When we went to the Coldplay concert last night at the Stade de France, we knew we’d have a great time. We had no idea that the performance would be so beautiful, both musically and visually.
For their first appearance at this legendary venue, the concert was sold out. 80,000 people gathered on Sunday evening to celebrate this English band, which needs no introduction. For fans who couldn’t make it, EMI’s record label had thought of everything: live-blogging on the Tumblr http://coldplay.tumblr.com/ to post videos, photos, gifs and quotes from the concert in (almost) real time. If you missed it, you can still find some “traces” of this digital animation there today.
Rumors of Rihanna’s guest appearance were confirmed the day before, when the star committed a “fail” on Twitter; telling her 25 million followers that she was taking the Eurostar to London and being surprised that a cheering crowd was waiting for her when she arrived at the Gare du Nord in Paris… would the 24-year-old singer naively doubt the power of social networks? In any case, she was on hand to perform “Princess of China” with Chris Martin, and even twice. A lovely duet, a true artistic complicity.
Say what you will about her sultry personality. Rihanna is bluffing! And as a bonus, she returned later with her hit “Umbrella”, accompanied only by Chris Martin on piano. The audience certainly wasn’t there for her, but she managed to touch us and get us to sing along to this successful vocal/instrumental version.
On arrival at the stadium, each spectator received two colorful bracelets, from the brand Xylobands. Apparently, Coldplay have a habit of using them (previously at Bercy and also in one of their videos, Charlie Brown, taken from their latest album Mylo Xyloto). Marked with the Twitter logo and the hashtag #COLDPLAYFILM, this reinforced the idea that the concert would be filmed, no doubt for the tour DVD. But the surprise came when the entire stadium was decked out in a thousand lights, with arms raised and illuminated in blue, pink, yellow, green and white, thanks to radio-controlled LEDs. When technology is put to the service of a show, it leaves you speechless, and it’s sublime!
Throughout the performances of their songs (“Us Against the World”, “Fix You”, “Clocks”, etc.), the magic worked. Beyond the music, which is damn good, and the band leader’s energetic stage performance, the audience’s participation via this device creates a rare symbiosis. It’s as if thousands of fans were sharing the moment and participating in the show in their own way. At the same time, they are intimately touched by the beauty of the sounds and the emotion that emanates from the singer-star’s delicately electric voice. The four musicians give, without fuss, to receive in return from their literally spellbound audience.
Before leaving us, the band covers their hit “Paradise” for the second time, recorded live for an American TV show dedicated to the fight against cancer, via the Stand Up To Cancer association. Naturally, the chills are overwhelming. While the bracelets are still glittering, you feel as if you’re all alone in the crowd. The stadium is transcended, and we sing along with Coldplay as if we were at home: we’re finally in a stadium. And it seems that Coldplay are one of the few bands with the ability to make the experience unique, by creating a closeness and warmth that are unlikely at first sight.
Between Twitter, Tumblr and connected bracelets, this could have been a show geared towards a rather virtual experience. On the contrary, it was real and generous, in the image of a committed band that’s not about to stop thrilling us. See you soon Coldplay, our Stadium and our hearts will always be open to you. And thanks to theOrange team, who made it possible for us to experience an exceptional event, among so many others to be found on their “Live” blog.
Jessica Gauzi
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