Coldplay – Live at Birmingham !!!

[It was 9:00pm at the 'National Indoor Arena' in Birmingham. The lights were out and tens of thousands of people eagerly waited in anticipation ! Out of the blue, the murmuring silence was broken by the distinctive loud beats of 'Life in Technicolour' !!! The crowds instantly jolted into life and jumped onto their heels.....their reserved seats only to be used as coat hangers for the next hour and three-quarters !

As the crowds went berseck, the curtains rose slowly....and behind it, appeared the silhouette of the 4 lads from London...with lasers and the blaring lights creating a sort of mystical halo around them !!! Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting ....'Coldplay - Live in concert !' ]

The electrifying ambience

It all started about a month ago. It hadn’t been long since I had got introduced to Coldplay…and I had been feeding myself to a daily diet of their songs on my iPod ever since my manager Tony had written a CD for me with all their albums. Hence, when I came to realize that Coldplay were playing gigs all over Britain in December, I knew that I had to be there, by hook or by crook ! !

And then came the problem – all Coldplay gigs in UK for December were sold-out :(  All of them – London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Glasgow …every single one of them had sold out, nearly 6 months ago !!!

There were, of course, tickets being re-sold on the internet, but at exorbitant rates ! I remember how badly my good friend Ganesh had wanted to be at a Coldplay gig, while he was here in UK earlier in the year…But back then, they weren’t any happenning at all. In fact, the other day I was discussing with another one of our batchmates in London named Sreejith aka ‘Maadan’ that, had Ganu been here, he’d have gate-crashed into that concert by any means – even if it meant having to sleep with the Gate-keeper

Thankfully, I didn’t have to go through any such ordeals. My saviour came in the form of a guy from office, who had advertised a pair of tickets on the Orange intranet website, for the gig at Birmingham on Dec 2nd, 2008.

Wasting no time, I contacted him. Apparently, it had cost him £50 each for the tickets, and I started off by offering him £80 for the pair….only to be rejected outright ….which forced me to raise the stakes to 100 quid, but that wasn’t good enough either ! Finally, we settled for £115…which was not bad at all, considering that these were for very good seats and would easily cost much much higher on the internet !

Without giving it too much of a thought, I got hold of the tickets. I still had to find one more person to take along, and that turned out to be quite a problem as the concert was on a working day !

However, I knew there was only one man I could rely upon – Mr.Abhinav Gupta ! A quick phone-call to Cardiff and the deal was sealed

On the big day – Tuesday, 2nd of December, 2008 ….I went over to the Enterprise Car Hire office during lunch break, and picked up the car that I had booked. Though I had originally booked a 2-door Ford Ka, the guys generously gave me an upgrade to a 4-door Toyota Aygo Later in the day, I left office a little past 4pm and drove up to Parkway station and picked up Abhinav, who had taken a train down from Cardiff. The drive to Birmingham took longer than expected, as we were stuck in mindless rush-hour traffic through-out the journey. Certain sections near the Parkway station at Bristol, and along the Broad street in Birmingham, were absolute mayhem !!! At times, we found ourselves stranded in the middle of an endless sea of stationary vehicles…..and were forced to move no better than an inch at a time for over half an hour !!! Needless to say, it was extremely stressful and by the time we parked our car at the South Car Park at the NIA, we were totally hammered !

Thirsty, hungry and overcome by fatigue, we headed straight to the refreshments outlet at the NIA. Well, there was this other problem – Abhinav doesn’t drive, so that made me the sole driver of the car….and that in turn meant, I couldn’t drink !!! DISASTER !!!  Anywayz, what harm could 1 pint of beer do ?

So there we were …..armed with a beer, a cider, burgers, chips and cool drinks; we entered the huge arena and were ushered to our seats in Zone B…which surprisingly was just about 30 feet away from the stage ! Not bad at all !!! It couldn’t have got better than this for such a price !

The sell-out crowd at the NIA, Birmingham

The opening band was some unheard-of one …and no one really paid much attention to them . We on our part were busy doing justice to our food…and the beers were washed down in no time at all !

