Now I’m about as far from a big hip-hop fan as you can get, but even I love the music of probably the most influential and consistent rappers of all time. Swaggering on stage to the horns of his session band, Jay-Z kicks straight into ‘D.O.A (Death of Autotune) - the first single from his new album ‘The Blueprint 3.’
The Brooklyn born king of hip hop, dressed entirely in Rocawear clothing (his own clothing brand), patrols up and down the stage rolling out modern day rap classics like ‘99 Problems’, ‘Izzo’, ‘Public Service Announcement’ and ‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder.’
Taking this support slot must have been a tough decision for the Jigga man as Coldplay fans aren’t exactly renowned for their love of gangsta rap and songs like ‘Big Pimpin’’ don’t go down quite as well as they probably should. His current No.1 single ‘Run This Town’ makes for a good climax to the set, even without Rhianna and Kanye West’s input. He leaves the stage to probably not the loudest cheer he’s ever had, but does it really matter to an icon like Jay? With eleven number one albums and a half a billion dollar industry under his particularly low slung belt, probably not.
As the sun sets on the home of Scottish football The Blue Danube Waltz drifts through the stadium and the lights go out. The four members of Coldplay emerge with sparklers swinging around their heads. Immediately they start the set with the instrumental ‘Life In Technicolour’, the first song from the most recent album ‘Viva La Vida.’ The thudding beat of ‘Violet Hill’ really gets the crowd going for the first time and it is followed up by three back to back classics in ‘Clocks’, ‘In My Place’ and ‘Yellow’, at which point hundreds of, obviously, yellow balloons are bounced around the crowd. The little known ‘Glass of Water’, which was on the recent ‘Prospekt’s March E.P’, fits in well with such classics and I feel it may have been up there with them if it had made it onto Viva La Vida. The graphics on the huge screen behind the band are phenomenal, with a 3.D rollercoaster style trip through the planets in space, ending with a solitary picture of an eye.
Epic doesn’t do ‘Fix You’ justice. Its anthemic climax sees singer Chris Martin jumping and sprinting across the stage with his arms held outstretched. By the end of the song he is lying at the end of one of the extended arms of the stage looking into the clear sky and having the crowd sing the last few lines for him. The rest of the band then troop out to join him for a few songs, with the Phil Collins look-alike drummer using a drum machine and a keyboard for techno renditions of ‘Talk’ and ‘God Put a Smile on Your Face.’ Then the band leave Chris on his own with the keyboard and go for a breather as he shows off his excellently delicate piano playing skills. A beautifully intimate version of ‘The Hardest Part’ is followed by around a minute of tinkling away. The sole spotlight goes out but after a moment of silence and darkness you can make out Martin’s figure gesturing frantically back to the stage, clearly something’s gone wrong. “We’re very sorry,” he says into the microphone, “but we’ve just had the biggest technical f*ck up we’ve ever had! Let’s rewind a minute or so…” Another moment of tinkling piano and this time it’s followed by the correct amount of silence and darkness before the pounding kettle drum of “Viva La Vida” is blasted out from the caveman/Phil Collins look-alike. Chris Martin just about makes it back to his spot behind the microphone as the vocals kick in and the band play one of the best songs they’ve written since ‘Fix You.’ The haunting chants echo around the stadium for a good minute after the song is finished and it’s probably the loudest any crowd’s been since the last time Scotland scored at this sacred ground… whenever that was.
Jay-Z makes a quick appearance for his verse on ‘Lost+’ before leaving again as quickly as he came, probably to the delight of some of the older fans.
The lights go out and the band can be seen making their way off the side of the stage, followed by an isolated cheer as the people in certain sections realise that they’re standing just feet away as Coldplay run past to go to the small stage set up in the middle of the crowd. Once safely on the mini stage Phil Colli- I mean Will, the drummer takes control of the microphone and an acoustic guitar for a very campfire-esque song called ‘Death Will Never Conquer’ followed by a strangely catchy cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It.’
After about 5 minutes of battling through the crowd it’s back to serious music making time as the strobe light infused ‘Politik’ bursts into life. An encore of ‘The Scientist’ and the final song ‘Life in Technicolour ii’ (a version of the instrumental opener but with words) makes for an epic ending, with fireworks, confetti and all. “Epic” is a major theme for the Coldplay boys’ stadium shows, excellent choice of support act too.
Jay-Z's new album 'The Blueprint 3' is out now.
