Coldplay front man Chris Martin has a well-known philanthropic streak, and amidst a busy touring schedule the band still made time to organise Under 1 Roof charity concert at The O2, London.
This special one-off variety show was as much to the benefit of revellers, treated to an assortment of music and comedy, as to the disadvantaged children helped week after week by charity 'Kids Company'.
In 1996, Camila Batmanghelidjh founded Kids Co to help children who have suffered abuse or trauma, providing practical, emotional and educational support to vulnerable children and young adults whose parents are unable to care for them for varied reasons including mental health difficulties, domestic abuse or alcohol and drugs problems.
Kicking off the show was Scottish RnB star Emeli Sandé, recently providing guest vocals on Professor Green's 'Read All About It', the soul singer performed new single Next to Me before rounding off an emotionally-charged set with recent debut hit single ‘Heaven’.
To ensure the crowd was truly warmed up, next came Gavin and Stacey star Rob Brydon. His well-known impression of Tom Jones drew plenty of laughs, as did musings as to why Spiderman could never have come from Wales and his imagined high marks from Strictly Come Dancing judges scoring him out of 10 for love making. Lighthearted material, which was but a taste of Brydon's full capabilities, the younger members of the crowd were clearly getting restless awaiting Tinie Tempah's appearance.
Met with a rousing reception for opening number “Written in the Stars” the 23-year-old British rapper powered through hit after hit (Wonderman, ‘Til I’m Gone and Swedish House Mafia collaboration Miami to Ibiza) with Labryinth joining him on stage to absolutely raise the roof when finishing on the single which propelled him to stardom “Pass Out.”
Well and truly pumped up, the crowd remained feverish throughout the interval before a personal highlight of the line up was still to come in Steve Coogan, who took to the stage in his familiar guise as the hapless Alan Partridge to tickle the crowd's funny bones for a short 10 minute routine.
Mixing old and new gags from the obnoxious DJ, despite reading lines from an auto cue, Coogan delivered as his alter ego, serving up a real treat for any fans who paid mainly to see Partridge in the flesh rather than just join 'COLD PAY'. Despite having a book to promote, and currently filming a movie, Coogan gave his time for a worthy cause without missing a beat on topical issues such as David Cameron and "Arabs and Jews" and answering the question on everyone's lips - yes, Alan had been paid for the gig but generously waived 10% of his standard fee (for cash.)
Growing excitment from the crowd was palpable as the evening drew to its climax of, as Alan put it, "rock and roll...and Coldplay."
Chris Martin and crew burst onto the stage to the theme tune of Back To The Future, before launching into Yellow as a spectacularly large balloon drop and blasts of multi-coloured confetti showered the standing sections with ticker tape.
The next hour was a glorious concotion of familiar classics and brand new anthems - like being treated to a private recording of a Greatest Hits collection. In My Place, God Put a Smile Upon Your Face, The Scientist, Up In Flames came in quick succession with the festive inclusion of a duet of White Christmas with Rob Brydon.
Viva La Vida was sublime, with wristbands handed out to each crowd member lighting up to create a dazzling sea of flashing red, green, pink and white lights across the arena making for a stunning visual effect. Martin and his band clearly love making use of every inch of space at their disposal and bringing the audience together in harmony, never more pointed than when the moving "Fix You" saw the entire crowd sing in unified voice. As the opening chords of Clocks played in, I couldn't help but reflect upon the lyric "Am I part of the cure or am I part of the disease?" Coldplay certainly made us all feel like the cure on Saturday night, collected 'Under 1 Roof' for a good cause.
Encore came in the instant-classic Paradise and the lights were brought down low for Coldplay's Christmas tune 'Christmas Lights', leading to the most hilarious moment of the evening when Alan Partridge interrupted mid-song and accused Martin of being “a bit mopey joe.” Launching into a touching duet of Little Drummer Boy, Martin and Coogan's voices meshed well to melt the hearts before the band pelted out Every Teardrop is a Waterfall to bring the show to a triumphant finish.
9/10
You can donate £5 now by texting KIDS HELP to 70700 or call 0845 644 6838 for more information.
www.kidsco.org.uk
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