And then we all waited ….The moment of reckoning finally came at 9pm …when Coldplay ignited the stage and the whole arena with ‘Life in Technicolour’ !!! The quality of sound was amazing….Nothing I had ever heard before could match up to it ! The brilliance of the sound was matched up with spectacular visuals and lighting effects, that uniquely reflected each song that was being played !

The Stage !

The energy-levels of the guys, especially the lead singer Chris Martin, was unbelievable ! From start till end, he flung himself all around the stage, belting out hit after hit …..charming the audience with his vocals, unstated good-looks, spontaneity and sense of humour ! He didn’t just play and sing, but saw to it that the audience involved themselves too !

Chris Martin setting the stage on fire !

All through the gig, there were lasers shooting out from the stage, dazzling lights blaring all around, huge glowing globes lowered from the  ceiling, confetti falling all over, large screens with captivating visuals …..and on top of it all, add on the synchronized roar of tens of thousands of fans – and you’ve got one hell of an unforgettable concert !!! Each song had its own theme – the lighting would change, the backgrounds would change and the visuals would vary ! ‘Clocks’ turned the entire arena into Red

'Clocks'

 …….and ‘Yellow’ was, quite evidently Yellow ! ‘Speed of sound’ was played in near darkness, but with the whole crowd waving out their illuminated mobile phones, it was a different matter all together !

That’s when I realized ….that nothing can really beat the experience of being at a live concert – regardless of how powerful a music system/home theatre you may have at home ! Hearing a song on the sterio or watching a performance on the Tele is not quite the same as being there live, in the middle of the action !!! You could drive a Ferrari on NFS, but unless u actually take one on the road, its just NOT the real thing !!!

While most of the songs were taken off Coldplay’s new album - ‘Viva la Vida’, many of their older hits were played too …..‘Clocks’, ‘Fix you’, ‘Yellow’, ‘Speed of Sound’, ‘Scientist’,'Green Eyes’ …were all marvellous. When Chris Martin sang ‘The hardest part’, it was just him and his piano and the sheer power of his mesmerizing vocals ! Incredible ! The fans were swept off their feet !

'The Hardest Part'

For a moment in between, the guys disappeared from the stage, leaving us to believe that they were taking a much-needed break….only to reappear out-of-the-blue from the back of the arena, on a make-shift stage right in the middle of the crowd ! The audience loved it and everyone got their money’s worth !!!

Finally, at 10:45 pm, the boys called it a day, and bid goodbye ! But the roar of the crowds did not end there ….As we got out of the NIA and walked along the old canals of Birmingham to our parking lot, the chorus of ‘Viva la vida’ filled the air – being hummed by 1000’s of ecstatic fans heading home !

Coldplay

A rough set-list of the songs that were played are as below:

LIFE IN TECHNICOLOR
VIOLET HILL
CLOCKS
IN MY PLACE
SPEED OF SOUND
YELLOW
42
FIX YOU
STRAWBERRY SWING
GOD PUT A SMILE UPON YOUR FACE
TALK
THE HAREST PART
POSTCARDS FROM FAR AWAY
VIVA LA VIDA
LOST
GREEN EYES
DEATH WILL NEVER CONQUER
POLITIK
LOVERS IN JAPAN
THE SCIENTIST
LIFE IN TECHNICOLOR II

Check out some of the videos from the concert at the links below :

CLOCKS:

YELLOW:

Mumbai – The Aftermath !

Its been 2 days since the nightmare ended ! Mumbai’s 60 hours of bloody terror may well have concluded …… But is the worst far from over ? One can really not say !

Now that the guns have ceased and the last of the merciless terrorists slain, the political wheels have stepped up to full throttle ! Fingers are being hastily pointed, errors and delinquencies being covered up by scape-goats ! Ministers are being replaced and officials who have had the responsibility of ensuring the safety of our cities are conveniently putting in their resignations ! Within a span of 2 days, the Home Minister is gone,  Maharashtra CM and his Deputy CM have put down their papers …and many more would follow suit too ! “Moral responsibility” is what they all claim. But in reality, what better way to wash their hands off and run away from the job at hand, which they had hitherto so ineptly performed !

