2012 Oxfam tour Blog (oxfamontour.org/coldplay)

[Tash]

The GROW Method: Help fix the food system with every bite
Posted by Rosie Cowling on 18 July 2012



Signing up to the GROW campaign at Coldplay gigs, to find out how you can support small-scale farmers on 1.5 billion farms around the world is just one way you can help mend the food system.

There are also simple things you can do every day, to do your bit for the environment and tackle hunger that affects 1 in 7 people around the world. We’ve come up with some easy ways to help you be a thriving, supportive and sustainable part of that big thing we’re always going on about – ‘the food system’.

What exactly IS the food system?

Every decision you make in the supermarket and in the kitchen, from which bananas to buy, to where to store apples at home, has a big impact. Your choices when it comes to food may seem small and inconsequential, but they make you a part of the ‘global food system’.

The food system is the big names; the food companies, governments and organisations, but most of all it’s people. People that grow the food, but also all people that buy it and eat it. So that’s, well, everyone. When we talk about the food system, we’re talking about you.

The food system isn’t working. The result? Some rather scary statistics on obesity levels in developed countries (50% in some countries) coupled with the fact that 1 in 7 people elsewhere in the world go to bed hungry every night. Problems with the food system can affect every one of us, with rising food prices meaning millions of families are having to make changes to what goes into the shopping basket.

Small steps, big changes



How can we fix the food system? If the system is all of us, and the huge corporations are running the show, that’s a pretty daunting task, right? Well it doesn’t have to be.

We, as consumers, have a massive influence on the food system. The choices we continue to make ensure that things happen a certain way. Collectively, we have the power to change the system as it stands by making positive steps in our daily routines to demand better and ensure a positive future where everyone has enough to eat.

If we all start to make small changes to the way we buy and eat, to protect the natural resources we rely on and ensure support for the farmers doing the hard work, the current system that is failing us will be pushed out to be replaced by one that supports everyone.

Trust us, you’re pretty powerful. It was you who made campaigns like Make Trade Fair a global household name. And you can use that power again.

What if?



If you have ever made a choice when it comes to buying, storing or eating food, you are powerful. Don’t believe us? Just look at how big an impact your individual action can have:

What if: we swapped beef for beans once a week?

If urban households in the US, UK, Spain and Brazil were to swap beef for beans in their chilli once a week for a year, the greenhouse gas emissions saved would be equivalent to taking 3.7 million cars off the road.

What if: we kept apples in the fridge instead of the fruit basket?

Keeping apples in the fridge keeps them fresher for longer and can save 1 in 6 apples being sent to landfill in some countries, creating harmful greenhouse gases. The emissions created by the 5.3 billion apples a year wasted in Brazil, India, Spain, the Philippines, UK and US is equivalent to burning 10 million barrels of oil.

Find out more

Over the next few months we’re going to share with you some easy ways to feed your family and help to mend the broken food system; together we call them the GROW Method.

There may be broken links in the food chain but your buying power makes you a mighty and strong one. And we think everyone demands better. Check out our slideshow to find out more!

[Tash]

Europe we’re heading your way and I need your help in Stockholm and Copenhagen!
Posted by Rachel Edwards on 19 July 2012



So we might be on a tour break and heading back to Canada and America soon but Europe people I need your help!

As some of you might be aware the Coldplay tour is soon to hit Europe in August and Oxfam will be going with them. As part of the tour Coldplay have invited 20 volunteers to attend their gigs in Copenhagen and Stockholm to talk to Swedish and Dutch audiences about our GROW campaign. The GROW campaign is all about fixing the food system by rethinking the way we produce, consume and distribute food to ensure that no one goes hungry!

It’s a no brainer really.

Do you want to help us fix the food system and stop those 1 in 7 people going to bed hungry every night?

Are you passionate about spreading the word and asking people to join us in using their voice to stop social injustices?

Do you want to become more involved with Oxfam and support us in creating change by raising awareness with Coldplay fans?

Then you need to apply to volunteer at a Coldplay gig in Copenhagen or Stockholm!

