I
could tell they were tired and just wanted to be done with it. Chris
tried to joke about it, but I believe they were not happy at all and
couldn't wait to be done with it. I could be wrong, but from where I
was standing that's what I heard and saw. It was great to be so close
to them, but I really didn't feel the love, at least not like past shows.
Please know that I am not blaming the band...I think they tried to make
the best of it. I look forward to the next show because I know what
magic they normally create on stage. Last night was just painful...
I am not complaining...just stating the facts as I
see them. The thing is, I am not bashing on the band, but rather what
the band had to put up with. And the fact that the audience was so small
makes it even worse because I was anticipating a very special performance...even
better than their performance in Berkeley, which is hands down the best
show I have ever seen. So, sorry if I have offended anyone with my comments.
I was very grateful to be one of the few that got to go...I just wish
they had had a better time playing for us. I got the feeling they didn't
and it made me a bit sad...
Not to keep this going too long, but I don't think
Coldplay had a bad attitude or were too tired to give a good show. I
think it started breaking down after Politik when Chris' guitar was
messed up and they continued to have problems with the equipment. I
think they were prepared to get up there and give a great performance,
despite the fact that they were tired (probably because they were shuttled
all over creation beforehand). They played hard and did the best they
could despite the circumstances. I look forward to seeing them again
as soon as possible...
sandage:
You are definitely not the bad guy...I am so glad you
brought this up. I too felt the lack of love. I actually just asked
Debs about the negative vibes...Chris was very pissed off and the rest
of the band did not seem too keen on playing. It was still great to
see them there. But I was disappointed.
And Chris referred to San Francisco as the cool city in reference to
him getting pissed at the people shouting things out and he wanted them
to chill out because, "I thought San Francisco was the cool city."
And not to keep ragging on the event, but what is up with Coldplay fans??
I was surrounded by a bunch of rude, rude girls huddling around Chris.
All in all, Green Eyes and seeing Chris rock out to God Put a Smile
Upon Your Face made up for the rest
blank_dog:
My take was that they were tired too. But I think that the equipment
problems were starting to annoy Chris. Several times his guitar was
causing problems, and they changed the setlist when they went straight
to Trouble when Chris's guitar was DOA. Then later he seemed annoyed
at the roadie for the levels being too high on the guitar amp.
I was also at the show in August there and I thought that the overall
sound was better this time. I did notice that they had their own mixing
desk this time. In August I think that they used Bimbo's desk.
Overall, I think that the energy wasn't as good as August, but I still
loved the show. How can you complain at seeing them in a crowd of 550,
when they are now playing 25000 seaters in the UK !!
Also, Chris made a few references to Alice recording the event. Anyone
know when / if they will broadcast it ??
shannon_thorne:
Chris definitely seemed exhausted - a few times he seemed to take deep
breaths and mouth words without singing them, and he was sweating like
mad. I was about 15 feet away and thought they sounded great - probably
because I just couldn't believe I was seeing the absolute best band
in the world in such a small venue. Given that he was so tired I thought
Chris was a real sport and did what he could to put on a great show
- I don't think they were paid for the event which may be why they were
a bit crabby about the whole thing...the women in front were totally
obnoxious and horrible.
I thought it was sweet when he told the woman who wanted to kiss him
that he "can't give out kisses because he's taken."
I think we were all truly lucky to have been there - we'll look back
at the moment when Chris sang Green Eyes without mikes as a highlight
of our lives. Not only is he a great lyricist but he has the ability
to make himself completely vulnerable and raw to the crowd. He is astonishingly
gifted (and so are the other bandmembers, don't get me wrong) but his
energy is something to behold.
moonmonster:
I agree with you completely, Klee.. Although I think it's impossible
for Coldplay to put on anything but a great show, I was still a bit
disappointed. I expected, as someone else said, everything of the Greek
show (best show ever) and more, especially being in such an intimate
venue.. but I did get the pissed off vibe. I thought it was just me
too but the sound was definitely off key for many of the songs.. and
I thought Chris was a bit pissed because of some jerks behind me who
yelled something stupid like "Play a fucking song!" while
he was pausing between songs. personally, I think his stalling between
songs are among the best parts... I'd go just to see Chris talk.
But it definitely felt as if they were tired and kinda wanted to get
it over with... a lot different from the Berkeley show where I felt
a lot more positive energy and felt as if the band was at awe of the
crowd... I loved when Chris took a photo of the audience at the end
of that show. Despite all this seeming griping though, it was still
an excellent show... Chris puts in so much effort and its so clear...
from the amount of sweat pouring off him and all his jumping around...
btw, I got one of his used sweaty towels from the stage =). I wouldn't
haev missed that show for the world... and that acoustic, no mics, Green
Eyes was beautiful.
Beautiful fucking music...
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recording hasn't
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