[1-May-2012] Coldplay @ Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA, USA

[LFDianne]

Here are some of my pictures. Like I said in another post, the show was visually stunning, the sound was awesome and the boys were on fire. A different perspective was good for me, I was able to see everything this time. C-stage was right behind us, at the end of our section in J-1, so those of you going Wednesday or Friday, might want to casually make your way over to that section, if you can, after Paradise.

Setlist was the same, I am loving the new intro to Yellow.

I can't wait to see the show again tonight, from better seats, too.

I ran into Imelda, and she said she saw someone get upgraded to first row, so great the band and their staff do that.

In one of the bad photos, Chris is shaking the hand of a fan wearing the full elephant costume. LOL

The pit was HUGE, much larger than I as expecting. There were a lot of seats, but it looked like they packed in a lot more people than there were seats.

It was chilly, bring a blanket, we were cold before the show started.

We parked at the lot on the corner of Hollywood and Highland, where the big shopping structure and Kodak theater is. Parking is a max of $10. You can pay the $4 round trip for the shuttle bus, but we just walked, a little more than 1/2 mile, easy walk up Highland. Parking around the venue ranged from $20-35, and a lot of lots were stack parked. There was a church on the corner of Highland and something that was charging $25, but not stack parking and the proceeds would go to the church. We got there pretty early, so the crowds weren't bad, but walked around a bit during Metronomy - not our favorite opener - and outside was packed...food was decent and if you are in a Terrace or Garden box, they have cocktail service to your box.

We had a wonderful time, and can't wait to go back tonight.

Spoiler

Non-zoomed view from our seats in Terrace Boxes.


View behind us. The Bowl is HUGE.

__________________

Dianne

08/20/05 Irvine 2/06/06 Anaheim 7/14/08 Inglewood 11/25/08 Anaheim 7/18/09 Carson 07/19/09 Irvine 8/3/11 UCLA 9/15/11 Austin City Limits Taping
9/16/11 Austin City Limits Festival 10/17/11 the ellen show taping 10/18/11 KROQ studio, LA 2/8/12 Club Nokia 2/9/12 Jimmy Kimmel 4/28/12 San Jose
5/1/12 Hollywood Bowl 5/2/12 Hollywood Bow 5/3/12 American Idol Taping 5/4/12 Hollywood Bowl 5/5/12 KROQ Weenie Roast 6/28/12 Tampa 6/29/12 Miami
12/30/12 BROOKLYN, NY!!!

[LFDianne]

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Originally Posted by nothing99;5289595
anybody drive there? how was the parking situation? is it bad

im going on friday

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We got there early and parked at the lot at HOllywood and Highland. $10, and walked to the venue, about 1/2 mile. Parking around the venue was plentiful, but ranged in price from $20-35, lots of stacked parking and then getting out of that area looked to be pretty bad.

[LFDianne]

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Originally Posted by Tash;5289612


































































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Wow, awesome pictures...guess that's what you can do with a photo pass and a professional camera...

[Tash]

GPASUYF

You Tube

[jeremyy]

great photos Dianne How many coldplay concert did you go???!? you're posting photos &comments almost all concert threads

[Tash]

Coldplay - Hollywood Bowl - 5/1/12



Coldplay
May 1, 2012
Hollywood Bowl

Coldplay's first of three nights at the Hollywood Bowl kicked off in a most impressive fashion. Eighteen thousand rabid Coldplay fans soaked up every note as the band held the audience in the palm of their hand from the beginning notes of "Mylo Xyloto" till the very end.

Lasers, confetti, fireworks and illuminated neon wristbands were some of the extras that enriched the overall concert experience, but Coldplay's songs and musicianship were still the centerpiece. The descending guitar riff of "Hurts Like Heaven" immediately provoked the audience out of their seats as a sea of illuminated wristbands rapidly blinked alternating colors.

Chris Martin sprinted down the catwalk and leapt into the air as a spray of confetti launched into the front rows of the audience as "In My Place" triggered one of the first of many crowd sing-alongs of the evening. Grabbing his acoustic guitar, Martin dealt out the percussive riff of "Major Minus" as Jonny Buckland was surgically navigating the fretboard of his Fender guitar.

The shoegaze guitars of "Lovers in Japan" meshed with a bouncing piano riff make it one of my favorites from Viva La Vida Or Death And His Friends and was performed flawlessly. Couples clutched each other during the piano-driven "The Scientist." Martin was excited and let his enthusiasm spill over into the performance as he asked the for the lights to illuminate the massive audience during "Yellow."

Frequently altering the lyrics to make each show city-specific, Martin incorporated the line of "took my love to the Hollywood Bowl" during "Violet Hill." An alternate electric guitar riff for "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face" melted into Will Champion's muscular drumming that ended with Martin tossing his guitar high into the air.

Buckland used an E-bow for the creamy sustained guitar notes of "Princess of China" as Rihanna appeared on video screens, thankfully not in hologram form. The pace slowed momentarily for the ballads of "Up In Flames" and "Warning Sign" but quickly returned to a sprint with "Don't Let It Break Your Heart" and a massive performance of "Viva La Vida."

Coldplay later rushed out past the promenade to play in the middle of the Hollywood Bowl during "Us Against The World" to connect with their fans. The double piano shot of "Clocks" and "Fix You" perfectly led into the uplifting closer of "Every Teardrop is A Waterfall" as fireworks sprayed above the Bowl. Don't miss your chance to see them at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday and Friday or this Saturday at the KROQ Weenie Roast.

