Live blog from Amsterdam
Jul 19, 2023
23.06: And that’s a wrap! European summer 2023 leg, done. And what a way to end it.
Thanks so much for reading the blog and for ALL your emails and doodles. It’s an amazing thing that Coldplay’s fans really do stretch right around the planet. They’re lucky to have you (and they very much know it).
See you for the next live blog (and we’ll try not to leave it six years this time). 🧡 A
22:46: Fix You. A hairs on the back of your neck moment, always. What a crowd. What a show. What a night.
It’s just stunning out there.
22:45: Here’s Angel, awaiting another Biutyful moment shortly…
22:41: And here they are on the C Stage!
22:37: On the way to the C Stage
22:36: The floor was literally bouncing when these were taken during ASFOS…
22:32: And here’s some of ASFOS. Always such a big moment at these shows.
22:13: Some random photos I meant to post earlier but didn’t manage to. The stadium’s Room of Chairs is definitely my favourite.
22:08: And here’s two from People Of The Pride, which – if you haven’t had the chance to hear it live yet – sounds absolutely MIGHTY at these shows. (Definitely give it a blast on your headphones or your speakers if you haven’t for a while.)
22:06: Here’s a couple from the always-glorious Human Heart featuring the one and only Angel Moon.
I’m falling well behind on your emails, sorry. It’s quite hectic, this live blogging business.
21:57: Some bikes outside the stadium. Big thanks to everyone who’s cycled to these (or any!) shows.
21:52: Charlie Brown vibes just now.
21:50: There was a MAJOR roar just now when Yellow kicked in.
21:49: This lovely bunch just joined Chris to sing Daddy (always a real pleasure to hear that one).
21:39: Lovely doodle work from Brooke
And yes, hope you’re enjoying this, wherever you are.
21:38: That was an absolutely mighty Viva just now. Here’s a pic from the B Stage just as it began. And now off to take some more…
21:34: Shoutout to the camera operators for the big screens. They do such a great job.
21;31: “So, guys, we’ve got these massive confetti canons and we need something to cover them and stop things going in. Anyone got any ideas?”
“Um…”
“Anyone?”
“Um… how about shower caps?”
“YES!!”
21:24: Those balloons from earlier, living their best balloon lives…
21:21: Silke did a Coldplay-related drawing on the beach!
21.20: Show is go!
21:17: (A timely reminder this is simply a live blog and not a display of finely-honed premium concert photography. We have Anna Lee for that.)
21:15: The walk to the stage and the pre-show huddle…
21:14: The show is ON! Pics incoming…
20.48: Almost time. This blog may be slightly interrupted while they get this show on the road.
20:43: “Hi Anchorman, Who are the people who introduce the show before the sustainability video? They seem to differ per show, and it isn’t clear what connection they have to the band.” asks Jake. They are indeed chosen from the crowd each night. So, yes, different every time! (And what a memory they take home with them.)
20:41: Fine effort by Bella from Chile too…
20:39: Amazing doodle work by Isha from India!
20:36: Oh! Hey friend!
20:32: “Hi A! I’m Adriana from Mexico. Can you show how full is the stadium right now?
Prettttty full.
20:27: “On the tour, how many women work in the group? and what jobs do they do?” asks Marco from Bolivia.
There have always been lots of women on the Coldplay crew. Here’s two of them – Arlene (one of the band’s managers) and Nichole (who’s head of ticketing) – having a meeting in the office next door to us just now.
20:20: Guitars. Ready.
20:16: Great Coldplay-inspired doodle from Diane in Chile. Thanks Diane!
20.14: Just had a look for Guy and Chris in the dressing rooms area, but think they’re busy warming up for the show. Did bump into Coldplay’s legendary soundman / producer Dan Green in the band’s studio though…
20.02: “This is Silvana from Milan Italy,
Just wanted to share a Charlie Brown illustration in progress I am working at the moment.”
Very good!
19:59: Just saw Will in the dressing room, where he’s currently practicing Italian on his phone. Bellissimo!
19:50: Here’s the route which the band will take beneath the stage at the beginning of the show. (Someone somewhere knows what each of those wires in that box on the left is for, but that someone is definitely not me.)
