This Coldplay concert’s coming to Singapore for one day only at Shaw Theaters!
Coldplay fans, it’s time to leave your iPods at home and rock the night away at the theatres on Nov 13 with Coldplay Live 2012. Taken from their upcoming concert DVD directed by Paul Dugdale, who also previously worked on Adele’s Live at the Royal Albert Hall concert film, the film follows the band as they go around the world with their Mylo Xyloto tour that began in October 2012.
The freelance film and television director who made the award winning 2010 DVD “World On Fire” for UK band, The Prodigy, fully used his unique artistic direction and style to deliver the best of mix of Coldplay’s adrenaline-filled performances with well-crafted shots.
Vastly different from the last tour, Viva La Vida, which saw the band perform at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2009 and explored the theme of the French revolution with milder, subtler tones, Mylo Xyloto is a burst of light and bright colours in a grey world. Like a “rose in the rain” as the song “Us Against the World” goes, the theme can be seen throughout the performances with the elaborate stage set up that had graffiti-painted backdrops, pyrotechnics and multi-coloured lights. Even the instruments and T-shirts that they were wearing were hand painted and ornamented with dazzling colours to match the stage.
Lead singer Chris Martin says in the official Coldplay website, “The Mylo Xyloto tour has been the most fun we’ve ever had as a band. It’s felt very uplifting right from the start; partly because we are proud of the music, the LED wristbands, the pyrotechnics, the lasers and all of that stuff, but mainly because of the amazing audiences that we’ve been playing for.”
Seamlessly edited, the different clips from various concerts such as the Stade de France and Montreal’s Bell Centre are so well integrated that it’s hard to tell that they were at different venues if not for the captions that appear on the screen or unless you pay close attention to the changes in their clothing. Interspersed with documentary style excerpts of the band’s thoughts and behind-the-scenes footage, the movie highlights the more human and less publicly known side of the band. These include the struggles, the problems of touring and being away from family.
Though the focus of the tour is on the Mylo Xyloto album, the British rock band never fails to incorporate familiar sing-a-long favourites such as “Viva La Vida”, “Fix You” and “Yellow”. It’s hard to resist the temptation to hum along to the infectiously addictive ageless tunes as Martin goes about energetically dancing to the music.
What’s most unique about Coldplay’s tour is the excessive amounts of effort put into details like audience interaction. Giant globe-like balloons for the crowd, butterfly confetti, mini stages nested within the crowds, the Grammy award-winning band took this concert to an intimate level. The usual audible crowd sing-a-longs aside, they turned a dream into a reality, giving each ticket holder a wristband with multi-coloured LED lights that could be controlled by the lighting crew. This wholly original idea took audience participation to a whole new level with the song “Charlie Brown” being the most breath-taking audience contributed light spectacle as Martin sings the line “we’ll be glowing in the dark.”
Even if you’re not yet a fan, the story behind the whole tour concept is still a good watch especially when you throw in their easy listening tunes and beautiful theatrical lights.
Movie: Coldplay Live 2012
Price: $25
Rating: 4/5
Opens: Nov 13 (one night only)
Venue: Shaw Theatres Lido only
Duration: 96 minutes
Main Cast: Coldplay
Language: English
Age Rating: NC 16
Director: Paul Dugdale
