We blogged live from backstage at the first Ghost Stories show, in Cologne. Here’s how it went.
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16:48 – Hello and welcome to the first live blog of the Ghost Stories era. For the next few hours, we’ll be blogging live from backstage at the E-Werk in Cologne, where Coldplay will perform tonight. Thanks for stopping by. (If you could all keep your fingers crossed that the venue’s rather patchy wifi connection will hold out, that’d be good.)
If you’re reading this in the queue, then HELLO!
16:55: It’s a lovely day in Cologne. The fans sitting outside the venue already are basking in sunshine.
17.10: Here’s the view Chris will have this evening…
17.19: The band have arrived and are currently soundchecking. Here’s a couple of pics…
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17.45: A sky/ceiling full of stars…
17.49: That’s an unconventional drumkit.
17.51: Went for a wander around Cologne earlier. Lovely place. Here are some photographic highlights… More of these thrilling tourist shots to come later…
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18.15: Apologies for the gaps in service. The internet connection here is not having a good day. *At all*. But here’s a pic of the dressing room…
18.37: Here’s a not-particularly-good pic of Will from the soundcheck earlier! (It was dark in there…)
18.41: The view from the back….
18.46: And the venue from the front….
18.57: Your name’s not down, you’re not coming in…
19.01: A view from the management office, which is where we’ve made our home for the day. Here’s Arlene (management), Miti (live broadcast mixer) and Dan Green (sound-man and producer extraordinaire).
19.05: More pics from our wander around Cologne earlier…
HA! No idea what they are.
19.39: It’s Tour Manager Marguerite and Production Co-ordinator Nicole!
19.45: Here’s Will, perusing the wardrobe…
20:00: ONE HOUR UNTIL STAGE TIME. To celebrate, here’s another picture from our wander earlier – of two men in white looking at something…
20:05: HERE’S JONNY!
We’ve used that joke in live blogs since, ooh, about 2008, so there seems no reason to stop now. (He’s doing his vocal warm-ups, by the way. Which involves la la la la-ing a lot.)
20:33: The crowd is in…
20.38: Guy and Jonny in the warm-up room…
20.49: It’s Coldplay’s fifth member, Phil Harvey! (With Tour Managers, Marguerite)
And the traditional pre-show huddle…
21.11: The band are on! And Cologne is going pretty blooming wild. Here’s a couple of pics from just before they went on…
21.15: Phil joined them for one too…
21.20: And here’s some pics from the first couple of songs (Always In My Head and Charlie Brown)
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21.27: It’s fair to say that the crowd is quite excited (apart from one man, who is standing very still…)
21.33: Chris mit guitar (little bit of the local lingo for you there)
21.46: Viva…
21.48: And a couple from Fix You….
22.00: The main set – and the German radio broadcast – is over. Time for the encore, beginning with God Put A Smile…
22.09: The Scientist
22.15: The big finale…
22.30: And it’s goodnight Cologne. That was a really special show. Hope you enjoyed the blog, folks. A
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