In the opening band department, Metronomy utilized synthesizers and catchy tunes that engaged a fair amount of audience members. The Pierces left a memorable impression with their juicy vocal harmonies and wispy tunes.

Critical Bias: I have a Coldplay track jacket.

The Crowd: 18,000 and Robert Downey Jr.

Overheard in the Crowd: "This is amazing!" by multiple people.

Random Notebook Dump: Cuba Gooding Jr. took pictures with the paparazzi when he walked into the show. What a genuinely nice guy!

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[nothing99]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LFDianne;5289626
We got there early and parked at the lot at HOllywood and Highland. $10, and walked to the venue, about 1/2 mile. Parking around the venue was plentiful, but ranged in price from $20-35, lots of stacked parking and then getting out of that area looked to be pretty bad.

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thanks dianne ill try to look for parking where you parked but dont know if ill find any, my friend cant seem to get out of work early so ill probably be barely arriving between 7 and 8

[coldplayluv]

For anyone who was there last night in a garden box, did it feel like you were pretty close to the stage? I am in a garden box for Friday night but now I am kind of kicking myself for not buying a pool circle ticket.

[LFDianne]

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Originally Posted by jeremyy;5289631
great photos Dianne How many coldplay concert did you go???!? you're posting photos &comments almost all concert threads

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Haha. Jeremy. I went to San Jose on Saturday, May 1 and 2 at the Hollywood Bowl, and I'm going to the Weenie Roast this Saturday. Then I'm done until Tampa in June...

[JackColdplay]

What a weird venue, not one I'd particularly like to go, doesn't seem much of an atmosphere/crowd interaction probably due to how spread out and far out people are. And the seats! Very strange

[blueberry426]

Pictures look amazing! Can't wait to be there this Friday!!!

[the_escapist]

the pictures are unbelievable! can't wait for my time!

[m@r@]

Oh wow great pictures, everyone !!!

And lucky you !!! I hope you all enjoy the concert on Friday !!

[l0wxo2]

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Originally Posted by Tash;5289612

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It looks like Chris is about the kiss the stage in this one

[Tash]

Review: Coldplay goes big at the Hollywood Bowl



At the start of “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall,” the last song Coldplay performed at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday night, the band flicked on halos of lasers, cued a four-on-the-floor drum beat and sang about how it wanted to “turn the music up, I got my records on / I shut the world outside until the lights come on.”

For an act that crankier critics accuse of playing middlebrow post-indie-rock for Apple adverts, this was awfully ravey. The London quartet, one of the biggest bands to emerge in the 2000s, is certainly grounded in earnest guitar-and-piano emoting (with the good taste and huge budgets that afford Brian Eno as a producer).

But that move implies that it sees the rise of dance-music culture as a stakes-raising challenge (or maybe a threat to its livelihood). Tuesday’s show, the first of a three-night Bowl stand this week, proved why Coldplay is the last stadium-sized rock band left standing in contemporary pop -- a feat perhaps unrepeatable for future rockers in a laptop era.

Perhaps the one thing that sticks in craws about Coldplay is that its four sweet-tempered goofballs, who simultaneously want to play the most flagrantly moving rock music conceivable. Gawky dudes like singer Chris Martin, a “Colbert Report” fan who rolls around on stage floors mocking his own falsetto, can't possibly be serious when he calls a song “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall,” right?

Well, the music had better make us believe it. And that, more than celebrity marriages (Martin’s other half is Gwyneth Paltrow) or bucktoothed love ballads, is why the band is so enormous.

At the Bowl show, drummer Will Champion and pedal-slinging guitarist Jonny Buckland gave necessary ballast to Martin's skilled but sometimes overeager songwriting. Newer tracks such as “Don't Let It Break Your Heart” (from the band's latest, inscrutably titled “Mylo Xyloto”) and older hits such as “Clocks” got their pulse-quickening rush from the classic virtues of all great rock bands: stay simple, but sound huge.

For all the ribbing about Martin’s dreamboat whispers and the anthemic hokum in Coldplay's lyrics (how does one “ignite your bones,” anyhow?), its arrangements are always tasteful and surprisingly minimal. Even on the orchestra-sampling “Viva La Vida,” the band never had to use a snare drum to seal the deal.

But the other thing that gets lost about Coldplay is that it’s also really good at being loud. “Charlie Brown,” stripped of its pitch-shifted samples, went straight for arena-ecstasy riffage. Even obvious pandering, such as the gang chorus of “Paradise,” worked because, well, these guys get paid insane sums of money for coming up with pleasure-center hits like that.

The band succumbed a little too often to the siren song of mid-tempo, though. Even when it dices up plodding tunes such as “Princess of China” with Rihanna video cameos and electronic patter, it still validates accusations of being cloying. But even at the band's most hateable -- the aforementioned bone-igniting ballad “Fix You” -- it's so skilled at sincerity that it would take a Jesuit-like level of self-control to not feel something.

At the encore, when Coldplay cued the audience's wrist-mounted light-blipping devices on “Teardrop,” Martin & Co. clearly planned for the song to hit like a nightclub destroyer. But when Martin sang about his records and keeping the world outside, there was a hint of Brian Wilson's teenage mooniness in the mix.

Any act that can do both of those things -- pair palms-out sentimentality with rigorous rocker craft -- will probably remain the world's last big band for a very long time.

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