19:45: “Hi A. I’m Lucia From Italy. Could you show us some staff member? We want to know them too.”
Sure thing. Here’s the band’s legendary head of security (and regular star of the live blogs over the years), Frostie.
19:38: The marvellous Griff is currently entertaining the increasingly full ArenA. Only just over an hour until show time…
19:33: Shoutout to the folks who hand out the LED wristbands (and to all the fans who give theirs back at the end of the show).
19:30: Dinner was lasagna (veggie or meat, couldn’t decide so tried a bit of both). Delicious!
19:13: And with that, going to grab some dinner. Back soon…
19:11: “My name is Nivin and I’m from a town called Alta north in Norway” writes Nivin. “I am really enjoying the live❤️ Can I please get a shoutout??🙏🏻🙏🏻”
Shoutout to Nivin! And here’s some info on Alta:
Downtown Alta is located just below the 70th latitude and is closer to the North Pole than it is to much of Central Europe and the British Isles. The town is the northernmost settlement of urban significance in the European Economic Area,
Alta is home to the football club Alta IF. Cross-country skiing is very popular. Alta also has clubs for handball, track and field, alpine skiing, ice skating, taekwondo, and judo.
Also, Alta looks very beautiful.
Shoutout to Alta too!
19:07: Tuğçe from Germany has emailed to ask “Which song would you like the band to play?” Possibly influenced by the doodles, but the first track which pops to mind is A L I E N S. Better start making my sign…
19.04: Top effort from Lavínia from Brazil too.
19:01: Great doodle by Lilli from Austria, as we enter our seventh hour of the live blog! You’ve now sent almost 1,000 emails in that time, which is nuts. Thanks for keeping us company.
Current countries-you’re-reading-from listed below (please email anchorman@coldplay.com with your country as the email subject if I’ve missed any).
Armenia, Turkey, Planet Kubik, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Finland, Chile, Indonesia, Sweden, Peru, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, UK, Guatemala, France, Portugal, Ireland, USA, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, India, Australia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Norway, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Denmark, Mongolia AND Luxembourg, Croatia, El Salvador, China, Israel, Switzerland, Iran, Algeria, Egypt, Honduras, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador, The Netherlands, Paraguay, Pakistan, Estonia, Latvia, Argentina and Czech Republic.
18:56: The excellent Zoe Tauran is kicking off this evening’s entertainment with a spirited opening set.
18:49: Big fan of this space-aged tunnel into the stadium.
18:46: There’s some fully-committed pedalling going down at the power bikes.
18:38: Lovely stuff from Emma from Italy (who who should really get back to writing her master thesis now)
18:32: It’s GOING OFF on the kinetic dancefloors right (with just over a couple of hours until show time).
18:26: “Hi there, where did you get that colourful graffiti for your album cover?”
(One for the Mylo Xyloto fans, there)
18:23:
My doodle of the neon moons from the ‘Coloratura’ song. Decided to do some watercolor.
Not my best work but thought I’d have a go at it. Enjoying the blog so far. Peace.
Kathryn
Love it Kathryn!
18:20: Who’d like to see a photo of a green arrow on the stadium floor from a few hours ago and then again just now? All of us, right?
#art
18:10: Here are some of your theories on Jonny’s book…
—
Matteo from Palermo, Italy here (again)! I guess Jonny’s book is about playing songs that have the same names as the city you’re playing…
After a brief analysis of the cover of the book that Jonny’s reading, I came to the dreamy conclusion – which I made up – that it is a book about a great adventure through the galaxies! Full of discoveryng facts about the universe with a group of friends along the way to sharing the journey!
Rúbia
I think the first two letters start with BA… Couldn’t figure out more letters after that…
Sorry!
Lots of love from India,
Shreya.
It better be a manuscript of his own tell-all memoirs
Ellen
—
So, yeah. Think that still leaves us with not much of a clue.
18:02: Here’s Jonny’s legendary guitar tech, Matt McGinn earlier. Top fella.
17:51: Doors are open! And here are some fans – including two fans wearing a rather classic MX T-shirt. Good to see.