All we ask is that you are fluent in English, passionate about making a difference and committed to achieving Oxfam’s aims of overcoming poverty and suffering. You need to be available from 3pm on the 28th August (Copenhagen) or 30th August (Stockholm). You will volunteer from 3pm – 9pm and in return for all your hard work Coldplay are rewarding you with a free ticket to their Mylo Xyloto tour! A fair swap I would say. So if you’re ready to make a difference and have loads of fun doing it, then apply by sending an email to Rachel (raedwards@oxfam.org.uk) explaining your suitability for the place, any experience of campaigning or working with an NGO and your passion to work with Oxfam. Please send your application in English. Please also note which gig you would like to apply for:

28th August Copenhagen

30th August Stockholm.

I can’t wait to hear from you all. Rachel.

[Tash]

:

Quote:

---

As part of the tour Coldplay have invited 20 volunteers to attend their gigs in Copenhagen and Stockholm to talk to Swedish and Dutch audiences about our GROW campaign.

---

[busybeeburns]

Ms Peach in Toronto

Hello, so I’m Oxfam Esme. The ‘fake Oxfam Rachel’ for a week, according to some of the Coldplay crew who are bit baffled by the temporary switch and the strange name.

I’m a Brit abroad like Rach, although a lot of Toronto Coldplay fans I’ve met so far say I sound Australian. So, er, G’day, Canada. Must be the over-consumption of Australian soaps aged 11, or something.

As a Peach, I take the GROW campaign very seriously. So seriously that the first thing I did when I hit the hot streets of Toronto this weekend was connect with my Peachy Ontario relatives at the city’s best markets and food emporiums.

I figured the best place to start would be St Lawrence Market in town. This incredible foodie mecca kicks off at 5am (yup, ouch) and offers up a smorgasbord of locally-grown, fair trade and seasonal produce, from Colombian coffee to Toronto tomatoes.

It’s a heavenly place for anyone in the city testing out Oxfam’s GROW Method – easy everyday ways you can make the food system fairer.

Spending the morning there, I shot the breeze with some organic Ontario peaches, had a cheeky gossip with a posse of Ontario plums, and from what I hear, this city seems to be pretty great at celebrating its local farmers and local produce.

Apparently there’s a whole wave of restaurants that pride themselves on focussing on what’s seasonal and buying from local small-scale farmers, and there’s even an initiative called Farmers Feed Cities that raises awareness of the value local farmers bring to a city. Restaurants, cafes, and shops that stock local produce often carry their stickers in the window. Have you seen them?



My peachy-keen buddies also gave me the down-low on Food Forward, a local non-profit that raises people’s voices in support of a better food system. They’re working with the public, politicians and those involved in the food sector to educate and advocate for food that is healthy, local, sustainable, ethically produced and accessible for all. So they’re definitely GROW-minded folk.

As a street-Peach, I especially love their Toronto Street Food Project, which is championing street food and trying to get Toronto to be as street-food friendly a city possible.

The Ontario peach and plum clan also clued me up about Canada’s legendary maple syrup. Something apparently we peaches love taking a dip in… So if you’ve got a family recipe for peaches and syrup, I’d love to hear it.

Think it’s about time this Peach really immersed herself in some Canadiana… Yum!

Read more about the GROW Method

http://oxfamontour.org/coldplay/ms-peach-in-toronto/

[wabbit]

Lighting up the Night

Guest blog by Kristi York Wooten, an activist who volunteered with Oxfam at the Atlanta show on July 2nd.


If you’ve been to a Coldplay gig recently, you experienced a feast of light and sound. You probably also received an LED wristband, which twinkled on your arm in time to “Charlie Brown” and other songs during the band’s set.

A lighting engineer controlled the multicolored flickers in the arena, and you got to take the bracelet home as a souvenir (or you recycled it at the venue). Pretty cool to look at, right? Yet, away from its radio controls, the light no longer works.

Those lucky enough to be chatted up by a human vegetable or have their photo snapped for the GROW wall also left the Coldplay show with a keepsake … a new kernel of knowledge about global hunger and the importance of supporting sustainable farming. A few days have passed – that little Oxfam pamphlet’s been thrown away, and a pin that says “GROW” is sitting on your bureau next to that defunct armband.
Now what?

