Coldplay, Killers, U2 Share Stage, Avoid Ego Explosion

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Whoever booked this show is playing with fire. Don’t they understand that even if it’s for a good cause, like War Child‘s 15th anniversary, putting Chris Martin, Brandon Flowers and Bono all on the same stage could cause a horrifically destructive chain reaction, as their gigantic egos compete for the limited photons, ultimately exploding in a massive wave of highly-charged self-importance particles? Coldplay had just lost every Brit award they were nominated for in London on Wednesday night, so the be-tassled Martin was extra mopey as the band made their way over to the O2 arena for the charity event. Perhaps this meant his ego was “in check” enough to make room for the Killers and U2 frontmen (as well as Snow Patrol Take That’s Gary Barlow, whose ego size has not yet been determined). But here’s another baffling thing: despite the long list of quality songs between those four bands, what did this supergroup decide to perform? The Killers’ bombastic, overwrought “All These Things That I’ve Done.” (Watch above). Yeech! HuffPo calls it “The Best Encore Ever,” but even if you’re a fan of these blowhards, shouldn’t this be “The Biggest Missed Opportunity Ever”?

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