In no time, we’d have new officials swarming in to fill the vacated posts……and when the terrorists strike again, they’d be replaced too ! But is this the best corrective action the nation can possibly get ? Definitely not ! We’ve been testimony to this for far too long, yet nothing seems to have changed and perhaps, we have not allowed anything to change either ! In the meanwhile, the terrorists continue to move about, operate freely within our borders, and strike us where ever they wish to, in whatever manner they please and at whatever time they chose !

The last few days have exposed a complete failure of our core systems. The ineffectiveness of our Intelligence Agencies, the unpreparedness of our Governing bodies and the vulnerability of our cities have been ignominiously made evident !

Frankly, there’s nothing startling about the vulnerability. We had known about it all along ! The back-to-back terrorist attacks that gripped our country in the last few years, and especially in the recent months, had consistently driven home the fact ! Time and again they’ve had the better of us, and we’ve always paid the price ! They’ve tried to shake our will, but we have survived !

Today, the world commends our ability to bounce back to normalcy in no time ! Mumbai has been at the forefront of this resilience – to the effect that in spite of the just-concluded attacks that held the entire city to ransom, the Bombay Stock Exchange hardly took an impact !!! But is this really something to be proud of ?

The resilience, undoubtedly is good – it defeats the very purpose the terrorists wish to achieve through their heinous acts. But what’s the point of it all if we don’t learn from our mistakes and take preemptive measures ? We cannot let India be a punching-bag to just hang there and take on blow after blow of madness thrown at us !

Sadly, a little bit of self-introspection would reveal that the repeated attacks on our soil have made us thick-skinned, forcing us into apathy ! Perhaps this is where the resilience comes from ! Even before the candles at the graves of our victims die out, we’d have something new to bother about and a newer attack that the media can focus their frenzied attention upon ! It seems to be in our blood to forgive and condone ! We as a race have been remarkably tolerant, much through our history ! But how much can we really take ?

One thing however, stands out amongst all this madness, and that is the sheer valour and courage exhibited by our men in uniform and all the unsung heroes behind the scenes. These brave men who selflessly plunge into the heart of the terror zones to bring down the forces of evil, are the ones who reinstate our faith in the nation and keep us going !

Scenes of the elite National Security Guard commandos landing on the Nariman House from their helicopters and fearlessly plunging in to bring down the heavily armed terrorists holed up inside, will forever be etched in our minds ! Not to mention the bravery of the police officers or the Marine Commandos who put in the initial fight, or the Firefighters of Mumbai, who battled the blaze without even having the protection of bullet-proof vests, whilst bullets and grenades whizzed by !

I’ve always wondered what goes through their minds when they put themselves in the line of fire, without the slightest hesitation, or a second thought about their future or their families back at home ! Obviously, its the sheer patriotism and sense of duty that motivates them – something that if each of us in this country had, no force on earth would have been able to dent us !

Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamte, Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Gajendra Singh and all the other martyrs didn’t deserve to die….and its our duty to ensure that they didn’t die in vain ! Their losses are irreplaceable, and the nation will forever be indebted to them !

ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, who had been at the forefront of the investigations into the Malegoan Blasts, had recently come under the wrath of right-wing politicians who feared the consequences of his unbiased investigations. Yet, when he died, they were the among the first to come forward and try to earn political mileage out of his supreme sacrifice ! Posters have sprung up across Mumbai carrying photographs of the martyred officers, and along side them – the politicians, who from the comforts of their air-conditioned offices, had ordered to put them up ! Isn’t this vote-bank politics at its worst ?

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s funeral took place in Bangalore on Saturday. A 31 year old, Kerala-born, product of Frank Anthony Public School, Bangalore; Major Sandeep is said to have been shot dead while trying to shield an injured comrade, during the siege at the Taj. The sight of his mother crying over his body, flashed across all news channels, echoes a billion cries of grief and pain ! Yet, what kind of treatment does his family get from the Kerala CM Achuthanandan ? Nothing, but a much delayed offering of condolence (more from the lure of political mileage and the growing flak from opposition parties, than out of sheer respect), and remarks to the tune of - “If it had not been (Major) Sandeep’s house, not even a dog would have glanced that way.”