Let’s go back to the arena for a moment.

What if everyone at the concert received the wristband … but only yours lit up? Would you feel self-conscious or empowered? What if you could light up the bracelet of the person next to you – or light your whole row, your whole section? What if you could light up every wrist in the whole arena?

That’s what it means to be an activist – and for me, that’s what it felt like to talk to Coldplay fans about Oxfam’s work in Atlanta on July 2nd. Oxfam volunteers signed up nearly 600 people at Philips Arena. That’s enough to make a sparkle in a room of 17,000 people.

One thing that makes Coldplay such a great mouthpiece is that the guys are genuinely committed to taking care of our world and its inhabitants – and spreading the word about poverty-fighting organizations like Oxfam. They’re rock stars, which means they have political gumption and strong voices that ring out across the world. But they can’t light up the night on their own. That’s why they gave you the wristband. And that’s why they brought Oxfam on tour.

So before you toss that bracelet in the recycle bin, imagine that you can turn it on without the radio waves and the techie at the arena. And that little bit you learned about Oxfam – don’t be shy to share it on your blog, your Facebook, Twitter, etc. Wear your little green pin with pride.

It’s our turn to keep the spark going. As Chris Martin sings in “Charlie Brown,” “so we’ll soar, luminous and wired. We’ll all be glowing in the dark.”

Have you blogged about GROW or Oxfam on Tour? Share it with us in the comments and we’ll tweet it to the world.

Check us out on Pinterest: pinterest.com/oxfamontour and Instagram: @oxfamontour

[wabbit]

And it was all… yellow


Posted by Esme Peach on 01 August 2012

Yellow is my mum’s fave Coldplay song.

She tells me this every time I mention I’m on tour with Coldplay. So, in tribute to my mamacita, and because the song was playing on loop in my head throughout the tour, I thought we’d have a 24 hour Coldplay Yellow challenge on Twitter.

My challenge was photographing and tweeting everything yellow I saw, especially food. And the challenge to all our Twitter followers was to do the same.

A taste of my yellow photo diary is below or the full set is on Pinterest and also on Instagram (@oxfamontour) if you’re not already following us there.

Rach now thinks I’ve gone insane with colour obsession. And I think she may have a point. I am still seeing every street I walk down through a hazy yellow lens and humming…

Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And everything you do
Yeah, they were all yellow…

http://oxfamontour.org/coldplay/and-...ow/?show=slide

What’s your ma’s fave Coldplay song? You never know, we may launch a Twitter challenge in her honour too…

See yellow things and more from the tour on pinterest.com/oxfamontour
Follow us on Twitter: @oxfamontour

[busybeeburns]

Tipsy mums and Rock and Roll dads

Last night the band finished their set and ran to a smaller stage out in the audience to do a few songs. Behind the stage a couple started to kiss and the crowd went wild. That’s when I started to look around me and notice the vast range in Coldplay’s audience. They have the groupies up the front in homemade t-shirts and sneakers, the boys who stand and rock their heads and then there are the ‘others’. Ladies and Gents I would like to offer this blog as a tribute to all those tipsy mums and rock and roll dads in the Coldplay audience.

After much time spent on tour watching the band, I have developed a new way to view the gig, through the eyes of the audience. Now I spend much of my time watching people’s reactions and dancing to the songs whilst the band plays. I adore watching the escape that Coldplay creates for many. You know the story, all the kids are at your parents and you and your partner get a night out to let your hair down like you did before the school runs. I’m talking about the rock and roll dads and tipsy mums, I adore you! The dads all slamming your fists in the air and allowing Coldplay to take you into a trance like state where you can rock your head without your teenage son moaning! I enjoy even more watching the ‘tipsy mums’. You know the type. I’ve been one myself. Your partner buys you a ticket, you stand screaming lyrics to the songs into their face and dance around them with the help of a white wine or two. He stands smiling at key points when he knows he needs to, purely to keep you happy. The rest of the time they stand with a blank expression on their face, exchanging looks at the other blokes in the same position as them. Their eyes say it all;

‘Look what I have to take home in the car later!’