17:42: Here’s Jonny! In the dressing room. Reading a book. You will be as disappointed as I am to discover that I forgot to ask him which book it is. Feel free to email anchorman@coldplay.com with your guesses in the subject of your email…
17:24: And more of your amazing doodles (sorry that we can’t post all of them, we’ve had LOADS)
17:21: Lotfi is very keen to see my office setup today. Black drapes vibes. (Those little boxes propping up the laptop stand originally held sweets / candies, but have very much extended their life for this extremely useful purpose.)
17:05; Sorry, got distracted by your emails (we’ve just gone past 750 since 1pm) – but here are some snaps from soundcheck. It’s always a treat to hear the band play together without an audience there and today’s session was particularly lovely.
17:00: And more…
So cool.
Meanwhile, current “countries you’re reading from” list…
Armenia, Turkey, Planet Kubik, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Finland, Chile, Indonesia, Sweden, Peru, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, UK, Guatemala, France, Portugal, Ireland, USA, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, India, Australia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Norway, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Denmark, Mongolia, Luxembourg, Croatia, El Salvador, China, Israel, Switzerland, Iran, Algeria, Egypt, Honduras, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador, The Netherlands, Paraguay, Pakistan, Estonia, Latvia, Argentina, Lebanon. Wow.
16:57: You are DEFINITELY a creative bunch…
_cuva
16:53: Oh my gosh, More than 100 of your doodles arrived during soundcheck…
16:52: Here are some large balloons, awaiting an adventure of a lifetime (you won’t find a large balloon anywhere that doesn’t have this on their bucket list)
16:44: And we’re back! Here’s a snap of tour photographer extraordinaire, Anna Lee, who was (as always) out there shooting.
16:36: Nicely done from Jennie (soundcheck still ongoing)
16:21: Soundcheck time. Back soon with pics…
16:18: Nicely done Mosie…
16:13: Here’s Effy, setting the bar VERY high with her doodle…
Great effort from Sarah too…
16:07: Please can we have a photo of Phil Harvey, ask dozens of people. Why yes. And he’s in jovial, last-day-of-term mood!
16:02: “Hi Anchorman! Did you just say you have a cat? Can we take a look at the Anchorcat?” asks Nacho from Chile.
Alas the Anchorcat does not come on the road…
15:59: It is traditional to ask for photos from you folks during a live blog (although I am slightly drowning in your emails already). So, how about today you send a drawing / doodle – which has to be done today – with the theme “Coldplay Music Of The Spheres World Tour”. Email anchorman@coldplay.com with the subject “My doodle”. Thank you!
15:57: “Hi Anchorman! I wanted to ask you: what’s your favourite planet of the “Spheres” system?” asks Daisy.
Floris all the way (also the home of Angel Moon).
15:48: Je m’appelle Anchorman et je vis en Angleterre. J’ai un chat et j’aime écouter le groupe Coldplay. Avez-vous des indications pour aller à la mairie, s’il vous plaît ? Merci.
15:41: Several of you have asked to see the band’s wardrobe cases. See if you can guess whose is whose…
15:23: Here’s how we’re looking on the list of countries you’re reading from…
Armenia, Turkey, Planet Kubik, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Finland, Chile, Indonesia, Sweden, Peru, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, UK, Guatemala, France, Portugal, Ireland, USA, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, India, Australia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Norway, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Denmark, Mongolia AND Luxembourg, Croatia, El Salvador, China, Israel, Switzerland, Iran, Algeria, Egypt, Honduras, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador and (of course!) the Netherlands.
15:16: Here’s a photo of one of the big video screens – IMAGs as they’re known in the trade – from behind (taken while on earlier mission to get a photo of Will’s drums).
15:14: Struggling to keep up with all the emails (more than 400 received in the last two hours). But thank you to EVERYONE who’s sent one.
15:11: Shout out to Coldplay Corner who are, I’m told, translating this blog into French. Which is very kind of them. You can read the translation here. (My name is Anchorman and I live in England. I have a pet cat and I like to listen to the band Coldplay. Do you have directions to the town hall, please? Thank you.*)
*That would’ve been my French homework sorted
15:09: “Hi Anchorman! what is your favourite song that’s been performed during this tour?” asks Umbrella Man. Certainly won’t forget De Musica Ligera in Buenos Aires. Special.