Is this what Major Sandeep sacrificed his life for ?

CM Achuthanandan,  who had been snubbed by the Major’s father for failing to acknowledge the supreme sacrifice laid out by his son,  had turned up at his house in Bangalore a day after his funeral concluded…. much to the opposition of the Marty’s father – who had earlier desisted any politician from entering and desecrating the sanctity of his house. Yet, is this the best manner the CM could have reacted to a bereaved family ?

Reports suggest that the terrorists had arrived by sea from Karachi. The operation itself is said to have involved the hands of Lakshar-e-Taiba, and funded by Dawood Ibrahim, both of whom are harboured within Pakistan. The captured terrorist Azam Amir Kasav, all of 21 years, is said to be singing like a canary ! The terrorists supposedly, had undergone their training in Pak occupied Kashmir, and evidence collected from their satellite phones suggest they were in communication with sources from across the border. The GPS they carried had a return map to Karachi fed into it.  Almost every single piece of evidence has a clear Pakistani stamp on it. Yet, how do we tend to act ?

We suspend rail and air links with Pakistan indefinetely ! We call-off cricket tours ! We even go to the extent of threatening to mobilize our army along the Pakistani border. [The last time the Vajpayee Govt. did this, following the 2001 Parliament Attacks, it had cost India 6500 crores of Tax-payer's money ! ]

Perhaps, it was American pressure, but it is now known that India has ultimately refrained from such an act. Build-up of Indian troops along the border would lead to a reciprocal mobilization by Pakistan. And that would mean cutting down on some of their forces on the Western Front, where they are supposedly engaging the Taliban currently. The US obviously wouldn’t be looking forward to that !

PM Manmohan Singh has rushed the Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon to Washington DC, to brief the Americans about the terror attacks and the evidence we have in our possession corroborating Pakistani involvement. But why on earth do we need approval from the Big Brother to defend or retaliate a blatant attack on our soil ? The Americans had far less substantial [or hardly any] evidence when they decided to attack Iraq. And did they ever consult our opinion ?

We need their expertise, no doubt . We could use all the technological and logistical support from the International community, that we possibly can. There are definitely positive signs though….a team of FBI sleuths have already arrived in the city and kicked-off their investigations. Also, reports suggest that an Israeli team of Anti-terror experts and Forensic Analysts are due to arrive to assist us in the intelligence gathering. This is in spite of India turning down Israel’s intial offer of sending their crack commandos to Mumbai while the siege was on !

Israel had ended up losing 8 of its citizens in the attacks, and by no means is it a nation that would take an attack on its citizens lightly….no matter which corner of earth it is perpetuated upon !

I also happened to read a report on the BBC a couple of days ago, that Scotland Yard officials had offered to send in their experts to help with the Investigations and Forensic analysis, but apparently, even after 48 hours, their request was still stuck at the Indian Interior Ministry, waiting to be cleared – much to the chagrin of the British.

But one does wonder how a bunch of 10 young terrorists could reign so much terror, engage our elite commandos for so long, and force the entire nation on its knees. However, it is evident that these were no mere lads from around the street. They were highly trained, hardened and motivated terrorists, who had come prepared to die and determined to kill until their last breaths. The fact that they kept innocent civilian hostages as shields didn’t help either.

There’s no doubt that these youngsters had been radically brainwashed to the core, and perhaps may have even believed that their deaths would earn them 1-way tickets to an eternity in heaven …… with 72 virgins thrown in, as well ! I read a user-comment to an article on Rediff that said that the only way to humiliate the slain terrorists is to bury their bodies alongside pigs. That would, supposedly ensure that they go to hell.

Nah, I guess they are hell-bound anyways. Why send the poor pigs there as well ?

A friend recently had this on his status message on Gtalk - “Its up to God on whether to forgive the terrorists or not, but fixing them an appointment with God is our job” !!!