‘At least your missus isn’t screaming Guy’s name like she’s 16’

But I love it. Ladies letting it loose like they did to Bay City Rollers all those years ago. Even cracking out a mum two-step, knowing it’s been too long since you danced you forgot how to, or holding back because you feel past the age of jumping up and down and rocking out. I say let it all go. You are a delight to watch and I love watching you all!!

Tipsy mums and rock and roll dads you are an inspiration to us all and I can imagine a real driver in why a band would create beautiful songs for you to sing to in your pinot grigio haze. Keep us all happy and whatever you came from let it go, tonight is your night to be a tipsy mum and rock and roll dad, embrace it!











http://oxfamontour.org/coldplay/tips...dads/photo-53/

[Tash]

Coldplay crew become food rock stars!
Posted by Rachel Edwards on 07 August 2012

Today was the perfect day in my Oxfam world. After much time spent on the tour and thousands of people signing up from the audience it was the crew’s turn to sign up with Oxfam and get involved with our food costumes. It was a delight to hear that so many people in the crew wanted to get involved with Oxfam and it didn’t take much to get the boys into food costumes and let their inner rock star come out.

Thanks everyone in the Coldplay crew for joining in. Enjoy the pictures, I hope they make as happy as they make me!

[Tash]

Introducing the GROW method: Ways to Feed Your Family and Fix the Broken Food System
Posted by Rachel Edwards on 09 August 2012



Every decision you make in the supermarket and in the kitchen, from which bananas to buy, to where to store apples at home, has a big impact. Your choices when it comes to food may seem small and inconsequential, but they make you a part of the ‘global food system’.

We talk a lot about the food system in the GROW campaign. But what exactly is it and how are we part of it?

The food system is the big names; the food companies, governments and organisations, but most of all it’s people. People that grow the food, but also all people that buy it and eat it. So that’s, well, everyone. When we talk about the food system, we’re talking about you.

The food system isn’t working. The result? Some rather scary statistics on obesity levels in developed countries (50% in some countries) coupled with the fact that 1 in 7 people elsewhere in the world go to bed hungry every night. Problems with the food system can affect every one of us, with rising food prices meaning millions of families are having to make changes to what goes into the shopping basket.

Small steps, big changes

How can we fix the food system? If the system is all of us, and the huge corporations are running the show, that’s a pretty daunting task, right? Well it doesn’t have to be.

We, as consumers, have a massive influence on the food system. The choices we continue to make ensure that things happen a certain way. Collectively, we have the power to change the system as it stands by making positive steps in our daily routines to demand better and ensure a positive future where everyone has enough to eat.

If we all start to make small changes to the way we buy and eat, to protect the natural resources we rely on and ensure support for the farmers doing the hard work, the current system that is failing us will be pushed out to be replaced by one that supports everyone.

Trust us, you’re pretty powerful. It was you who made campaigns like Make Trade Fair a global household name. And you can use that power again.

What if?

If you have ever made a choice when it comes to buying, storing or eating food, you are powerful. Don’t believe us? Just look at how big an impact your individual action can have:

What If: we swapped beef for beans once a week?

If urban households in the US, UK, Spain and Brazil were to swap beef for beans in their chilli once a week for a year, the greenhouse gas emissions saved would be equivalent to taking 3.7 million cars off the road.

What if: we kept apples in the fridge instead of the fruit basket?

Keeping apples in the fridge keeps them fresher for longer and can save 1 in 6 apples being sent to landfill in some countries, creating harmful greenhouse gases. The emissions created by the 5.3 billion apples a year wasted in Brazil, India, Spain, the Philippines, UK and US is equivalent to burning 10 million barrels of oil.

Share your food stories

Stories about food, about how things grow and why we eat them, have become lost, because the way food is distributed makes it hard for us to think about the source. We want to revive the story of food. Over the next few months, we want you to share stories about how you cook and how you’re making a difference to the way your family thinks about the things they eat.

Food is what we all share. It’s something that brings us all together. And it’s an excellent place to start when it comes to building a better, fairer and more sustainable future. That’s why over the next few months we’re going to share with you some easy ways to feed your family and help to mend the broken food system; together we call them the GROW Method.