14:57: Here’s the wardrobe department, getting things ready for the show…
14:42: Alex has emailed asking to see “all the toilets”. Feel like that would be quite the task in a stadium which holds more than 50,000 people!
14:35: “Hey, what’s your favorite spot in the Arena? are there some places to hide before the show?” asks Natalia. Was quite pleased to manage to find my way to the Ajax dressing room a couple of days ago. There was a tactics board on the wall. The temptation to write TOTAL FOOTBALL on it was strong.
14:33: Hello to everyone who’s emailing from outside the venue! Here’s how the queue looked outside the stadium at this sort of time yesterday. Lovely to see people spending time together, united by heady anticipation (particularly when they’re not being rained on).
14:30: Genuinely can’t believe how many emails you’re sending. But our countries list gets longer…
Armenia, Turkey, Planet Kubik, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Finland, Chile, Indonesia, Sweden, Peru, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, UK, Guatemala, France, Portugal, Ireland, USA, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, India, Australia AND Ukraine, Slovenia, Norway, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Denmark and Mongolia.
14:24: “Show us the microphone” asks Julia. Sure thing – here it is alongside the rather cool personalised souvenir fridge magnet I bought from the Ajax club shop which is outside the stadium (Ajax being the legendary football team whose stadium this is).
Prettttty cool, right?
14:15: Jessica asks: What’s the best food you and the team had so far in Amsterdam? Did you guys had Stroopwafel? Bitterballen? Herring Fish?
The Stroopwafel was goood. (But didn’t need to eat again for HOURS.)
14:13: OK, lunch done. Had the spaghetti, which was very nice. And took a pastel de nata to go…
14:10: Oh crikey, more than 80 emails have arrived since I last looked. Hello to all of you – from the following places… Armenia, Turkey, Planet Kubik, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Finland, Chile, Indonesia, Sweden, Peru, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, UK, Guatemala, France, Portugal, Ireland, USA, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, India and Australia. Which is a bit mind blowing when you think about it.
:02: While I eat lunch, why not read about the legendary Dutch football (/soccer) player Johan Cruijff who gave his name to this stadium and whose picture you see all around it.
13:51: Some strong options in catering today. (Catering is the beating heart of any tour – where you run into crew you might not see otherwise, catch up and share some non-working time together.)
13:41: “Good to have you back Mr. A. Was wondering if we can have photos of your lunch? I’m just waking up here in Lima and looking forward to eating something!”
Good shout Isabel. A spot of lunch sounds like a fine plan.
13:39: Antoine asked to see what the dressing room looks like. Here are a few photos taken just now (the band aren’t here yet).
And hello to Marcelo from Brazil, Lina from Helsinki, Isabel from Lima, Jessica from Indonesia and Linda in Uppsala, Sweden. An already impressively worldwide audience!
13:31: Hello to Ann from Belgium, Anaelle from the Netherlands and Pierre-Jean from Paris who’ve all emailed anchorman@coldplay.com to say hi
13:15 Readers of previous live blogs here on Coldplay.com (which stretch right back to 2008) might remember that we love to hear from you, wherever you are in the world. Drop me a line on anchorman@coldplay.com to say hi or with any requests for things we should try to cover / photograph today.
13:04: Hello and welcome to our live blog from Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff ArenA, where Coldplay will play the last show of their summer 2023 European stadium run this evening (the fourth of four nights here in Amsterdam).
It’s a majestic venue, which looks a little something like this from outside….
We look forward to having you along for the ride!
—–
On Wednesday, 19 July, we’ll be celebrating the final show of the band’s current European tour leg with a live, behind-the-scenes blog from backstage at the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Join us for updates, photos and general chatter from across the day (starting at around 2pm Amsterdam / 1pm London / 8am New York / 9pm Seoul).
If you haven’t seen one of our live blogs before, here are a few examples from the archive…
– Wembley Stadium, 19 Sept 2009
– Buenos Aires, 15 November 2017
Ah, memories…
