Coldplay at the 02

Yellow chart toppers Coldplay absolutely sold out the 02 Arena this weekend.
The arena saw almost 20,000 fans gather to watch the seven-time Grammy award winning alternative rock band perform worldwide hits including Viva La Vida, Paradise, The Scientist and my personal favourite When I Ruled  The World.
The thing that impressed me most about this concert, was the stage production and the band's energy. 
The set was amazingly vibrant was portrayed the theme of their current album Mylo Xyloto. Bright flashing lights infused with colour made the artwork backdrop the most creative sets I have ever seen!

For every song, the production element stole the moment - there was always something new to look at! Giant brightly coloured balloons descended from the rafters bouncing among the audience, plumes rose from the ground shooting confetti into the air, laser beams, band played on a satellite stage, the lighting rig swayed and shifted, video screens flickered. And then there were those wristbands:
Each person was given a wristband as they entered the concert. I thought it was a free souvenir, however, at the touch of a button by the tech guys, each wristband flashed to the rhythm of the song that was playing! Imagine- at any given moment in the dark arena 20,000 multi-coloured lights flash at the beginning of your favourite track! 

Ahh - I love it!
I think that set the group off, because lead singer Chris Martin was drenched with sweat and fell on stage- and who could blame him? He ran up and down from stage to stage, the band moved on a giant X at the centre of the arena where they played the new gem Up In Flames, the classic Don’t Panic and the touchy Us Against The World, down with his face to the keyboard and finally a smash of a guitar! You know how long i've been waiting to see that at a live concert! 
What was also quite impressive, although it may be down to my shameful lack of knowledge of the band, is that the other members of the group can also sing and were commendably applauded by the fans!

The festival-like atmosphere that filled the 02 made this the concert of the year!

Miguel at Forum, Kentish Town

Last week saw the welcoming of LA rising star Miguel to London’s HMV’s Forum, Kentish Town.
Although Miguel was signed to Jive Records in 2007, his debut album was only released in November 2010, only to be prompted by J Cole’s single All I Want is You.
A year later, he headlines his own gig, supported by the UK’s own CleoSol and Bluey Robinson.I’ve been a fan of CleoSol since her days of performing at iLuvLive, so now it’s great to see her really coming into her own. I really loved the way she saluted Jill Scott’s presence by opening her set to “The Way”, which really complimented her soulful jazz sound. Even though she soared through Free My Mind, it’s a shame her band out-noised her. She definitely increased her fan base that night, but it was apparent that

Bluey Robinson had a much stronger fan-base. Surprisingly, this is the first time I’ve managed to catch Bluey Robinson and I got a warm welcome as he open up with an acoustic version of Luther Vandross’ Never Too Much.

With just him and his guitar man, he also covered Craig David’s Fill Me In and Frank Ocean’s We All Try before performing his own track Show Girl. I love this dude; his sound reminded me of Justin Timberlake at his peak. Understandably, all the girls loved him.

The girls were on absolute heat at this concert as Miguel entered the stage in a grey fitted suit and approached his red-lit mic stand. His energy is very Monae-like! Although his dance moves are questionable (thank God, he’s stagnant in his videos), it is clear to see that he is inspired by Prince and made sure that it was evident in the musical arrangement of his band and his stage production. Although he puts on a great show, this may be the first time I’ve seen a show that does not give stage time to the band, or even have backing vocalists! I was disappointed by this as is this is usually the highlight of a show for me, but admittedly his energy and connection with the crowd pleased his audience – not forgetting his female fans, who were clearly aroused by his various display of “talents” that even Trey Songz would have been shocked at. But evidently, his biggest track Sure Thing is now big enough of a song to carry without having a great display of vocals.