There may be broken links in the food chain but your buying power makes you a mighty and strong one. And we think everyone demands better.

[Tash]

Transformation at a Coldplay concert.
Posted by Rachel Edwards on 10 August 2012

Here is a guest Blog for a Oxfam volunteer Kelsey from Foods Resource Bank, an Oxfam grant receiving organisation. Here she provides an amazing insight that change can be big or small.

On Wednesday 8th August in Chicago, I went through a transformation and became a giant corn cob. Not only did I go out in public, but I went, to a COLDPLAY CONCERT, as a giant corn cob.

It sounds ridiculous but I had a lot of fun and even more importantly I discovered that even at something as big as a Coldplay concert at the United Center in Chicago, you find small transformations happening around food, farming, hunger and finding people who care about changing injustice around the world.

Officially I was there as a volunteer with Oxfam America to help promote their GROW campaign, and yes I admit I was lured by getting to see Coldplay perform. But I also had a less obvious reason to be there. During the day, when I am not volunteering as a corn cob impersonator, I work for an organization called Foods Resource Bank (FRB). FRB works to grow lasting solutions to hunger by connecting communities, churches and farmers in the US to small-holder farmers and their families around the world. Currently our volunteers in the US are supporting 57 agricultural development programs in 34 countries around the world.

This year FRB received a grant from Oxfam America to bring FRB volunteers, especially US farmers, overseas to see firsthand the transformation happening through agricultural development. So, I decided to volunteer to lend FRB’s support and to learn more about what Oxfam does.

When the doors of the United Center first opened, I was unsure about how my five minutes with Coldplay fans was going to transform many hearts or minds. But as I and the other Oxfam volunteers started chatting to fans I remembered that change happens on a continuum.

My antics as Kelsey Corn Cob was what was needed to get someone to sign up for Oxfam updates, it would also be the transformational spark needed to get some one more involved in the issues Foods Resource Bank and Oxfam are working on. Some of these people could even be inspired to volunteer, to travel overseas, to become empowered and energized and ultimately work toward change on Capitol Hill, around the world or at home in their own community.

Change happens through all types of actions and FRB and Oxfam are two organizations working toward transformational change, both in people’s minds and hearts, but also on their dinner plates, in their fields and within the global food system. Sometimes it takes vegetable costumes and canvassing a crowd, sometimes it takes direct advocacy, sometimes it takes celebrities, sometimes travel, sometimes blog posts, Facebook, brochures, videos and tweets and sometimes a personal connection with someone you don’t know.

How will you transform the world and GROW lasting solutions to hunger?

[Tash]

The GROW Method: Tackle hunger every time you shop
Posted by Rosie Cowling on 14 August 2012



There are simple things you can do every day, to help tackle hunger that affects 1 in 7 people around the world.

In the GROW Method, we’ve come up with some easy ways to help you be a thriving, supportive and sustainable part of that big thing we’re always going on about – ‘the food system.’

What is the ‘food system’ and how is it ‘broken’?

The ‘food system’ is the global network between farmers and food producers in fields, sellers in markets and supermarkets, and consumers in their local shops and kitchens. Everyone has a part to play in it and if any of the links in the chain are broken, the system won’t work properly.

The way we produce food is putting a lot of pressure on the environment, with agriculture responsible for nearly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change – along with unfair distribution and rising food prices – is compromising the ability of small-scale farmers in the developing world to grow food.

Small-scale farmers – what’s the big deal?

Small-scale farmers and food producers are not just a small part of the food system – they are its backbone. In many developing countries, they are responsible for the bulk of food production. In Zambia, for example, up to 80% of food is produced by small-scale farmers.

Studies show that growing populations and increasing economic development may lead to an increase of 70% in global demand for food by 2050. Small-scale producers are ideally placed to provide the extra food needed, but they currently suffer a lack of support and infrastructure, for example in accessing markets to sell their goods for a fair price.

Women farmers are particularly vulnerable to a lack of support and resources. 43% of the world’s agricultural labour force is women, yet they own just 10-20% of land globally. If women were given the same access to resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by around a quarter, feeding a potential 150 million hungry people.

