Mylo Xyloto visits Ricoh Arena
Mylo Xyloto
brothers and sisters As production assistant on the Viva La Vida tour, Nguyen’s promotion within the Coldplay ranks highlights a progressive stance on equality on the part of the band. “It’s great – there’s me as tour manager; the head of venue security, Jackie Jackson; the girls in management; and Nicole [Kuhns] as our production coordinator,” says Nguyen. “Everyone has been super supportive, from the band downwards. If you had told me a year ago that I’d be tour managing one of the biggest bands on the planet, I’d have thought you were crazy, but actually once you settle in to a routine it’s like clockwork and it helps that Coldplay are the nicest people to work for.” Kuhns contends that the band’s attitude towards female staff
was what lured her to jump ship from Rod Stewart’s production crew, where she had spent “eight great years”. She tells IQ, “On the Viva tour I spent a month as second assistant on the stadium run. I liked it so much that when I was asked to come back, I jumped at the chance. One of the reasons I came back was because it is a woman-heavy tour – we’re freakos about organisation and we’re women who don’t mind working in a man’s world. We’re also a lot better at multitasking than our male compatriots,” she laughs. Highlighting the solidarity of both sexes among the crew, Kuhns adds, “We had a 17-hour bus ride from Madrid to Nice and then went straight into the load in, but because everyone loves working on this tour, there was no grumbling and we just got the job done.”
the scientist Production manager Bill Leabody is one of the very few Coldplay newbies, but with decades of experience on outings such as David Bowie, The Cure, Depeche Mode, and Aerosmith, he was a natural choice and started working on the Mylo Xyloto tour in February following the departure of Wob Roberts. “There are a lot of challenges on this tour, but probably the biggest one is that we don’t have a roof on the stage, so we have to fly lights, sound and video screens from towers,” says Leabody. “Coldplay wanted to convey the feeling that