You can listen to an hour of Coldplay's set at Hampden on Radio 1 (www.bbc.co.uk/radio1)
The Brooklyn born king of hip hop, dressed entirely in Rocawear clothing (his own clothing brand), patrols up and down the stage rolling out modern day rap classics like ‘99 Problems’, ‘Izzo’, ‘Public Service Announcement’ and ‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder.’
Taking this support slot must have been a tough decision for the Jigga man as Coldplay fans aren’t exactly renowned for their love of gangsta rap and songs like ‘Big Pimpin’’ don’t go down quite as well as they probably should. His current No.1 single ‘Run This Town’ makes for a good climax to the set, even without Rhianna and Kanye West’s input. He leaves the stage to probably not the loudest cheer he’s ever had, but does it really matter to an icon like Jay? With eleven number one albums and a half a billion dollar industry under his particularly low slung belt, probably not.
As the sun sets on the home of Scottish football The Blue Danube Waltz drifts through the stadium and the lights go out. The four members of Coldplay emerge with sparklers swinging around their heads. Immediately they start the set with the instrumental ‘Life In Technicolour’, the first song from the most recent album ‘Viva La Vida.’ The thudding beat of ‘Violet Hill’ really gets the crowd going for the first time and it is followed up by three back to back classics in ‘Clocks’, ‘In My Place’ and ‘Yellow’, at which point hundreds of, obviously, yellow balloons are bounced around the crowd. The little known ‘Glass of Water’, which was on the recent ‘Prospekt’s March E.P’, fits in well with such classics and I feel it may have been up there with them if it had made it onto Viva La Vida. The graphics on the huge screen behind the band are phenomenal, with a 3.D rollercoaster style trip through the planets in space, ending with a solitary picture of an eye.
Epic doesn’t do ‘Fix You’ justice. Its anthemic climax sees singer Chris Martin jumping and sprinting across the stage with his arms held outstretched. By the end of the song he is lying at the end of one of the extended arms of the stage looking into the clear sky and having the crowd sing the last few lines for him. The rest of the band then troop out to join him for a few songs, with the Phil Collins look-alike drummer using a drum machine and a keyboard for techno renditions of ‘Talk’ and ‘God Put a Smile on Your Face.’ Then the band leave Chris on his own with the keyboard and go for a breather as he shows off his excellently delicate piano playing skills. A beautifully intimate version of ‘The Hardest Part’ is followed by around a minute of tinkling away. The sole spotlight goes out but after a moment of silence and darkness you can make out Martin’s figure gesturing frantically back to the stage, clearly something’s gone wrong. “We’re very sorry,” he says into the microphone, “but we’ve just had the biggest technical f*ck up we’ve ever had! Let’s rewind a minute or so…” Another moment of tinkling piano and this time it’s followed by the correct amount of silence and darkness before the pounding kettle drum of “Viva La Vida” is blasted out from the caveman/Phil Collins look-alike. Chris Martin just about makes it back to his spot behind the microphone as the vocals kick in and the band play one of the best songs they’ve written since ‘Fix You.’ The haunting chants echo around the stadium for a good minute after the song is finished and it’s probably the loudest any crowd’s been since the last time Scotland scored at this sacred ground… whenever that was.
Jay-Z makes a quick appearance for his verse on ‘Lost+’ before leaving again as quickly as he came, probably to the delight of some of the older fans.
The lights go out and the band can be seen making their way off the side of the stage, followed by an isolated cheer as the people in certain sections realise that they’re standing just feet away as Coldplay run past to go to the small stage set up in the middle of the crowd. Once safely on the mini stage Phil Colli- I mean Will, the drummer takes control of the microphone and an acoustic guitar for a very campfire-esque song called ‘Death Will Never Conquer’ followed by a strangely catchy cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It.’
After about 5 minutes of battling through the crowd it’s back to serious music making time as the strobe light infused ‘Politik’ bursts into life. An encore of ‘The Scientist’ and the final song ‘Life in Technicolour ii’ (a version of the instrumental opener but with words) makes for an epic ending, with fireworks, confetti and all. “Epic” is a major theme for the Coldplay boys’ stadium shows, excellent choice of support act too.
Jay-Z's new album 'The Blueprint 3' is out now.
You can listen to an hour of Coldplay's set at Hampden on Radio 1 (www.bbc.co.uk/radio1)
Good work my child. xxx
ReplyDeleteCalum.
Thanks for the gig review. Much appreciated. Chris M.
ReplyDeleteJust found time to read this!
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed it :) xxx