Get involved

You can find the GROW Method on Pinterest, the Oxfam website and Facebook.

If you are in Australia, Mexico, Spain, UK or US, you can share recipes and cooking tips on your local Oxfam Facebook page:

Intermon Oxfam (Spain)

Oxfam America (USA)

Oxfam Australia

Oxfam GB

Oxfam Mexico

If you are in another part of the world, visit the global GROW Facebook.

Have you tried out the Method yet? Take a photo of your recipe, or find one you love online and share it with us on Pinterest by pinning it and tagging it #GROWmethod.

The ‘GROW Method’

Here are five easy ways to change the way you shop, cook and eat to make the food system work better for everyone:

Support small-scale farmers
We need to protect the 1.5 billion people living on small farms around the world growing food to feed themselves, their families and their communities. Looking out for Fair Trade products and brands when we shop is a great way of doing this and it gives us a connection to producers that we have lost.

Save food
In rich countries, we throw away almost as much food every year as consumers as Sub-Saharan Africa produces in a year (222 million tonnes), creating harmful greenhouse gases when it ends up at a landfill. We can create less waste by storing our fruit and veg better and using up leftovers in inventive ways.

Cook smart
Turning your stove down to simmer after the water in your pan has boiled may seem like a small thing but if all urban households in Brazil, India, the Philippines, Spain, UK and US did it every time they cooked for a year, over 30 million megawatt hours of energy could be saved. The benefit for the environment would be greater than if these same households each planted a tree seedling and let it grow for ten years. And what about if sometimes you used no heat at all?

Buy seasonal
A lot of energy is wasted creating the conditions to grow out of season. By discovering what’s growing near us, we’ll find fruit and veg that not only tastes sweeter because it’s in season, but is also using a lot less energy to get to our plates.

Less meat and dairy
Think you know what you’re putting in your chilli con carne? You might be shocked to read that a 500g packet of beef contains 6,810 litres of water. OK not literally, but that is how much water is needed to produce just enough meat for one meal. If just one family swapped beef for beans in their chilli, they could save nearly 6000 litres of water in just one meal, creating less harmful greenhouse gas emissions from food production and cattle, in the process.

You Tube

[Tash]

Copenhagen – The Princess of Cycling
Posted by Rachel Edwards on 28 August 2012



As I write this I’m sat on a tour case, stage left with the band playing Princess of China, hence the title inspiration. Tonight is electric, I turn to my left and look out onto the 50,000 people that fill the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. As the white spot light highlights the boys, the full moon provides a natural spot light on the stadium and the avid fans that sing along to the mixed vocals of Chris and Rihanna. I’m back on tour and what a wonderful place to start my European adventures spreading the GROW word and engaging people in a new way of thinking about their food, a place where sustainability starts with a capital S.

As I met the volunteers today they jumped off their bikes and let them rest with the hundreds of other bikes that were propped unsecured around the stadium walls. Ever the vision of the future! I didn’t want to feel left out so I too jumped on a bike and rode to Christiania, a freetown in Copenhagen that derived from a squatted military site where residents grow their own food, live in sustainable and create their own rules. As you wind down the small paths through the village every wall is covered in Danish design and art work. There are falafel stalls and tea shops, art studios and music spaces. Although the place has some demeanour of the late squatters and the freedom hippies that are still there, it is still a place of learning and a place where everyone can take something from. I took inspiration from the squatter’s ability to fight back and keep their own space, create unity and provide sustainable and creative lives for themselves. So this blog is an introduction to my commitment for the rest of the tour to make life style changes small and large such as is suggested in the GROW method. Wish me luck! I’ll keep you all updated.

But back to the tour case, where Coldplay are singing Paradise. I had forgotten how memorizing the sight of thousands of wristbands glowing in the night sky is, moving like a ocean as I scream too, “para, para, paradise”, it would be rude not to right?! The Danish crowd have created their own paradise right now, singing the lyrics and rocking like pop stars. They are cool, stylish and together are an entity on its own, moving with the band or creating their own version of viva la vida. Copenhagen you sure set the bar high for the first gig. Europe can you do any better?

