Viva La Vida Coldplay!

Last night at the sold out Rogers Centre here in Toronto 45,000 people were singing along with the biggest band in the world of the moment: Coldplay.The U-shaped stage was dominated by massive screens and glowing lights allowing the crowd to see Chris Martin's band from anywhere in the venue.Chris Martin used all bits of stage to run around and get closer to his beloved Toronto crowd. Starting off the concert was "Life in Technicolor", followed by the new single "Violet Hills" and one of their biggest hits "Clock". And suddely, while the first notes of "Yellow" came on dozens of enourmous yellow balloons descended upon the crowd, making them screameven louder! "Are you ok?" asked Martin, inviting everyone to sing along: "Consider this your Canadian Idol audition ... Even if you're in row 706 and you're only here because of your girlfriend," he joked.He went on talking, asking "what is there to do on a Thursday night in To-ron-To!? I'm glad you could all come to see us! All the garbage, all the stuff you have to get through, to get to us. Even the hairdresser are on strike! " joking about his crazy hairdo! Coldplay played lots of slow ballads, amongst them " Fix You" that made the entire crowd light up their lighters and sing along. When the long awaited "Viva La Vida" came on then it was an uproar of "Ohhhhh ohhhhhhhh ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" that went on and on.If you though you were having an amazing time you had yet to see all 4 band members moving to a mini side-stage right in the concert bowl and startan acoustic version of "Green Eyes" , "Death Will Never Conquer" sang by drummer Will Champion and Michael Jackson's"Billie Jean".One of the best moments was probably when Chris Marting asked everyone to turn on their cellphone and make a "Coldwave" as he called it.The entire Rogers Centre was glowing like a christmas tree!When we though we had seen it all, down came butterfly confetties while they were singing "Lovers in Japan". Another surprise came right at the end of the show, when Chris Martin said: "This band is made of 1 idiot and 3 very shy guys! And its William's birthday so lets everyone sing happy birthday to him!" Coldplay managed to put on an intimate show although playing in a place like the Rogers Centre. They truly are the biggest band in the world at the moment and thats why, no matter the recession they still manage to sell out any venues they go to.A bonus or as Martin would say: "the best value we've ever given out for free" was the free CD of live tracks Coldplay gave out to everyone in the crowd,entitled "Left Right Left Right Left". What more really can you ask for?
Watch the video of Viva La Vida I took

Sasha Fierce aka Beyonce was in town: she just forgot to pack some soul into her luggage!

Definitely not my music style, but its a music blog and sometimes we have to bend to the public demand....

Monday night at the soldout Molson Ampitheatre Beyonce's alter ego Sasha Fierce came out full force. With big hair, big heels, big costumes and an Hollywood production-like show that made the crowd go crazy even before she started singing.
I almost had the impression that Charlie's Angels were on stage, as all13 dancers and musicians were perfectly coordinated in their skin tight shiny suits and big hair floating!

Opening the show with Crazy in Love, Beyonce set the crowd on fire launching confettis in the air, while thousands of women starteddancing and screaming, while shaking their "booties" imitating Beyonces world famous moves. The show was visually supported by a gigantic LED screen that played videos of her fans and substitued her while she was making one of her costume changes. While songs like Single Ladies (Put a ring on it), or Naughty Girl made everyone dance, the Ave Maria combined with Sarah MacLachlan's Angel came out like a bizarre mix. What were they thinking really!?

The highlight of the night was probably "Irreplacable". Calling out to the crowd, Beyonce had the entire Molson Ampitheatre singing to her :"To the left, to the left", while waiving their hands. "That is so beautiful" she said.

Beyonce's performance seemed almost too perfect and staged, but after all it truly lacked of soul.

Check the videos I took of the concert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBoUDYKIY2o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdEhSqYfymY

Yeah! the Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Ottawa BluesFest 2009

If Karen O didn't seem too thrilled to sing on a Sunday night, she certainly pulled an amazing performance. Although it took a little while (and a massive eye-shaped balloon) for the Ottawa stucked-up crowd to get into the groove and dance, I'm positive this was a very nice ending to this years Ottawa Bluesfest edition.

Karen O is not only a singer, she's a damn fine entertainer. Her thriller-movie like screams and moves all combined with her amazing voice and band, make of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs not only a must see but a must live performance.

The set list consisted mainly of songs from their new album "It's blitz!" with Gold Lion, Skeletons, the crowds favourite (and personal!) Heads will Roll and of course Zero for which Karen O wore a black leather jacket. The now heated up crowd sang along to the acoustic version of Maps (a real treat!) while the mega eye-ball surfed on top of them.
Now, if you missed their Bonnaroo show, their Quebec show, their Ottawa show, then you better get onto next week performance in Toronto or go up to Montreal for Osheaga. Some say they are "tour whores" this year, but really they are THE ONES that are worth seeing this summer!

Here's a couple of videos I took at Yeah Yeah Yeahs performance at Ottawa Bluesfest this past week-end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_Gc-PfFh20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtVl9cPcSmk&feature=channel

Cheers,
Corinne