[Tash]

Making a music film the Coldplay way
Posted by Rachel Edwards on 03 September 2012

Last night! Wow!

Last night was the filming of the Coldplay film, some of you have already had the amazing opportunity of experience of xylo bands. A beautiful creation by one man, Jason Regler and one that was swept up by Coldplay and taken on an ever evolving, year long adventure throughout their gigs. Last night was a beautiful thing for me to witness. With the support of Oxfam France and their amazing volunteers we spoke to hundreds of Coldplay fans about our GROW campaign. After we had finishing dancing around in banana suits and talking GROW we packed up to watch the gig. This gig had a new sort of buzz to it. People were electric on a higher level than before. Perhaps it was because the sun had been shining throughout the day and was started to produce a pink and sun kissed sunset, perhaps it was because we were in Paris, the city of art and creation or perhaps it was the 80,000 people that were pouring into the stadium.

The show started with a bang. The sun had set and 160,000 wristbands lit up the arena. It was one of those special moments which will stay with you a life time! Then came the really exciting moment, when Princess of China started to play and Rihanna entered centre stage behind the boys who were out on the x stage in the crowd. She walked down to join them and together they sang the melodies of a song that brings international pop music to a new level, the song that has an aura of connectivity. This married with the wristbands provided an illustration of what Coldplay do best… Bring people together, with the 80,000 audience plus the crew, who stood out backstage to watch. It’s the story of this tour for me I guess, being all over the world but connecting and sharing stories with Oxfammers all over the world.

Thank you Coldplay for a night I won’t forget…ever!

[wabbit]

Fan Fashwan
Posted by Esme Peach on 06 September 2012

One of my very favouritest things on this leg of the MX tour has been fan fashion.
Just when I think there is no other humanly-possible way to customise a t-shirt, paint your face up, or Mylo Xyloto yourself, I meet a new fan who styles it up in a whole new way.

But before I share my top Coldplay-fashwan pics, I thought I’d give you some of my Oxfam roadie tips style tips too, ’cause you never know, you may be an Oxfam roadie one day too.

1. On a hot Canadian tour leg, shorts are the best option. Cool, easybreezy, plenty of hooks to hang your radio mic on, and packing and unpacking tour cases and setting up an Oxfam case requires the kind of strange movements that make skirts a liability. Flashing your knickers at fans may work for pop goddesses and Marilyn Monroe, but you are an Oxfammer so decorum first, please!

2. No matter how hot it is, do not wear anything open-toed. An Oxfam banner may collapse on your feet and slice off your toes at any given time. Comfy trainers are best for all that dashing between front of house and backstage and chasing after errant carrots.

3. Fashionistas may tell you that matchy-matchy is for sinners, but colour coordinating yourself with the Mylo Xlyoto artwork and flashing wristbands is strangely addictive.

4. ….as is colour coordinating yourself with the lovely VIP ticketing rep who also has a penchant for colour blocking.

5. As well as being fashion-forward in its autumnal colour palette, the tomato outfit provides extra warmth in colder British venues as it also comes with a tomato titfer. Here’s me flexing the vegetable vibe before being apprehended by some local bobbies at Arsenal.

6. Pack a pair of flipflops for showering in the venue, jumping on the bus and into your bunk superquick. No one likes a smelly pair of trainers by their pillow.

7. I love upcycling and recycling clothes as it’s a sustainable way to shop. But not every country has Oxfam shops for stocking up on new finds. So have a mooch around the local vintage and thrift shops on your day off instead. Toronto had some amazing gems – see my lovely new 50s skirt which was a total bargain. And very Coldplay yellow.


8. If you can work food into your day off outfit, you get bonus GROW campaigner points. If you can’t be dressed as a food stuff at all times on tour, the least you can do is rock a lovefoodhateinjustice look by working food into your outfit. My watermelon skirt is just one day-off foodie fashwan option in the backpack.

Here’s a pick of some of the best Coldplay customisation on the tour so far:




So… tell us. What are your top tips for Coldplay-ising your look pre-gig?

[butterflygirl]

I wonder who those girls are in the Canada loves Coldplay shirts?

It was a nice surprise to wake up to!